From January 11, 2022, we had the Australia Online Retreat, attended by about 60 people for 4 days. We like to have time to reflect on and give thanks to what God has done.
1. One Theme, Various Messenger Styles, the Messages revealing the Wounds in their Hearts.
This conference was held under the theme of ‘Truth and Freedom.’
In the opening lecture (John 8), Shepherd Grace challenged, “Are you really free?”, and shared the loneliness and rejection when she first came to Australia as a missionary kid. And she calmly and boldly challenged how we can be free from these emotions.
Lecture 1 (John 8) was delivered by Moses Hwang, a shepherd of Monash chapter in Melbourne and delivered powerfully and refreshingly under the theme of ‘Freedom from Guilt’. He declared, “We were not created to live with guilt!”
Lecture 2 (John 5) was preached by Missionary Paul Oh from Sydney under the title of 'Freedom from the Loser Mentality'. Taking as an example his experience of caring for his elderly mother, who has dementia, he emphasized that there is true freedom when obeying God’s words.
In Lecture 3 (John 9), Pastor Max Warmington, who is an Australian and retired pastor attending the Gold Coast CMI now, shared 'Freedom from a Feeling of Inferiority'. He lectured that the feeling of inferiority from blindness could end with positive results of meeting the Shepherd Jesus through the positive obedience of “go and wash”.
Lecture 4 (John 8) was preached by Shepherd Jinyong Jeong of Sydney with the title of ‘Freedom from the Power of Sin’. As if we had to pay a million dollar fine in the face of the power of sin, he said we are utterly powerless and incompetent. He said that only an intimate and personal ‘knowledge’ of Jesus gives us the experience of freedom from that impotence.
Lecture 5 (Matthew 6) was witnessed by Shepherd Patricia of Sydney under the title of ‘Freedom from Worries’. Just before her lecture, Scarlett, sister from Monash, testified how she learned trusting Jesus and became free from her constant worries: tuition, her job, and so on. With her daughter Rachel’s help of PowerPoint presentation, Shepherd Patricia pointed out God’s words to put God first as the master to overcome worries.
In Lecture 6 (John 4), Anna, Shepherd of Brisbane preached under the title, 'Freedom from the Thirst of the Soul'. This sister, who is her first year in college, shared her own thirst for recognition and compliment from others, explaining that she was like a 'broken jar', happy when she received them, but depressed when she didn’t. She said Jesus is the ‘Living Water’ and that in order to receive Jesus, we must find and dig out what is a ‘hardened stone’ within us.
In Lecture 7 (Matthew 9), Missionary Isaac Lee from Brisbane testified under the title of ‘Freedom from greed’. As he shouted “Follow me” several times, he testified of the heart of Jesus, inviting us to walk away from greed and walk with Jesus.
In Lecture 8 (1 Peter 2), Missionary Noah Kim of Sydney delivered a sermon in Korean under the title, ‘Freedom in the Identity of a Christian.’ He is currently suffering from thymic cancer but testified to a message he received (Proverbs 4:20-23). He explained that ‘possession’ means ‘special treasure’, and we are God’s specially chosen children. He testified of the freedom to approach our God anytime, anywhere and our mission as his children.
In Lecture 9 (Galatians 5), Missionary Samuel Lee from Perth shared ‘the Freedom of Life led by the Holy Spirit’. He encouraged us to realize our sinful nature, acknowledge the Holy Spirit, and obey the Holy Spirit.
2. A Retreat where Young People are used preciously as Lecturers of the Word
Thankfully 5 out of total 10 lecturers were from the next generation. They prepared very excellent messages and delivered them powerfully. All attendees were impressed by their powerful messages. The youngest lecturer at this retreat was a first-year college student Anna. Based on this sister's lecture, 3 out of 6 students gave testimony. The phrase ‘recognition of people’ experienced by young people of the same age has come up a lot. Grace, Moses, and Shepherd Jin Yong also spoke in depth under the theme of ‘Truth and Freedom’.
3. A smooth Online Zoom Retreat
Missionary Isaac Min hosted for 4 days and repeatedly uploaded a PowerPoint presentation with background music 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after each lecture. Each CMI chapter prepared and served music before and after the lecture.
4. Retreat with 6 Testimonies
At this retreat, Haerang, Anna, Lydia, Alex, David, and Mina shared their testimonies.
Sister Haerang said she wanted to focus on getting to know Jesus better, leaving her worries about the future after graduation and the expensive tuition of international students to Jesus.
Sister Anna prayed for Jesus to soften her heart as she confessed her own pride in her anger at God’s words, and that she was utterly incompetent and needed God.
Sister Lydia, among three groups of her schoolmates, shared her worries of what she would do if she didn't belong and get along well. She prayed for her progress in faith before God at these times.
Alex said he wanted to find the 'Living Water' but also confessed his 'blocking stones' such as the stable financial state and the recognition of people. He also said that he needed the help of Jesus to remove these stones, and that he would like to have daily communion with him.
Brother David confessed his insecurities in fear of losing the love he received among his worldly friends and being viewed as a religious lunatic. But he said he was ashamed to suddenly realize that the things he feared to lose were so trivial compared to what God had given him as a gift of Jesus.
Sister Mina confessed that her job was her own 'broken cistern', stating that she lived up to the city's glamorous home and her recognition as a leader among her co-workers. But when she thinks about eternal things, she decided to cut back on her job and focus more on getting to know Jesus.
