A Mighty Fortress is our God

Waldpark, a retreat center in the Erzgebirge, welcomed 37 women to a weekend retreat. Wonderful weather promised relaxation. The venue is situated close to the castle Augustusburg, which can be seen from afar. No wonder castles give us a sense of awe and security, just like Martin Luther scripted in his hymn “ A mighty Fortress.” The Women’s Ministries Team of the Mid-German Conference and our speaker Hannele Ottschofski had prepared everything accordingly.
Why do women come to retreats? They all love the companionship; some come to recover from grief; some just want to experience a living faith community, rest and spend time with God.
But what inspires us when we think about God? Hannele expressed through Biblical experiences of people like Daniel, Peter and Elisha what is so fascinating about God. She found parallels in the experiences of her family. One of her topics was “Elisha’s Robe or my Father’s Shirt” and she shared interesting stories about how her parents gave her a firm foundation for her faith and how she has symbolically taken up her father’s fleecy shirt like Elisha who picked up Elija’s robe and responsibility. God is waiting to give each of us the robe of his righteousness at the foot of the cross.
The women also had the possibility to reflect on how they see God and how they have experienced his presence in their lives. One of the ladies said: “He gives me a foothold in this crazy time and I would never want to live without God.” A young woman said, “I can’t imagine this world and life on earth without a loving God who has created everything. Nobody can prove that God exists, I can only believe and some day experience that everything that seems baffling now makes sense after all.”
According to a report by Angela Völker