Mukti means “freedom” in Bengali. The Mukti Network is a network of women who are our heroes. These women serve on a daily basis in some of the darkest of places — yet these places are full of light because of them and the God they represent.
This was our second annual Encouragement Retreat for this compassionate network. This year the theme was based on Isaiah 58:10, a verse that speaks of your light rising in the darkness when your life is poured out for those who are oppressed. Our friend Vinita Shaw of the Disha Foundation was our special guest.
We chose Ibiza Resort just outside of Kolkata as the retreat site. This turned out to be a blessing beyond what we even imagined. Some of our friends in the network had never stayed in a hotel before, several had never seen a bathtub. We worked hard to treat them like the beautiful daughters of God that they are. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" so we made custom scented body lotions for the women!
We led worship and offered special sessions based on encouraging Scripture passages. During free time some of the ladies zip-lined across the lake, paddle-boated and tried their hand at archery. Time and time again they thanked us for blessing them with this refreshing retreat.
Sunday night we found out that the game Bunko is universal and we are all alike when it comes to winning a game. We laughed and enjoyed our time with our international sisters.
After an interactive prayer walk with creative prayer stations we closed our retreat by releasing sky lanterns. The lanterns represented their lights that would rise in the darkness and affect generations to come. We prayed with our sisters and said "until next year..." And we can't wait!
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