As we near the end of 2020, we wanted to express our gratitude for what God has been doing through the work of Goldenwood this year. While there are a lot of ways to tell you what we’ve been up to, the real fruit is best seen in the lives of those directly served. Highlighted below are a few testimonials to share just a handful of the hundreds of stories of God’s Spirit at work through Goldenwood during the challenges and difficulties of 2020.
Rasheeda is one of the Dreamers of the inaugural 2020 Dream Forum. Our vision is to see work revived by love, and this new initiative has been an exciting next step as we ignite a community to cultivate the dreams God gives to His people–dreams to reimagine and renew this world.
Entertainment and Education, Goldenwood Supporter and Dreamer of the 2020 Dream Forum
“Thank you, Goldenwood, for listening to the Holy Spirit and starting this, the Dream Forum… This is so deeply personal for me; these last 5 years have held a lot of healing and waiting on the Lord to share my story or, hopefully, to share His heart through my story, and I never felt like I had the green light to share until this moment in time. So it’s been quite a journey and this has been a real release! ‘Whoo! [My dream] is out there now, and everybody knows!’ This has been something that I’ve been carrying for literally years while waiting on the Lord and listening very closely.
And it’s so beautiful that for the Dream Forum you don’t have to have a business plan all figured out. No, we’re going to listen to the Spirit, we’re going to listen to the Lord. It takes the pressure off–the pressure of ‘You have got to get this right, you gotta launch, you gotta have a brand…’ And of course that’s all part of it. But God’s the one who’s going to bring it together.
It’s been so encouraging to have the community because I felt so alone for a very long time in this, and I wasn’t going to share. But with everything we’ve been seeing in this last year, the timing of this seems to be spot on. And that’s God’s M.O. This has His fingerprints all over it. So anyhow, I just wanted to say thank you. This is just the beginning. To God be the Glory!”
Hear from Goldenwood supporter, Joe, whose experience of starting each day silently before the Lord aided by the structures of Trellis has enabled him to dream about who God is calling him to be in and for this world.
“Goldenwood creates and holds space to experience the fullness of the Triune God. The Spirit-led teachings, prayers, and gatherings awaken my holy imagination, seeing the fullness of God in the earth, creation, and His children. This has reframed how I engage with Him, this world, and the work that I do; framed by the lavishness of His radical love, the fullness of His joy, the bountifulness of hope, the wholeness of His peace, the perfection of His Righteousness and Justice, and His inexhaustible Mercy!”
Our vision is to see work revived by love, and critical to this endeavor is hearing God’s voice helping us process the challenging times we’re living through now. Lourine participated in two of our Quarterly Listening Retreats this year, and as you listen to the Spirit’s work in her life, we hope that you too will be reminded of how God meets us to bring His clarity and healing to our world.
“I have participated in two Goldenwood retreats this year for which I am beyond grateful. Here’s why. When we went into the pandemic I asked the Lord to let me not leave it the same person coming into it. Who knows when it will be behind us, but this I do know–I am already a different person on the inside with a few important new ‘heart habits.’ Nothing in these past nine months has stimulated in me a greater love of our Triune God, and a deeper understanding of His gorgeous Character and Word than these two retreats. Last summer I was saying to myself “I gotta get away from the city” but there was no way. About that time, I saw the email from David/Amilee saying that you might be surprised at how refreshing a virtual retreat can be. And to my pleasant surprise, I found that the way they lead a virtual retreat–with its emphasis on entering the Throne Room of God, visualizing beauty, worshipping in community, and journeying with your pod / 1-1 companion–actually might have been BETTER than being at a physical retreat! No Zoom fatigue. No travel. No distractions. I didn’t see before how much I needed to take stock of the last quarter as well as look ahead to the next quarter with the Lord. So no longer are these quarterly retreats a spiritual inoculation in the midst of COVID disruptions and sufferings. I am committed now to joining every quarterly Goldenwood retreat, virtual or in person. Sweet fruit from a hard season. I can’t recommend highly enough to anyone desiring more of Him and less of the world!”
The following story is from Erin, a lawyer and mother of two living in L.A., who participated in four Trellis offerings this year (our Four-Week Listening Journey):