Testimonies: 2010

Testimonies Faithwalking 101 Retreat October 2010

These are some of the testimonies of the alumni of the Faithwalking 101 Retreat in October 2010:

I experienced God's power through personal transformation during and after the 101 retreat. The solitude and reflection "being still" was something I desperately needed. Perhaps the most helpful part was the personal prayer with a member of the Faithwalking team as well as the small group sessions. Also helpful were the personal stories of the presenters. The hosts were extremely hospitable!

In the solitude session on vows, the Lord exposed an area I did not want in the light - it was a vow about staying hidden so people wouldn't know me. Being encouraged to share this with the big group terrified me. During big group time, I knew in my heart that if I did not share this openly, a freedom that the Lord had for me could be missed. So with the promise to be all in and a push inside me by the Lord, I shared. I will not say it was easy, but since the FW 101 weekend, the Lord has been showing me things in my life that have paralyzed me and how they had so much power over me because they were affirming, in my mind, the vow I had taken. In one area in particular, which for three years has knocked me off course, the Lord has begun to bring insight and freedom that I have longed for.

It opened some closed doors for me and I learned lots about my habitual disobedience as well as destructive vows I made as a young child. It will take more work but it was a very important step.

God used this retreat in my life to wake me up from just being satisfied with the lousy status quo. I had resigned myself to believing that things just weren't going to get better. The retreat helped me face the areas where I'd given up.

The integrity presentation was really eye opening for me. The understanding of a vow we may have made as a child in response to a traumatic event explained a lot about sins I committed in my life. Nothing was more powerful than renouncing that vow and making new vows w/the help of prayer from a team member and talks w/my small group.

God has used Faithwalking to renew and awakened my dry and parched land. I have a renewed relationship with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. I learned that transformation is a journey, a process that we embark on with others and it is not a means to an end. Thank you to the coaches and team leaders for your sensitivity to the work of God in and through us and encouraging us to move out to build missional communities in Houston together.

FW was one of the most challenging things I have done in a while. It was emotionally exhausting in a very good way. I didn't leave with that "retreat high" but rather a resolve to become the kind of person I want to be and lead the kind of missional life I want to live.

Faithwalking 101 was instrumental to my realization that I still have unresolved issues from my childhood that need attention so that I can be more authentic and well-connected to those God has placed in my life. Personal transformation is hugely important - I now see that more clearly

If you are interested in know more about the retreat, please contact us! To see next available dates for the retreat, please see our calendar.

Yes, I was an OK Christian...

by Jim Teall, Open Doors USA.

I have been a Christian for most of my life. I have been on many “retreats” in the past so why would I want to pay to go on another one? Wasn’t I doing okay at the Christian life? I thought so and others around me seemed to agree. But then I happened to be at a luncheon where I heard a speaker who was involved in Faithwalking. Now I have been to hundreds of Bible studies and I have heard hundreds of people speak about the Christian life before so how would this be any different than the rest? And yet it was.

I did not hear a tinge of arrogance from the speaker about how to have a successful walk with Jesus. Instead, I heard tons of authenticity about how to have a transparent, missional community that walks with Jesus together and who together were being transformed while seeking to transform society. An authentic and transformational relationship with Christ and with His people. My soul cried out inside me, "Yes, this is what I want, this is what I need."

It was so impactful that I signed up to participate in a Faithwalking 101 Retreat. Yet inside I still kind of expected the typical sing a few songs, pray a few prayers, read a few verses, and listen to some good talks kind of retreat. It wasn't that we did not do any of these things but it was what else we did. We got real, or should I say, in a loving and gentle way we were forced to get real with ourselves, others and God.

Yes, I was an OK Christian doing pretty good in the Christian club, but was I an authentic, committed follower of Jesus Christ who lived his life on mission with a passionate purpose? Jesus is very clear: "If you love me you will obey my commands." I knew that I was not obeying all of Jesus' commands, and that hurt. I realized I had become resigned and cynical to real transformation in my personal life and of there being any real hope for genuine societal change.

Faithwalking 101 and 201 have now put me on a path where I no longer feel resigned and isolated to live out a quasi-comfortable Christian life. My spirit and heart have been renewed to live passionately for Christ with a community of other followers of Jesus that are committed to personal and societal change. I wish I could tell you that Faithwalking is easy. It is not. It is hard. But I am learning more and more each day how to surrender my life to Jesus, making it possible for Him to change me. God is conforming me into the image of His son so that I might live in loving obedience to Him. Well this is what my wife is telling me at least.

What is truly wonderful about this Faithwalking process is knowing that I am not alone on this journey. God has placed a community of believers in my life that not only want to see personal transformation but societal transformation as well. If the world is to change then I must first be changed, and then I need others around me with a common vision to work together to restore humanity to God's intended purpose. I have found all of this in Faithwalking and I am truly thankful to God to be walking with Him and His people by faith so that real change and transformation can and will happen in our lives and in our communities.

Register to Faithwalking 101 retreat.
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Dealing against the "boomerang"...

by Melanie Ayers, Sterling Wood Church

At Sterling Wood, we used to laugh at what we called the "Boomerang" effect of our change process. We would launch a change and everything would seem fine, then a few months later... BAM! The full weight of the change would hit us in the back of the head. Relationships would be strained, even broken, and we, the staff, battered and bruised from the process would work hard to pick up the pieces. Since we have launched Faithwalking at our church, we are seeing things differently now. We now see our own defensive routines and the ways in which our behavior contributes to the dis-ease and conflict that occurs when trying to implement change, and we are working hard to "try on" new ways of relating to each other. We are also seeing old wounds healed, and a renewed sense of faith and hope emerge. The process hasn't been easy, (looking at yourself rather than blame others rarely is), but the outcome is both humbling and extremely rewarding.

Up and Running, by Melanye Wrighton

by Melanye Wrighton, Lebanon, Indiana

“My experience of Faithwalking 201 has been superb. It kept my momentum "up and running" and deepened my knowledge and practice of the process I learned in 101. And the launch of my community is a reality. Faithwalking actually gave me a new perspective, propelling me forward into "being" the very thing I wanted to see happen in this closed and unchanging place, instead of grumbling and complaining and trying to make demands of the reluctant people around me. As you well know, I lean into personal transformation or I die. My longing to inspire others to see the whole of their stories as a vital part of God's story, for His sake, keeps my passion for my own heart's ongoing transformation ignited.”