Wednesday, December 14, 2022

When the little fund runs dry - an opportunity for you.


When the little fund runs dry it provides others the opportunity to partner with us!  

Bring a Woman to the Well - This fund was originally begun by a donation towards the ministry that was specifically to help cover or offset the cost of a retreat stay for someone who could not afford all or any of the rate for the overnight.

Currently we are asking you if you would like to invest in the fund that helps to bring women here to retreat.  

This past year we have seen an influx of people who want to come, and have come, at little to no cost to them .  HOWEVER being a non profit, also having gone through the tough years of Covid, our little ministry is also encountering tough financial times.

What does this mean?  It means that we will  have to limit or say no to requests to come free.

So this is where we would like to extend the invitation to you.

If you are a CHURCH that is asking us to consider taking someone at little or no cost.  We would like to encourage you to be the ones sending the person.  Churches have a greater resource base to work from, and often have a fund to help those in need.  

If you are family or friends, or life group, and you believe someone needs to retreat, do you believe in that so much that you are willing to buy a gift certificate for one or more nights, to send them?  (gift certificates are not tax receptacle) 

If you are someone who just believes in retreat ministry, perhaps you would consider a donation to the Bring a Woman to the Well fund.  Donations of this kind (meaning that it is not specified for someone) is tax receiptable.  

We believe in this vision - of providing the space to allow women to come and retreat and it has blessed us immensely to allow people to come when they were financially unable.  But our little fund is dry.

Would you care to partner with us in this way to help enable us to continue to bless others in this way?

Feel free to email Joy at womenrefreshed@gmail.com or press the DONATE on this site, and specify the fund.    

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Pondering the Chapters of the Christmas Story: our Advent Walk Through


Our Annual Advent Walk Through is back!


This is to inform you of the dates 

in case you want to make this part 

of your advent season.

Time slots available (I slot people in 15 minutes apart however it takes you about an hour to go through all the stations). The last time that shows ie: 1-4, or 6-9 means that this is the last time slot for the day or evening.  Knowing it takes about 1 to 1.5 hours means if you come at 9 am time slot, you will leave at 10:30 aprox.  We are okay with this if this time suits you better!

Pondering the Chapters of the Christmas Story

Saturday, December 3: 1-4 pm & 7:00 - 9:30 pm

Sunday, December 4: 7:30-9:30 pm

Monday, December 5: 9 am - 1 pm

Tuesday, December 6: 9 am - 10:30 am and 6-9pm

Wednesday, December 7:9-11 am & 1-4 pm 

Thursday, December 8: 9-11 am, 1-4 pm & 6-9 pm

Saturday, December 10: 10:30 am - 4 pm 


This event is a free event 

however we won't turn away donations!

** if you want to come with a group - let me know and we will see what we can do

to book your time slot - email womenrefreshed@gmail.com 

Monday, September 26, 2022

Slowly moving into Autumn at The Well





Life at The Well has felt a little bit like a motor beginning to warm up again and run.  Some people have asked me - "ARE YOU FULL?"  and while I appreciate the intent of their question, it begs a bigger conversation.  And well, the answer is NO we are not full if you mean - are all rooms booked every day of the week - 24/7?  Yep that would be full and to be honest - I am not sure we would want that kind of full.  

Prior to covid happening, I think in the year 2019 we hosted almost 340 people in the year.  Now that included ANYHOW who came for a visit - whether it was an overnight, a day retreat, or a Bible Study night, or a coffee visit.   I loved the rhythm of that year - it felt like we were seeing repeat people who had worked retreat into their rythm of life.  

Well - then Covid hit!  And I will be honest - because while it affected us in a big way - as every other business was affected (no clients - no income) but still there were some gifts of COVID and it came in the way of having time to just be, and to listen to the voice of God speak into our vision for ministry here.  And HE always has a way of clarifying things when HE speaks.   For that I am thankful.

While many things have changed - some thing have remained the same - and we are still here and offereing retreat space for you to come to.  We still offer space at The Well for women, for couples and for individual men.  And again - we do NOT put couples together with individual retreaters, and we do not mix men retreating at the same time as individual women so THAT has not changed.  

While we are not full - and not even close - we have seen that God is bringing those that need to come.There is some much hurt out there - so much confusion - so much sadness - so much stuff in lives that needs to be worked through.  While we have no counsellor here - I do have a certification as a Spiritual Director, and it is often my privilege to sit with someone over breakfast and to listen and pray with people.   While we are NOT full, we have seen a flow of people coming to spend quiet time with God.  We continue to offer retreat time during the week and also weekends.  

If you are wondering what is available - please EMAIL us at womenrefreshed@gmail.com  and we will figure something out for you.  If you are wondering about the new year - 2023 - then we are booking into that already - so don't wait and be disappointed.  

Again - please EMAIL instead of phoning.  I have been thinking of cancelling the landline due to all the spam calls we get - but I have it there in case you do phone - as it gives the informaion and strong encouragement to email.  We need the paper trail - as it just gives all the info instead of having things all over the place (facebook/instagram messages are not always checked so again please email).

Till then - take care and enjoy this season of Fall.  Leaves are begining to turn - a reminder that we go through seasons in life - in every way!

Talk soon - we look forward to hosting you 

Joy


Thursday, March 17, 2022

Our second virtual fundraiser is in the book!

 

... and a time to dance!

Our virtual Evening of Celebration and Giving:  Seasons is in the books!  We celebrated this event with pizza kits from Mona Lisa Restaurante, and we watched the program in the comfort of our own homes!

We believe this is one of the best events ever!  But we may be biased - so we would gladly take your comments!!

If you were not a part of the event but would like to see it - please watch here:

Evening of Celebration & Giving: Seasons


A big thank you to those who were sponsors for our event:  (please also see the tab for the page "Friends of the Ministry" for their logos.

Bubble Sponsors $1000+

Allan & Janet Fast

Anonymous Donor

Bill & Margaret Fast Family Foundation

Blue Jay Family Works:  Alvin Klassen

Elmer & Jeannette Thiessen

Fast Insurance:  Ryan Martens

Friends Funeral Service:  Harry Froese

Lucy L. Funk

Michael & Ashley Thiessen

Phoebe & Steve Robinson

Red's Tree Co:  Joshua & Leah Klassen

World of Water:  Leanne & Rory Bochinski


Friends of the Well Sponsors: $500 +

Anonymous Donor

Betty & Tony deVlaming

Fast Covers: Neil & Lois Fast

Marietta Holdings:  Marietta Rewucki

Three 6 Tea:  Michelle Bloom

Waldy & Wanda Derksen


This fundraiser was full of surprise - and it is our "season to dance" as we reflect on the event.

We are grateful to all who sponsored, watched and to all who donated!


Thank you from the bottom of our overflowing hearts!

Grateful,

Ashley Thiessen, Janet Fast, Leah Klassen, Phoebe Robinson and Joy Klassen (me)



Wednesday, January 19, 2022

You are invited ....

 





We are excited to announce our fundraising event which will take place via YouTube on March 10, 2022.  Last year, our event was a great success thanks to the generosity of friends and family who loved on the ministry in such a tangible way.  

Email us at womenrefreshed@gmail.com for more info, or to purchase your ticket.
The fundraising event will be no longer than an hour in length.  
Being that it is a YouTube means that if you can not watch it on the day of, you can watch it in the days to follow,
 and if you need to start/stop, then you can do that too.  

We are excited about our theme:  Seasons
We will take you through the "seasons of life within the ministry"
 via conversations/testimonials/pictures.

The ticket for the event includes a large TAKE HOME PIZZA KIT from Mona Lisa Restaurante which we used last year.  The feed back was good.  The pizza was great!  So we are doing this again.  Pizza kits will be delivered to you the day before the event, so that you can make the pizza and watch the link along with us.
You will be receipted for the amount over the cost of the pizza ($80 will be receipted)

If you are a business or an individual that would like to come alongside of us as a sponsor ~ we would love to hear from you about this too!
There are a couple options we can offer you.

So, mark your calendar - and let us know how many tickets you may want.

It will be a good Evening of Celebration & Giving
Hope you will join us!