Rachel's Vineyard Retreats

The next meeting of the Upper Room is to be Sunday 13 May 2012, in Wellington.
The Upper Room is limited to those who have made a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat….with any Retreat Team.   Upper Room meetings are held twice each year in Wellington.
The Upper Room is a safe and supportive gathering. For information, please contact Wendy Hill, ph 027 254 9222 or email: info@rachelsvineyard.org.nz

The ‘Open Arms’ Remembrance Service is an opportunity for prayer and reflection on the lives of children lost to abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth or other pregnancy losses.

This service of acknowledgement and remembrance is to be held on:

Sunday 12 February, 2012 from 3-4pm

at the Home of Compassion Chapel
2 Rhine Street
Island Bay, Wellington

Afternoon tea will follow.  All are very welcome.

For further information and enquiries, please contact:
Email:  info@greenstonedoors.co.nz
Phone:  027 254 9222

Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat Schedule for 2012:

24-26 February, 2012  Wellington
22-24 June, 2012  Wellington
9-11 November, 2012 Wellington

Contact: Wendy Hill, 027 254 9222
email:  info@rachelsvineyard.org.nz

All enquiries are confidential.

The third Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat for 2011 has been held and the Wellington-based Retreat Team has a programme of three more scheduled in 2012.

“It has been a rewarding, if at times challenging year for this work,” said the Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats Site Leader, Suzanne O’Rourke.  “The first Retreat took place a few days after the February earthquake and the second Retreat took place, quite literally in the shadow of the Chilean volcanic ash cloud.  To have successfully managed three weekends, drawing participants from throughout New Zealand, has taken a quiet army of support, for which we are very grateful.”  RVR Thank You for 2011

Wendy Hill, Wellington
Working as a volunteer at Arohata Women’s Prison has given me uncomfortable insights
 into how hard it can be to ‘respect life’.

I was called in to work in my capacity as a pregnancy counsellor with women who don’t qualify to keep their babies with them in the prison system.  My job is to prepare these women for the birth of their babies and for the separation which will inevitably follow.

It is work that involves deep grief and at times, very brief glimpses of hope. Continue reading →

Participants from previous Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats are encouraged to attend an ’Upper Room’ Meeting for support and sharing.

The gatherings take place in Wellington between 2pm and 5pm on a Sunday afternoon, approximately six weeks after each Retreat.  Continue reading →

Each Tuesday night between 10pm and 11pm, an hour of prayer is observed for the work of Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats throughout the world.

In prayer, Retreat Teams and their supporter groups across North and South America, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Pacific commit all those whose lives have been touched by abortion and those working in the ministries of resolution and reconciliation to God’s love.

This is deeply sensitive work for everyone involved and the grace of being grounded in prayer is what makes it possible.

To join the New Zealand Prayer Network please email:  info@rachelsvineyard.org.nz

Formation training has been completed for the Wellington-based Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat Team and official approval has been given for the Team to ‘go solo’ by the US programme founders, Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries.

Rachel's Vineyard Wellington Team (L-R Hill, Kennerley, O'Rourke, De Witt. Absent: Gnad)

Read more:   RV Team Formation.

The Wellington Team includes Wendy Hill (Retreat Facilitator), Dawn de Witt (Psychologist and Retreat Therapist), Carolina Gnad (Support Counsellor), Fr David Kennerley sm (Spiritual Director) and Suzanne O’Rourke (Site Leader). Continue reading →