August Blog
Hearts are Healed at the HeartWork Retreat!
Mary Beth: Hi – I’m Mary Beth Woll, and together with Linda Smith, we lead the ministry called The Widows Project. And we’re so excited today because we’re just coming off a weekend of a HeartWork retreat.
And you might wonder, “What is HeartWork?” Some of you already know, but for those of you who are new, HeartWork is a process which includes the timeline of events, plus inner healing prayer, so we can help widows recover from the actual trauma, the traumatic events, surrounding the passing of their loved one.
So, Linda, would you share, what do we do at a HeartWork retreat?
Linda: Well, we come on Friday afternoon and have dinner, and then we have a session in the evening, another session Saturday morning, and another session Saturday afternoon. And the reason that we come together is so that in person we can help each other get through the trauma that is holding back some of our participants from moving forward in their grief.
We have three people on each team. The woman who has experienced the trauma, a Leader who helps walk her through her story, and an Intercessor who prays the whole time.
Mary Beth: And the beauty of it is that this retreat, this last weekend, we had a total of 26 people here in this beautiful retreat-like setting that God has given me, and we had seven widows, seven Leaders and eight Intercessors, two people working in the kitchen serving us the whole time, and Linda administering the whole, the whole event. And so, it was just marvelous.
And, and many of those Leaders and Intercessors and, and our kitchen gals too, are, are people who have already gone through the HeartWork process and now, turning around to help others to work through their, their trauma, and to be comforted with the comfort that they've already received. So, we're thrilled to see people not only being healed, but getting back up and helping other people.
And so, we just wanted to share with you some of the results of this particular HeartWork retreat. And we could, we could go on, and on, and on, about things people have told us. It's, it's really life changing!
One woman said, after leaving here, she said, “I'm a new person!” She had been widowed twice. The first marriage was wonderful. The second one, not so good. And she had difficulty untangling all of that, that complicated grief. And this HeartWork retreat helped her get through that.
One woman said, “I feel so much more solid inside!”, because when we have trauma, we compartmentalize it up.
“There! Stay away from me! I've gotta go on with my life!”
But we cannot abandon our emotions, even our trauma, because it will come back and knock on our door, and say, “Remember me?”
So, what we're helping them do, is we're helping them face that very scary trauma, in a situation where they are loved and safe so they can integrate it into their lives. So, she said she felt much more solid.
Another woman said she felt her depression lifted during this retreat. There is a stage of grief that includes depression, but there's a difference between that stage of grief and depression that just comes to stay like a great cloud over you. And she had both of those events going on, and that depression cloud lifted at this retreat. In fact, she said, “I really needed you!” Praise God!
Another woman said she felt she got unstuck from her past. She just wasn't really able to move forward in her grief because the past was pulling her backwards.
Another one said, after the HeartWork retreat, that she realized she needed to say goodbye to her husband. He died during COVID. She wasn't permitted to be in the hospital with him, and when they finally called and said, “You need to come now!”, he was gone already by the time she reached the hospital. So, she never, she thought she was OK with that. But she realized after working through her trauma that she needed to write a letter to him, so to speak, and, and really say her goodbyes. So, as you can see, it's very healing.
One of the things that's really awesome to see is when people heal, and they begin to use the gifts, once again, that God has put in them.
What are some of the things you saw at the at the retreat?
Linda: Well, some of the women who were Participants last retreat are now Leaders and Intercessors. They believe in the process, they went through the process. It healed the trauma in their own lives. And it's so fulfilling to help somebody else…
Mary Beth: Yes it is!
Linda: ….get through their trauma and be a free woman.
Mary Beth: That's right! And one of our Leaders and Intercessors, was a missionary, together with her husband, to Mexico. And of course she's, she's originally from Mexico her husband was from the United States. And she obviously is fluent in Spanish. At a previous HeartWork retreat, one of the one of the widows was a refugee from Mexico whose husband had been assassinated right in front of her eyes. And she had to flee to the United States. But we were able to, with Judith, is our is our Intercessor Leader, with her help she was able to do a zoom HeartWork procedure with her, and she was able to move through that awful trauma. And now we are so excited, because Lord-willing, in September we're gonna be teaching the HeartWork process to our co-laborers in Mexico: RuthAnne Ost Martinez, Nancy Honeytree, and others. And it's being translated. The process is being translated into Spanish so we can reach the Spanish.
Linda: HeartWork principles work in any language.
Mary Beth: They sure do!
One of the things we added to this retreat which was so special is we, we have several women who are gifted in the prophetic ministry, and so we divided up into four teams of two. And then we had each one of the Participants, Leaders, and Intercessors come for prayer with those women, and who spoke words of life over those people. And they were able to record it and take it home to listen to over it again.
Linda: We, of course, are planning to have more HeartWork retreats. This is our third one, and we will probably have two next year as well. On our website you can keep track of when we're doing what. Please visit thewidowsproject.org.
And another benefit of going to our website is that you can give. You can support this ministry of relieving people who have lost a spouse.
We are starting up the men's ministry in the fall, and we are looking forward to reaching more and more…
Mary Beth: Exactly!
Linda: ….people.
Mary Beth: And, and then we will have a, a zoom group for men and also HeartWork for men, led by men.
Just want you to know that in addition to our HeartWork retreats, we have regular, regular online community. Through zoom meetings, we are able to actually be a small group of Sonrise Christian Center, where Linda and I are actually missionaries, and I'm one of the, one of the pastors there. And we are also a small group of Park Ridge Community Church, and Westgate Chapel, and Calvary Christian Assembly in Seattle.
If you would like us to be a part of your online community for widows in your church, please contact us through our website and we'll be happy to get back to you. If you know of any widows that need to join an online zoom group, we meet on Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:30 Pacific time.
And then on Monday mornings we have a special zoom group for ministry widows; women who have been, who were in ministry with their late husbands. Because that is a unique type of a marriage, and therefore a unique grief. And we wanna provide that support because Linda and I are both ministry windows as well. So, it's been a very rich experience. We find that those gals, because they, they were not only called to be a pastor's wife or a pastor themselves when they were married, that gifting and that calling is still there. And so, once they are able to work through their trauma, work through their grief, they're up and running and they're back in ministry again. And that's just a delight to be a part of that.
So, these things that we do, they do cost money, and we do have support staff, and these retreats are not free. They are free to our Participants—we do ask for a deposit which, that we refund to them when they come. And so, if you would like to help pay this forward to someone else, we would love to give you that opportunity. Again go to our website at thewidowsproject.org.
God bless you!
Do you shop at Fred Meyer? They offer Fred Meyer Community Rewards.
You can choose to have them contribute to The Widows Project in proportion to your spending at Fred Meyer.
Go to the Fred Meyer website and your account, and then search for “Community Rewards”.
Please choose The Widows Project.
Thank you so much.
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