Hi Reader,

💌 I’m about to mail our "Mark 5:19 letter" sharing all that we have to be grateful for from this past year. Do I have your correct address:

[ADDRESS GOES HERE] [ADDRESS_2 GOES HERE]

[ADDRESS_CITY GOES HERE] [ADDRESS_ST GOES HERE] [ADDRESS_ZIP GOES HERE]

[B_ADDRESS_COUNTRY GOES HERE]

If I don’t AND you’d like to know what We’ve been up to during this sabbatical year please:

Our family just returned from leading a retreat for Ministers of the Gospel in the Middle East. The theme was Resilience: Wholeness & Brokenness and drew from our research and lived experience.

Through the 7 sessions we invited participants to pause and reflect on what was most precious to them now and the dynamics of their relationship with God, one another, and themselves that could support their resilience in this season of life and ministry.

Here are two quick stories I hope you'll find edifying of how I sensed God working in my heart through this retreat:

Remember that you are dust:

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His Sheep Know the Sound of His Voice:

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As we prepared for this retreat throughout the year, we sensed these sessions could be helpful not only for those in the room, but for others. The pace of life seems so hurried for so many that we are losing focus on what matters most -- when everything is urgent, does anything actually matter?

So we used these 7 sessions to frame resilience in ways that invite us to refocus on what is most precious. And we recorded them!

• And you can give what you can and access them. To support your learning, encourage deeper reflection, and motivate your application moving forward, we're sharing the audio recordings, notes, slides, and handouts from the 7 sessions!

To make this a perfect resource for the slower days between Christmas and New Years, you'll also receive...

#1 Recommendations about how to structure a retreat wherever you are.

• I've been taking mini retreats for as long as I can remember, but intentionally since 2016 and I've been guiding others through personalized week-long counseling retreats since 2021.

#2 Since 2 of the 3 legs of our “resilience stool” are support from one another and support from ourselves, you'll get questions for personal reflection or group discussion to each session.

• That way you have the option to enjoy this resource by yourself in solitude or with a few trusted friends in a small group.

#3 Plus you’ll get a year of monthly emails to prompt you to nurture the core postures, practices, and relationships that support your resilience.

• Imagine setting aside a few days and working through a few sessions each day or working through one session a day for a week. Imagine enjoying these sessions with a few others in a small group or by yourself in solitude. Imagine next year being prompted once a month to remember a key takeaway with resources for personal reflection and group discussion, and invitations to take action that nurtures your resilience.

I hope this "give what you can resource" will prove to be a source of grace for you and those you share it with. So you know what to expect:

👀take a sneak peek of the google drive below:

​🎙️listen to the welcome session here

📺Or watch Elizabeth's endorsement:

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Reader If you’re coming to the end of this year feeling strained, depleted, or worried and in need of refreshment, refocus, and resilience then these 7 sessions and extra resources may be for you.

At the end of our grit is where we encounter Jesus’ resilience and the courage to continue to join Him in His mission in the world. I hope you'll join us now so that:

1. Wherever you are, you have what you need to make a mini retreat right now.
2. Then you'll go into next year knowing you (and those you share this with) will be prompted to protect what matters most in order to stay the course.
3. And as you nurture your supportive relationships with God, one another, and yourself expectant hope will blossom.

Reader If you safeguard your mini retreat with a generosity of spirit, and make a good faith effort to fully engage with the 7 sessions now and the monthly resources moving forward, you can expect to:

1. Develop professionally and personally in the core practices and postures of resilient ministers of the Gospel.
2. Be encouraged and challenged as a disciple of Jesus Christ regardless of your vocation.
3. Be invited into an unhurried life that honors what matters most in order to stay the course.

Plus, your purchase will be your contribution to our ministry travel fund.

• I’m unable to receive tax deductible donations this year, so your purchase now will not only benefit you all next year, but will be set aside and used to confirm what conferences and other ministry opportunities we say “Yes!” to.
• Think about that: every dollar you contribute will 1) be a blessing to our family, and 2) be a blessing to those we travel to serve, and 3) be a blessing to those they serve, and 4) be a blessing to you as "this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." (2 Cor. 9:12)

Therefore, while countless hours and 1,000s of miles and dollars were invested to create these sessions, I’m asking you to give what you can.

• My hope is that this resource would be a means of grace in your life now and through you to others in the coming year. Therefore, while $100 - $500 would be appropriate, just be as generous as you can Reader.

Resilience: Wholeness & Brokenness The 2024 Give What You Can & Retreat Where You Are Resource is adopted from a professional development retreat offered... Read more Get it now!

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⚠️This is the only email I intend to send about this resource. If you need any more information to make a decision, reply with your questions.

Reader - would you forward this email to a few people who might be interested? And to encourage you to act soon, expect some fantastic bonus rewards if you join before December 31 🙌

With Expectant Hope,

​ ​Geoff Whiteman, ThM, LMFT​ ​🎁 access free resources I promised to share. 💌 Read and share my latest updates. 🤝 Let me know how can I help you or your community?​ “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (excerpt from Ephesians 3:14-21)

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