Dallas International Street Chruch Retreat - Ocotber 10, 2008
Carra Berry
This is a story of the first DISC Ladies Retreat which was on the weekend of October 10, 2008. By the way this is also Pastor Karen’s birthday!
Trecy picked me up from home and we drove to the Church to pick up Pastor Karen and the 8 homeless ladies that were going on the trip. We were blessed to have Bishop Skelton loan out his church van for the trip and Trecy took her SUV. We stopped for gas a block from the church and we were on our way. We drove to Cedar Hill, by this time it was 2:30pm and we were all hungry so we stopped to get something to eat.
Pastor Karen who was driving the van asked me to drive it and see if I thought it would make the trip. She had already called Bishop Skelton and asked him if it was safe to drive. He said yes, to have faith and it would be fine. However, the front wheel alignment was way off on the van and I was sure all of us in the van would have shaking baby syndrome before getting to Llano.
Five hours and 2 more stops later, we arrived in Llano, TX. But Llano wasn’t the place we were really going to be, we headed west another 30 minutes to the Simpson Ranch.
The ladies were saying now this is in the country, I said you’re not in the country until you hit a gravel road. We hit the gravel road and then the two lane dirt road and then the one lane dirt road…..we were definitely in the country and then some.
We finally arrive at the Simpson Ranch’s retreat which we found out is call “Bonnie’s Backyard Retreat” (BBR), named after Jeanie Wooten’s grandmother, a devout Christian woman. They said she showed everyone the love of Jesus and they planned to do the same through all the retreats they would have there at BBR.
We had a very warm welcome by Jeanie, Sherry, Brent, Joy, Jimmy, Sandy and many others. They had supper waiting on us, we were all hungry. We prayed, ate and then had cake and ice cream in honor of Karen’s birthday. It was already dark by this time and some of the ladies wanted to know if they were coyotes around there? Jeanie said yes, but they stay away from this area.
After the wonderful meal, we went to the “rocks”, we sat on the rocks and listened to Jeanie tell us about the ranch, the rocks, and the vision they had for the BBR. And then they told us we would all be blindfolded, not to speak, to remove our shoes and soon we would all walk on water just like Jesus. We put on the blindfolds, took off our shoes and of course the coyotes immediately started howling.
The “BBR team” started telling us stories of Jesus. The stories were told as if the people who were talking were from the Bible. Peter told about his time with Jesus and how he saw Jesus heal the sick and preach the good news. And about the time he was in the boat and saw Jesus coming to the boat walking on the water. He couldn’t believe his eyes at first then Jesus told him that he could walk on water too. He told about how he fell in the water and Jesus was there to catch him.
Then it was time for us to walk on water. One by one we were taken blindfolded across the rocks and then we walked on water. I could truly feel the presence of God and couldn’t stop crying, it was a wonderful experience.
They told the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet and as it was being narrated, they washed our feet and gave us a towel that represented being a servant of Christ and showing the love of Jesus to others. We were also given a geo rock from the Simpson Ranch, which represented standing on the rock or Peter being the rock or ok I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I’m really, really close. After everyone was finished, we removed our blindfolds and saw we were on the other side of the rocks. A friend of Jeanie’s told her life story, how she found Jesus and learned to “fly lady fly”.
They gave us big bags of all kinds of personal hygiene products, including the greatest travel toothbrush, soap, lotions and a whole lot more. And we also got a set of sheets and a blanket. All of this was donated by people and businesses in the area.
It was time for us to go to the “bunk house” and stake our claims for the beds we were going to sleep in the next two nights. Nine of us stayed there, while Trecy and Pastor Karen went to Sherry Simpson’s house in Llano. Sherry is Trecy’s sister.
I bunked with Brittany, it was a little cramped for the 2 of us, but we liked our choice. I warned Brittany that my daughter and sister say I snore like a bear, so if you hear something like that in the middle of the night, it’s just me. I had a great night’s rest. Brittany said she did too and never heard me snore.
Brent came and picked us up and it was off to the BBR for a very yummy breakfast. After breakfast we had a few minutes to enjoy the sights that we couldn’t see the night before in the dark. The “rocks” were even more amazing in the daylight and from the top you could see for miles and miles.
Soon we were off for a 4 hour hay ride around the 640 acres owed by Jimmy, Joy, Jeanie and Richard, Jeanie’s husband. Our first stop, feeding the cows….you herd me (cow pun), to feed the cows. It was the country cows verse the city gals and the cows won.
We went to a dry creek bed and looked for rocks and other nature type items. We sang, laughed and just had a great time breathing in the country air. It was time for lunch so back to the BBR where Richard had been Bar-B-Qing all day. I’m sure by now I don’t have to tell you that the BBQ was extra yummy.
After lunch the ladies were treated with beauty items and each got to choose two outfits from the items that were donated. There were some very beautiful things. Also Sandy and Jeanie made some beautiful scarves and we each got one of them.
We all retreated (retreat pun) to take a nap and get ready to go to Jimmy and Joy’s for supper that night.
We arrived at Jimmy and Joy’s spectacular new home. The outside was Austin brick, which I love by the way and when I build my home would like to have too. The inside was large and roomy, very tastefully decorated and just felt good. One of the greatest things was a four or five shelve bookcase with the Christmas village setup. They leave it up all year. There was a great view of Smoothing Iron Mountain from the back porch swing. In the back yard they had a beautiful water fall which Jeanie and Jimmy built.
The ladies were all dressed up in their new clothes and were escorted in as their names were announced. We took pictures of each of them as they came in and every one clapped for them. They got the tour of the house and then were escorted into the dining area.
The dining table was laid out with flowers, candles and everything was very beautiful. We all sat down and were served a wedding feast. The theme for the night was “we are the bride of Christ” and we were treated like a bride and even served wedding cake. All the food and the cake were from the wedding of Jeanie’s daughter. There was a group of people who played music and sang the whole time too.
I have to tell you, by this time I couldn’t stop crying. The group of people who help with the whole weekend treated very one so special and are very kind. It really touched my heart.
Oh did I mention that all the ladies were homeless at some point in time and were now at the Street Church as disciples? One of the ladies name Debora had never been out of Dallas, this was her first trip away from Dallas. Another lady Tracy said that if this was anything like heaven she definitely wants to go. She said she felt like a Hollywood star.
After the wonderful time there, like that wasn’t enough, we went back to the BBR for a camp fire. Brent made a really large camp fire we had smores. Some of the ladies had never roasted marshmallows or had smores. There were a lot of firsts for some of the women on the trip.
We went back to the bunk house and had another great night of rest.
Sunday morning we got up and started packing and then you guessed it, had a very wonderful breakfast. We had the pleasure of going to the Valley Spring Methodist Church in Valley Spring, Texas to worship the Lord. This is one of the churches that Pastor Don use to preach at and that’s how we all got connected to Jeanie and crew….well sort of, but that’s a long story for another time. The ladies sang a couple of songs at the church. Sherry Simpson asked us to come by the nursing home in Llano after lunch and sing for a woman she has been ministering to who had brain cancer.
After church we went back to the BBR and ate lunch. Jeanie loaded up all the leftover for us to take back to Dallas. We then finished packing and loaded the van. Next stop was the nursing home in Llano. The ladies sang and you could see the eyes of the residents light up. Spreading the Love of Jesus, now that’s what it is all about.
We headed back for Dallas. Three stops and several hundred miles in the shaking baby syndrome van, we arrived back to big D, and I do mean Dallas.
If you are ever blessed with the opportunity to go to the BBR for a retreat, I highly recommend that you go, you will be blessed. It was such a wonderful experience for everyone who went.
Thank you so much to all who helped out and donated all the items at the retreat. It is an experience I will not forget and a lesson I will treasure.
Show the love of Jesus to someone today.
“He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.” John 4:36
