A couple of weeks ago, we had our annual Scarlet Hope Volunteer Retreat. We look forward to this special weekend each year. This year we had almost 50 women in attendance. It was a diverse group with ages of women in their 20’s up to their 70’s. Some of these volunteers have been serving with us for many years; some began serving this year. Some of them participate in outreach in the clubs; others disciple and mentor women through our Bible study or serve their children at Hope for Kids.
We had so much fun getting to know each other on a deeper level during this special weekend. We got the opportunity to worship together, write words of encouragement to each other, and compete against each other at getting oreos from our foreheads to our mouths without using our hands! Rachelle spoke to us on Friday night reminding us about the reality of eternity and Christ’s coming. She challenged us to take seriously our mandate to share the gospel and disciple others. We were also grateful to have Kimber Graves, who works with Bethany Christian Services, share with us. She taught us about what it means to abide in Christ and do ministry while abiding in order to prevent burnout.
Our volunteers give of their time and talents extensively. It can be hard doing outreach inside strip clubs and walking alongside women coming from brokenness and exploitation. The retreat was a time for our team members to be filled up and equipped to continue their work in God’s kingdom. It was also a time for volunteers to encourage one another and become more unified as a team and a family. We are so thankful for our volunteers. We hope they had a great weekend of rest and fellowship. We really enjoyed spending time with them!
