Welcome! If you’re new around here, we hope you’re enjoying this month’s tour of Velvet Ashes. I’m Danielle Wheeler, founder of Velvet Ashes and director of spiritual development. As we are nearing the tenth anniversary of our community, I already find myself waxing nostalgic about our humble beginnings.
When the idea of Velvet Ashes first sparked, conversations and emails started flying. We started dreaming of an online community for cross-cultural women, and the ideas were abundant. “We could do this…” “What if we did this?” “Ooh, AND we could do this!”
Looking back nearly ten years later, those ideas that felt so big and audacious now seem tiny when compared to what God has done with this community. We’re able to do things we never dreamed possible in those early days. Technology, cultural trends, and global issues have been ever-changing in this past decade. But what was true when we started, remains true today:
To live out our callings as cross-cultural women, we need two things: God and each other.
The heart of Velvet Ashes has always been to provide space and opportunity to connect with God and each other. Last week, Sarah shared with you all the ways that you can connect with other global women, learning from one another and sharing your cross-cultural journey.
Today, I get the joy of sharing with you the three ways that we provide space for you to connect with God.
1. Retreats
Jesus says, “Come away with me for a while and get some rest.” We believe that retreating away from our ministries and daily responsibilities is a vital rhythm. There’s a special way that the Holy Spirit tends to us when we retreat. We know how hard it is to be intentional in doing this, though! That’s why we invite you to the following retreat rhythm. We provide the content and plan the details for you. You simply find a space and time to retreat wherever you are.
- Online Retreat – This retreat is guided by rich video content that offers teaching, music, movement, art, and more.
“God healed and restored my hope which encourages me to go back and keep going. God was so kind and gentle, so patient and loving. It brought me to tears.”
– Online Retreat Participant
- Unplugged Retreat – We all need time with God away from screens. This retreat helps you do just that.
“This retreat helped me to be really honest with myself and with God and I needed that. It was so refreshing!”
– Unplugged Retreat Participant
We’re so excited to announce the theme of our upcoming Unplugged Retreat:
Registration opens August 26!
- Advent Mini-Retreat – This mini-retreat has become our favorite Christmas tradition. Join us in savoring sacred space with God in the Advent season. It’s our (free) Christmas gift to you!
All of our past Online and Unplugged retreats are available to you to be purchased and done at any time as a personal or group retreat. Host Guides are provided for group retreats to walk you through planning for your group. Annual members get access to all of our past retreats!
2. Spiritual Formation Practices
Each week in our membership community, I offer a spiritual formation practice. If you’re wondering what exactly spiritual formation is, here’s an answer for you:
“Christian spiritual formation is the process of being shaped by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ, filled with love for God and the world.” — Renovaré, “A Call to Spiritual Formation”
As a community, we’re not interested in merely talking about God or attempting to do great things for God. We’re here for real connection and interaction with God. We’re here for Spirit transformation. We’re here for a deep love relationship with the Trinity that overflows onto the world around us.
Each week, we enter into practices done by God’s people throughout the centuries for the spiritual forming of our souls. Then we share as a community what God is doing in us.
3. Spiritual Direction
This is our third offering for connecting with God. Spiritual direction is one-on-one time with a spiritual director. It is an unhurried, contemplative space to share your story and the journey of your heart. A spiritual director helps you listen to the Holy Spirit, notice the invitation of God, and discern how God is actively at work in the midst of life’s everyday moments.
We know that it is God who invited you into cross-cultural ministry. It’s God alone who can sustain you. And it’s God alone who knows when an ending comes and a new beginning awaits. Wherever you are in your journey, you are not alone. Velvet Ashes is here to offer space for you to connect to the two things you need: God and each other.
What has been a way for you to connect to God?
