Upcoming retreat invites women to enjoy life with God

By Valorie Brecht Women from Loyal and the surrounding area are invited to come and join other women with a heart after God for a day of worship, Bible teaching, fellowship, and fun.

The first-ever Royal Women of Heart Retreat will be held at the Loyal American Legion, 302 N. Union St., on Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will feature Bible teaching, praise and worship, small group discussion time, meals, and fellowship time.

“The ‘royal’ in the name reflects that we are daughters of the One True King,” said Jodi Lindner, who is hosting the event along with her sister-in-law Holly Lindner. Both live in Loyal.

Holly’s sister Stacy Gallego will be speaking at the retreat, along with Stacy’s friend Claire Alameda. Stacy has a personal connection to the retreat, which makes her all the more excited to see it come to fruition.

“I grew up in Loyal. At age 20, I moved to Arizona. At that time, I couldn’t wait to get out of small-town Loyal. But the older I get, the more I love coming back,” said Stacy. “So when my sister [Holly] started doing a Bible study in Loyal, Claire and I were so excited. We really have a heart for this retreat because we helped get their study started… Claire had kept saying, ‘Can’t we go to Loyal?’ So we really want to go there and really believe God wants us to go there. We’re so excited about what God is doing.”

Claire is the director of women’s ministries for Corazón Ministries, an evangelism and disciple-making organization based in Tucson,Ariz., with a purpose of equipping believers for work and service within the context of culture and community in the Hispanic/Latino and other ethnic populations.

Through her Women of Heart program, Claire reaches out to women in home Bible studies, discipleship, leadership training, marriage and parenting classes, monthly gatherings, and annual women’s retreats.

Stacy has worked alongside Claire for more than 17 years, speaking and teaching at the annual retreat in Scottsdale, which has roughly 300 attendees. The idea for a retreat came out of Holly and Jodi’s women’s Bible study, “Joyful Hearts.” Stacy helped Jodi and Holly start the study in the fall of 2023. Nine women from the Loyal area meet weekly for prayer, Scripture study, and fellowship. They are currently working through their third teaching series by renowned author and Bible teacher, Cynthia Heald. As the women have continued to meet, they have built strong bonds with each other, supporting one another and encouraging each other in their walk with Christ. Holly and Jodi wanted to expand that experience to more women and show them how to live life with God daily.

“We’ve talked about doing something for the community for quite a while,” said Holly.

“We wanted a way to reach out to people,” added Jodi. “I think women need this — they need a daily walk with God, and we wanted women to know also that they can do this.”

The day’s schedule will include large group sessions to hear from Claire and Stacy, as well as small group sessions and prayer times to give attendees a chance to reflect on what they sense the Lord is saying to them.

The schedule is as follows: — 9 a.m. - Registration and continental breakfast — 10 a.m. - Welcome, praise and worship time, session one, small groups — Noon - Lunch, praise and worship time, sessions two and three, small groups — 3:30 p.m. - Closing The theme verses for the retreat are II Peter 1:3-4, which read in part: “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.”

“Through this retreat, we want women to know that they can bring God into their daily life, whether it’s at the store, at home, or wherever you go. That’s what we’ve been learning in our Bible study — that God’s not in a box; He’s with us all the time. It’s a reminder when things get tough that God’s there and He’s got us, so we can have joy,” said Jodi.

The event is open to all women ages 16 and older, regardless of religious tradition or faith background. The cost is $30, with breakfast and lunch provided. Each attendee will receive a swag bag and will also be entered to win one of several donated prize baskets.

Women interested in attending the retreat may register by going to corazonministries.org/royal-women-ofheart- retreat-loyal-wisconsin/, visiting the “Royal Women of Heart Retreat” Facebook event and clicking on the link in the description, or scanning the QR link included with this article. People may also call Corazón Ministries at 520-903-9608 and ask to register for the Royal Women of Heart Retreat.

The registration deadline is April 21, so the event staff has enough time to plan for food. For questions or to get involved, contact Jodi at Jnjlindner@tds.net or 715-897-3991.

Partial scholarships are available if cost is a prohibitive factor. Contact Jodi at 715-897-3991 for more information.

Corazón Ministries, which is hosting the event, is a non-denominational, Bible-based ministry. Their statement of faith can be found at corazonministries.org/statementof- faith/.