VINE AND BRANCHES

May I also express my gratitude for your interest in Rachel’s Vineyard? If you are not actively involved in a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat team, you can’t imagine how important it is to us to be aware of your prayers, interest and support.

My name is Leslie Graves. I’m the editor of this newsletter, a married mom with three kids, and a retreat team member in Madison, Wisconsin. Please contact me directly at lbgraves@aol.com if you have any questions or comments.

"As we all gathered, you could feel the Lord’s presence and the peace of the Holy Spirit. The woman who was facilitating her first retreat, Claudia, was naturally anxious. However, as she lit the Christ candle, symbolizing Christ’s presence in the room, her face was filled with peace and tranquility. It was a miracle to behold! Claudia sat with her RV manual in Portuguese and I sat at her right hand with my manual in English. I speak absolutely no Portuguese (except for one word I learned while I was there -- obrrigada -- thank you!) but I didn’t need to. I was able to follow along and guide Claudia whenever she needed help or was unsure of herself. It was really a beautiful synergism of love. There were also two people from Spain on the retreat, who spoke some Portuguese, but as the Lord planned it, Msgr. McGuinness speaks excellent Spanish!

At some points on the weekend, three languages were being spoken, English, Portuguese and Spanish. It didn’t matter what language we used, the  Lord’s language of healing and love was all that we needed. We experienced God’s mercy, love and forgiveness through the visible transformation of those in attendance.

This was a tangible sign of God’s presence. The Paschal Mystery was once again revealed, unfolding before our eyes. We suffered together as we walked to Calvary, we were present at the Crucifixion and we rose with Jesus at the Resurrection! Language made no difference. Jesus the Healer transcends all human constraints!

Being a part of this unique and beautiful experience also led to a special gift of healing and freedom for me. I came home understanding in the deepest parts of my soul that I am not in control. Jesus uses cracked pots like me to do HIS work. And it is HIS alone! I’ve never felt so free or confident that it’s not about me or anyone else who runs a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat. If we get out of the way He will perform his miracles, we just have to let him do it....and it doesn’t matter what language or what country, the healing process of Rachel’s Vineyard works. Why? Because it is of God and His love has no barriers or boundaries."

The long-awaited Interdenominational version of the Rachel’s Vineyard retreat manual will be available in March. Many thanks to Terry Lennox, Adele Harrison, Camille Harrison, Chela Gomez, Cynthia Wright and Jeanette Kristensen; members of the Temecula Californian retreat team who assisted in the revisions. Since its very beginning, Rachel’s Vineyard retreats have been attended by Christians of all denominations. It is a great blessing to have a version of the retreat manual available for sponsorship, team development and hosting by other Christian denominations and groups. Twenty-eight manuals have already been ordered including an order from England. You can place an order for the Interdenominational Manual with Kevin at kburke@net-thing.net or by calling 610-354-0555 or sending a fax to 610-354-0311.

Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries sponsors an interactive e-mail forum for retreat team members who have served on at least one retreat. The list includes novice team members and highly experienced lay facilitators and mental health professionals. It is a way to share insights, experiences, information, support and prayers. Kelly Fitzpatrick of the Catholic Charities/Project Rachel office in Portland shared with that list their experience in hosting the first exclusively Spanish-language RVR retreat in January 2002:

"Thank you for your powerful prayers for the Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat led totally in Spanish by Antonia Valdes, who does our Project Rachel in Spanish. The retreat she lead is apparently the very first Spanish-only RV in all of North and Latin America. The wonderful folks in Kansas City report that they had one in English, with an interpreter working for much of it for an Hispanic couple, and we hear there are many others doing Project Rachel and Rachel’s Vineyard post-abortion ministry, and preparing for retreats, in the Hispanic community all over.

Theresa Burke had dedicated volunteers working up to the very last moments translating the bulk of the manual and since Antonia is an experienced retreat facilitator and since God’s hand was very busy, the whole retreat was quite beautiful. It was just like the ones in English - except for the language and some of the cultural additions like an Hispanic menu - and priests from Latin America.

The next retreat in Spanish will probably be in another four months, since we plan to alternate English / Spanish retreats every two months as long as we have the resources and the retreatants. Miracles were very profound and I saw the women reach in very deep to do their work and they each were fully present for receiving God’s loving mercy. This retreat was truly an amazing example to me (I was the kitchen and spiritual support for this retreat. I mostly washed dishes, and did some mothering when asked, since I only know English) of how God always reaches us exactly where we are at, loving us too much to leave us there. These retreatants have had some of the more difficult extreme experiences that our women bring to the ministry. They received dramatic blessings and they have begun healing journeys that are just as powerful.

Love in Christ,

Kelly Fitzpatrick, Catholic Charities Project Rachel  
of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon"

In addition, appearances too numerous to mention here were made in January and February by many others involved in Rachel’s Vineyard to churches, confirmation classes, young adult groups, RCIA , Bible study and prayer groups, and so on. If you would like to arrange such an appearance, please contact your local Rachel’s Vineyard team. You can locate a contact name and number for your local team through the national Rachel’s Vineyard webpage at https://www.rachelsvineyard.org.

After the events of September 11, team members across the country wondered what effect that shattering and numbing event might have on upcoming retreats. One team leader shared this experience. Details have been changed as necessary and permission obtained from those involved to share this story, which occurred at a retreat on September 16, 2001.

"There was a lot of pain this weekend and a lot of healing and joy. One woman who was there told me that it was her husband who encouraged her to attend this weekend. He told her that when he was in college, his girl friend became pregnant with his child and had an abortion. She told him afterwards. He told his wife that he knows the pain that he has been in all these years, so he can only imagine what his wife’s pain was from her earlier abortion.

Here are some highlights of recent coverage. If you are interested in a complete list of radio and TV appearances, and magazine and newspaper articles, please send an e-mail requesting that information to: lbgraves@aol.com

In January, Theresa and Kevin Burke were interviewed about RVR on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Decision Today program. This radio show is archived on the Decision Today website and you can still listen to it by clicking through to this link: https://www.decisiontoday.org/ARCH.asp

Also, in January, Theresa was honored to appear on Dr. Greg Popchak’s Heart, Soul and Mind radio show, which is nationally syndicated and also available through webcast (but not archived). Dr. Popchak is a therapist and author of several books, including "Parenting with Grace" and "For Better..Forever: A Catholic Guide to Lifelong Marriage." (See: https://www.exceptionalmarriages.com/about.htm for more information.)

Theresa was interviewed by Tim Wildmon on American Family Radio’s "Today’s Issues" in late January. This show is syndicated on over 200 radio stations.The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette carried a lengthy article about post-abortion healing in their Sunday, January 20 issue. A Rachel’s Vineyard retreatant says in the article:

" ‘There is not one iota of judgment or guilt-throwing in that program,’ she said. ‘I think they helped me to surface my own guilt and they helped me get past it. I think I had carried a lot of guilt, but I lived with it by burying it...the memorial Mass was heartbreaking and necessary’, she said. ‘I had never, never thought about those children until that program. Now I pray for them and to them. They are real to me now, as painful as that is. I finally acknowledged them as human beings.’" (For the complete article, click here: https://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20020120abortion0120p3.asp)

The Rachel’s Vineyard webpage has a new page about "Forbidden Grief" at this link https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/book.htm.

All proceeds from the book go to support post-abortion ministry and research. Mental health professionals, post-abortive men and women, policy analysts, and others have praised "Forbidden Grief" very generously. You can read many of those comments on the "Forbidden Grief" websites noted above.

Here also is a recent comment about the book from an English doctor, Trevor Griffiths. I chose this comment because Dr. Griffiths has no involvement in abortion from a policy perspective and prior to reading "Forbidden Grief," had never considered the question of post-abortion grief. He is the author of a general work on repressed grief, "Lost and Then Found." Dr. Griffiths wrote:

"This book is a masterly, sensitive and thorough opening of a difficult subject that many prefer not to face. I see this deeply quiet suffering re-emerge in some of my patients years after the events. To find my own experience reflected in case after case presented anonymously in this book is a reassurance to me that I am not just conjuring up fantasies. The sensitivity displayed by the authors in presenting this material leaves one in no doubt that their intention is to get proper counseling and support for women who feel trapped with their grief.

[Through my practice] I particularly recognize the subjects of lifestyle deterioration and relationship problems covered in the chapters entitled, ‘Something Inside has Died,’ and ‘Paradise Lost’. It is as if for some a dream of self-control has been torn to shreds. But of course, even those who retain high levels of self-control may find that in their quieter moments, and at anniversaries, they still remember.

"We have a new taboo, the collusion of silence about grief and death. Our culture has lost the skills to recognize and manage grief emotions. This book is a major contribution to fill out an honest roundness of our humanity. "

The third annual Rachel’s Vineyard International Leadership Training Conference will be held from July 10-14, 2002 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Conferencematerials can be e-mailed to you by sending your request to Theresa Burke, tburke@net-thing.net

More information about the Leadership Training will be provided in the April issue of this newsletter. Registration & Conference Information is also posted on our website https://www.rachelsvineyard.org

Questions or comments about Vine & Branches: The Rachel’s Vineyard Newsletter may be directed to the Editor, Leslie Graves, at lbgraves@aol.com

To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter: Send an e-mail to tburke@net-thing.net or to lbgraves@aol.com

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