April 19, 2024
For fourteen years, Mary Cox has been doing an outstanding job preparing and leading the Ministers’ Wives Annual Retreat. She was thrilled this year to report the largest response she has seen in 14 years.
This retreat, which is sponsored through the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation, seeks to bless our ministers’ wives with a weekend of spiritual reflection and physical and emotional refreshing. Every minister knows the inestimable value of his wife’s contribution to ministry. She is a treasured partner in the work and like every spiritual leader I know, needs to be refreshed from time to time. Mary loves ministers’ wives and does a great job meeting them at the point of their need.
To demonstrate the value of this annual retreat and to encourage more wives to participate, I am including a wonderful testimony from Jessica Caspers, who participated in this year’s retreat. I would like to say thank you so much for the Ministers' wives retreat! It was an amazing time of fun, learning, and rest. I'm not even sure I could tell you what my favorite part was. The pampering of haircuts and massages was exquisite. It may sound like nothing but salon haircuts are not in the budget for my family and I rarely get more than one a year much less one with a superb stylist who took time to teach me how to wear my own hair! I even appreciated getting my blood drawn and a flu shot. For a family without health insurance that is a huge blessing. The downtime of meals and hanging out was precious to be able to chat and receive advice from so many different women. And the teaching was phenomenal! I have been a believer for many years but I was challenged in many unexpected ways and definitely feel more equipped for my life in ministry. After I got home I told my husband that in all my adult life I've never experience a retreat/conference/concert etc that I wasn't helping to lead. There was something absolutely refreshing about going to be poured into and truly being responsible for no one else. That is a rare and precious gift. I also had the wonderful opportunity to get to know five other wives from my association much better and I know they all enjoyed the trip as well. I applaud Georgia Baptists for making an event like this not only possible but a priority. My ministry friends in other denominations are even a little jealous to hear me talk about it. I feel truly loved and cared for and so proud of my denomination.
Much love and thanks,
Jessica Caspers
Silvertown Baptist- Thomaston GA
