During these amazing Days of Awe, God allowed a group of Remnant Fellowship women and visitors, hailing from five states, to meet together for a cozy weekend in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Kristin Price’s family opened up their perfect log cabin that had beds for all 21 one of us! 14 women and 7 teenage daughters!
As each Saint came rolling in from Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and Minnesota, many holy hugs and kisses were exchanged! It did not matter if we had known each other for ten years or met that very day, our fervor for God united us instantly making us feel as if we had been best friends for years! On Friday night, we delved into the 12th Chapter of the History of the Love of God by Gwen Shamblin. The Chapter, titled “Love Will Never Fail,” provided to be the perfect kick starter to an already love-filled weekend by clearly defining True Love and how to put it into practice!
Sabbath morning
Tuning into the Remnant Fellowship webcast the following Sabbath morning, God allowed a time of beautiful prayer, conviction, and worship together. The sermon poured out by God thru Gwen was so powerful- everyone in the house was moved and not only became more grateful for this TRUE religion God has so mercifully allowed us to be a part of, but also felt the need to run after this harder than before! A stark contrast of our life before Remnant Fellowship.
After the message, we had communion together around a large table, each pouring out our hearts on what God had been doing in our lives, and also the convictions of how God was prompting each individual to change. Words cannot describe how encouraging and powerful it was to see women from several different backgrounds, religions, and lives coming together in this True Church, all feeling more energy and desire to follow God’s will than ever before!
God-led weight loss…945 pounds down!
Looking for how to fill this precious time God had given us, the consensus of the group was to go to Itasca State Park-the head waters of the Mighty Mississippi River! Although it was a gray, cloudy sky above, it was so much fun to see God’s glory and genius in everything that He created, while before I never would have thought to appreciate the beautiful fall weather and the leaves turning such vibrant colors!
Laughing, taking pictures, and marveling at God’s beauty together, we thanked God for giving us the best of friends to share this remarkable weekend with! While reflecting on this journey God had guided all of us through over the years, we counted up the amount of weight loss in this small group alone – 945 lbs. for 14 women! What a praise to God for Weigh Down Ministries and Remnant Fellowship that has allowed this much change for so many years! We truly are part of the Kingdom of Love!
Fellowship & Freedom
That evening we enjoyed the gift of fellowship and a homemade meal made by all! Eating real food that God provided within his boundaries, and loving conversations void of vain talk or gossip is the most freeing feeling in the world! Free of guilt and legalistic rules of what foods to eat, what to wear, and when and where to praise God (where you are, Zion is!). After reading Chapter 20 of the Love Book, we all shared prayer requests and prayed for each other in our tests and trial that had been handpicked for each of us! One RF woman shared that her husband, who has been listening to Gwen, knows that she has the answer to salvation and he wants to be saved and is starting to seek Him.
Living out our faith
This reinforcement of not forcing our religion on others but rather placing our trust in God and LIVING IT (which we have been taught by Gwen), and then watching God take care of our problems builds up an even stronger relationship with God! We even got to have a mini dance party into the wee hours of the night! Childlike hearts dancing around the house singing-happiness is the truth….
Sunday, each one leaving as the day went along. Completely in awe God allowed this time together. During lunch, beautiful teenage girls were able to share the fruit of putting this message of total love and obedience into practice by being a light in the schools while friends continue to gossip, and then gently helping a friend flip it onto the positive! They testified that they are doing what Ms. Gwen taught Elizabeth to do; hold God’s hand at school, and focus on His will all day long. The impact this has had on their lives already has been monumental, but also for the older generation to see this next generation chase this at such a young age is tremendously encouraging.
The fruit of Remnant Fellowship is evident and more importantly it is LASTING. Very few people are able to say they have true friends all around the country, much less the world, that WANT to take a weekend trip just to be with each other and draw closer to God for his glory!
-Sara Gormsen, Remnant News