28 Nov 2024, 11:00I.M. ChridzaKents Hill Park Training & Conference Centre
ZUSDAF Dorcas Retreat 2024: To Love is to Serve
ZUSDAF Dorcas, the Women’s Ministries arm of the Zimbabwe UK Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship, hosted over 400 women at their 2024 annual retreat in Milton Keynes. Themed ‘To Love is to Serve,’ the event featured worship, community service, and literature distribution, fostering spiritual growth and cultural connection.
From 24th to 27th October, ZUSDAF Dorcas, the Women’s Ministries arm of the Zimbabwe UK Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship (ZUSDAF), held their third annual retreat at the Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton Keynes. The spirit-filled event, themed “To Love is to Serve”, was attended by over 400 women, mostly of Zimbabwean origin, from all corners of the UK, along with fellow Adventist sisters from Uganda, Malawi, the Caribbean, the Republic of Ireland, Zambia, and Botswana. Among the delegates were four special guests with no Adventist background.
Renowned preacher Dr Kefilwe Portia Sivako, all the way from Botswana, was the Guest Speaker, while the SEC Health Ministries Director, Edith Samambwa, led the morning Manna sessions.
To fulfil the Dorcas mission of community service, on the very first day of the retreat, Mrs Munyati’s team donated warm clothing and toiletries to the Fair Space Women’s Refuge Centre at Margaret Powell House. The centre, whose aim is to provide a positive, safe, and uplifting environment for women in crisis, also requested counselling services. The SEC Director for Counselling, Mrs Thembie Mapingire, will be following up on this.
Mrs Charidza and her team engaged the ladies in various scheduled physical activities and Bible board games. Those who participated enjoyed themselves and rediscovered the “child element” within them.
It was all hands on deck on Sabbath afternoon as the Dorcas ladies, in their community service attire, thronged nearby shopping malls for literature distribution. Over 1,000 books and leaflets were distributed, while Mrs Majoni’s team visited Milton Court Care Home and donated toiletry bags to the 30 residents. They mingled with the residents and sang hymns. At the conference centre, Mrs Madzikanda’s team distributed literature and donated diaries and pens to the kitchen staff.
Having been drawn to the worship auditorium by the melodious singing of the Dorcas ladies during the Divine Service, a group of 42 ladies who were at the same venue for their Wellness and Wellbeing activities joined the Dorcas ladies in the afternoon for praise and worship. Though impromptu, this turned out to be a very special session, evoking tears of praise and gratitude from some of the visitors and the Dorcas ladies. To convey their gratitude after the session, the visitors made and presented to ZUSDAF Dorcas a wreath of friendship. They expressed their desire to stay in touch with the Dorcas leadership and gave their consent for their photographs to be included in the retreat report.
ZUSDAF Dorcas extends their gratitude to all the ladies who donated warm clothing for distribution and to all the drivers who made their cars available to transport people to the various locations for community service. A huge thank you goes to Mrs Odelcah Pfende of West Bletchley Community SDA Church, who worked with Sister Pumuzile Ndlovu and went out of her way to contact all the community service centres served during the retreat.
ZUSDAF comprises any Adventist individuals of Zimbabwean descent residing in the United Kingdom. Its membership is drawn from various SDA churches across the British Isles. They meet periodically on Zimdays to motivate one another in Christian love, celebrate their cultural identity, and integrate within BUC churches and society.
The ZUSDAF Dorcas Committee, comprising ten devoted women, organises, directs, and ensures the smooth running of the annual retreat. ZUSDAF Dorcas aims to encourage women within and outside the church to join them in gladly toiling for the Master by meeting the social, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of disadvantaged people across the British Isles.
ZUSDAF Dorcas, the Women’s Ministries arm of the Zimbabwe UK Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship, hosted over 400 women at their 2024 annual retreat in Milton Keynes. Themed ‘To Love is to Serve,’ the event featured worship, community service, and literature distribution, fostering spiritual growth and cultural connection.
From 24th to 27th October, ZUSDAF Dorcas, the Women’s Ministries arm of the Zimbabwe UK Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship (ZUSDAF), held their third annual retreat at the Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton Keynes. The spirit-filled event, themed “To Love is to Serve”, was attended by over 400 women, mostly of Zimbabwean origin, from all corners of the UK, along with fellow Adventist sisters from Uganda, Malawi, the Caribbean, the Republic of Ireland, Zambia, and Botswana. Among the delegates were four special guests with no Adventist background.
Renowned preacher Dr Kefilwe Portia Sivako, all the way from Botswana, was the Guest Speaker, while the SEC Health Ministries Director, Edith Samambwa, led the morning Manna sessions.
To fulfil the Dorcas mission of community service, on the very first day of the retreat, Mrs Munyati’s team donated warm clothing and toiletries to the Fair Space Women’s Refuge Centre at Margaret Powell House. The centre, whose aim is to provide a positive, safe, and uplifting environment for women in crisis, also requested counselling services. The SEC Director for Counselling, Mrs Thembie Mapingire, will be following up on this.
Mrs Charidza and her team engaged the ladies in various scheduled physical activities and Bible board games. Those who participated enjoyed themselves and rediscovered the “child element” within them.
It was all hands on deck on Sabbath afternoon as the Dorcas ladies, in their community service attire, thronged nearby shopping malls for literature distribution. Over 1,000 books and leaflets were distributed, while Mrs Majoni’s team visited Milton Court Care Home and donated toiletry bags to the 30 residents. They mingled with the residents and sang hymns. At the conference centre, Mrs Madzikanda’s team distributed literature and donated diaries and pens to the kitchen staff.
Having been drawn to the worship auditorium by the melodious singing of the Dorcas ladies during the Divine Service, a group of 42 ladies who were at the same venue for their Wellness and Wellbeing activities joined the Dorcas ladies in the afternoon for praise and worship. Though impromptu, this turned out to be a very special session, evoking tears of praise and gratitude from some of the visitors and the Dorcas ladies. To convey their gratitude after the session, the visitors made and presented to ZUSDAF Dorcas a wreath of friendship. They expressed their desire to stay in touch with the Dorcas leadership and gave their consent for their photographs to be included in the retreat report.
ZUSDAF Dorcas extends their gratitude to all the ladies who donated warm clothing for distribution and to all the drivers who made their cars available to transport people to the various locations for community service. A huge thank you goes to Mrs Odelcah Pfende of West Bletchley Community SDA Church, who worked with Sister Pumuzile Ndlovu and went out of her way to contact all the community service centres served during the retreat.
ZUSDAF comprises any Adventist individuals of Zimbabwean descent residing in the United Kingdom. Its membership is drawn from various SDA churches across the British Isles. They meet periodically on Zimdays to motivate one another in Christian love, celebrate their cultural identity, and integrate within BUC churches and society.
The ZUSDAF Dorcas Committee, comprising ten devoted women, organises, directs, and ensures the smooth running of the annual retreat. ZUSDAF Dorcas aims to encourage women within and outside the church to join them in gladly toiling for the Master by meeting the social, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of disadvantaged people across the British Isles.
