A Wilderness Workshop

Updated on

Learning to Survive and Transform Life’s Wilderness Experiences

A four-part workshop beginning Thursday, May 14

Jerry Deans will lead a four-part workshop beginning Thursday, May 14, on navigating fear and grief during upsetting times. The author of Lost But Not Forgotten: How Wilderness Experiences Can Transform Your Life, Jerry will help participants see how God uses the valleys of life to deepen relationship and transform us into healers of our suffering world.

The format will be a Zoom meeting in the morning to set the stage for a time of individual personal reflection. In the afternoon we will join back together in Break Out Groups for sharing. We will end the day in the large group with continued sharing and assigned reading for the next session.
This workshop/retreat explores three aspects of life’s wilderness experiences. This workshop/retreat will take place over a 4-week period, starting May 14th.

May 14: First meeting —

  • Organizational in nature.
  • Start at 10 am, and go to Break Out Groups at 11 am.

May 21: Part One — Consider the struggle

  • Consider the struggle, the chaos and the disorganization that a wilderness experience imposes upon our lives.
  • How do we find our way along this dangerous path as we are ambushed with emotions, and challenged physically, emotionally and spiritually?

May 28: Part Two — Focus on learning

  • Focus on learning how to walk through the “valley of the shadow of death.”
  • How do we recognize the signs that lead forward and the dead ends that keep us lost in despair?
  • How can we deepen our relationship with God and trust that he is working in our circumstances?
  • What are the personal choices we can exercise in a wilderness experience?

June 4: Part Three — Healing our brokenness

  • Explore how God wants to use our wilderness experiences to heal our brokenness.
  • How do we deepen our trust in him and learn to transform our suffering to help him heal a broken world?
  • How can God connect us to his Master Plan…(the really big story that he has been inviting us into from the beginning of time)?

Parts One, Two, and Three all follow this schedule:

Large group 10-11 am.
Personal Time 11-1 pm
Break Out 1-2:15 pm
Large Group 2:15 -2:30 pm

Suggested reading resource:

Lost But Not Forgotten: How wilderness experiences can transform your life by Jerry Deans, which you can find on Amazon here.

Suggested donation:

$50 for the entire 4-weeks. (However, any amount is welcome. No one will be turned away on the basis of their ability to donate or not.)
Your donation can be paid on-line here, or, by mailing a check payable to Richmond Hill.
In this time of COVID-19, Richmond Hill’s donation stream has been greatly reduced.  We recognize that your personal financial circumstances may similarly be altered by the pandemic, so please respond to this request for a donation as you are able.  Any gift is welcome.  No one will be turned away. We look forward to your participation. 

If this speaks to you, please sign up…

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