During August Fiji Community Churches of Christ held a three-day retreat for leadership and their families.
It was a time of deepening relationships, working together on mission, vision and values, sharpening preaching skills and reflecting on a range of ways to proclaim and live out the gospel message in their various communities.
As we shared together the joys and challenges each is experiencing in ministry, there was a great sense of encouragement. Just being able to talk about the things that are hard, we are encouraged, because we realised that we are not alone, we are all having challenges and we can support one another. During the retreat there were great opportunities to affirm and honor the wives of our pastors in their steadfastness in supporting their husbands, and for their own gifting and contributions to church ministry. 'I could see tears in our sisters' eyes as those things were being said. It is a special blessing to recognise them in that way. Thank you.’
We are becoming more united in our mission and vision as Fiji Community Churches of Christ together. We are praising God for the growth in our relationships and the honesty to acknowledge that some of our relationships need work and we can commit ourselves to that journey with God’s help. This retreat has been rejuvenating; I think we are all encouraged. Please pass on our thanks to GMP and the churches in Australia for providing the resources to make this retreat possible. We appreciate it so much.
It was also a great encouragement to have GMP Executive Director, John Gilmore, visiting with us during the first week of September. John had the opportunity to connect with each of our churches for worship, bringing greetings from our Australian partners, and sharing from the scriptures. There was also time to sit together with our pastors, and to reflect positively on our purpose and the future direction of our partnership with GMP. We are thankful for the opportunities and experiences of the week, and God's continuing work in and through our network of churches here in Fiji.
Bruce Edwards, Director Fiji Community Churches of Christ
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