CHE Retreat

Here’s a little bit of information before you start to read about my story and experiences from the CHE retreat. First, who or what is a CHE? CHE stands for a Community Health Evangelist. It is a man or woman (typically a woman) from a township who volunteers to go on home visits and participate in community development where they live. Every week, the CHE’s receive training on one health and one spiritual lesson to assist them with the issues they may encounter in their community and to, hopefully, build a skill set for future employment opportunities as well. CHE’s do not have to be a Christian to participate in the program.

(Our team with the CHE's and some of their children at the retreat)

So, with all of that being said, we, as a team, decided to take the opportunity this summer to provide a retreat for the CHE’s and some of their children. We recognized that they are out in the community working with people on a voluntary basis. They are dealing with heavy issues such as domestic violence, alcoholism, and AIDS. We decided to support them by providing them with a couple of days of rest and encouragement at the Bridges Retreat Center. The workshops we planned for them were focused on spiritual development. We talked about how to have faith and what it is, the importance of prayer, and who the Holy Spirit is. (For more information and in-depth stories about this, please see my blog entry about the CHE Retreat on our team’s blog: rockharborsouthafrica.blogspot.com).

(Leading a workshop about prayer)

One of my favorite moments from the retreat took place during the talk about who the Holy Spirit is. The CHE’s were asked to spend an hour in silence engaging with the Holy Spirit. During this time, I was asked by Chris, who was leading this talk, to sit in silence and pray. As I prayed, I wrote in my journal about the things that I was experiencing. About 30 minutes into this experience, I heard the CHE women chattering away outside, and I got really frustrated. So, I talked to God about it. In my journal, this is what I wrote down as the response that I received, “It’s just about one.” Maybe the experience is just for one of them and that’s okay. It’s their choice to engage or not; to make the most of that opportunity.

In that moment, I realized that my frustration and expectations were clouding my view of this experience. After I received that response, I started to see everything with a fresh set of eyes. I saw three men sitting in the back of the room, in silence and deep in thought. The amazing piece about seeing them earnestly seeking to hear from the Holy Spirit is that they were new believers. They came to the retreat because of the men’s conference the ROCKHARBOR pastors had held in the Sweet Home township two months prior. They became believers at this event and had started to attend a weekly Bible study in Sweet Home. Their desire to connect with God and hear from Him was evident as they engaged with the Spirit during that hour.

As I called everyone back together, it seemed like everyone (even the women who were talking through it) had something to share about their experience. God was at work in that hour. He was planting seeds for the future.

We recently received an update about how the CHE’s and the men are doing. The three men who attended the retreat are continuing to attend the weekly Bible study. They are continuing to grow in their faith and the group has even gained a few new members. As for the CHE women, they definitely bonded during their time together at the retreat. We heard that they have created a support system amongst themselves and continue to discuss what they learned during their time with us.

Please continue to pray for the CHE’s and the men’s Bible study in Sweet Home. Please pray for each of them to grow in their faith, for protection for their families, and a renewed strength as provide support to those in their community.