What started as a plan to take our family group of 16 for a weekend get away became a Singles Retreat of over 60 disciples and friends from different Emirates of the UAE and Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.When the planning began, Singles Family Group Leaders along with other disciples who were just as eager to help, were encouraged to bring visitors to this retreat. As most of the messages are directed towards us, disciples, we fasted and prayed for 15 friends who will be inspired and convicted and desire to change.
‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ and ‘My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine’ says the Lord in Isaiah 55:8 – surely, as this passage says, His thoughts are not ours --God doubled the number of our visitors and 2 of them were Muslims.
At the mountains of Ras Al Kaimah, a couple of hours’ drive from Dubai, God blessed us with a time of spiritual rejuvenation. Dan and Mary Alison with over 30 years of personal walk with Christ and years of ministry experience, walked us through the Book of Isaiah. They led us from the Highway, they themselves have walked to the Highway where God expects all of us to be. Most of us realized that we were as dry spiritually as the desert that we passed by on our way to the mountains. The break out classes were times of sharing that have tremendously exposed our hearts. We were deeply grateful for the last weekend of November 2009. It was capped with a lesson from the book of Joshua 24:22-27. The real challenge for us is what’s going to happen after the retreat. How are we going to put into action the commitments that we made? How willing and eager are we to share the Good News to our friends and visitors? How joyful are we in serving Christ’s ministry? Each one of us was given a stone of remembrance, a reminder of the commitments we made to God.
It’s been a fruitful time pre, during and post Highway of Holiness Singles Retreat. Today, a single baby brother was born in one of the springs of Hatta Mountains. Currently we have 4 singles studying the bible and 1 of them is of Muslim faith and we’re all praying for them.To God be all the glory.
Much love
In Him
Ces Jarencio
Dubai lnternational Fellowship
19 December 2009