Ministers and Wives Seminar at Kamshet
The Ministers and wives seminar at Kamshet (hill station) – near Pune was arranged from the 17th to 18th December 2014. Ministers from Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Jalna, Nasik, Miraj and Solapur attended this seminar along with their wives. A total of 35 couples were in attendance.
Sharing Experiences of Faith
The main objective of this seminar was to rejuvenate the ministers in their ministerial activities and update them with the new changes in the New Apostolic circles. The participants were very happy to be able to share this experience with their spouse. For many of the sisters this was a first time experience and they enjoyed being able to share their experiences about their faith life with each other.
Day One
After an opening prayer and a spiritual part, the first day started with topics such as ‘Mission and Vision of New Apostolic Church’ and ‘The Ministry of the New Apostolic Church’. As the day continued other topics were covered and a small Bible Quiz was conducted to add a little bit of fun and excitement to the atmosphere.
Fun Around the Campfire
That night the fun continued as all the participants joined in a game of ‘Musical Chairs’ with their partner and enjoyed it very much. Everyone then gathered together for a camp fire. It became more memorable as three couple were celebrating their wedding anniversaries and it was celebrated with the cutting of a cake during the camp fire.
Day Two
At the beginning of the second day in the natural beauty of Kamshet, everybody was as fresh as their natural surroundings. To capture this, a group photo was taken immediately after breakfast. The seminar topics for the second day were ‘Acts of Blessing’, ‘Sunday School and Choir’, ‘Conducting a Divine Service’ and ‘Role the of Sisters in the Church’.
Divine Service with Apostle Pravin: Love the Lord truly and without calculation
The high point of the seminar was the Divine Service which was conducted by Apostle Pravin Gajbhiv. The bible text taken for this service was from John 21:15 – “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.'”
The Apostle called on everyone to examine themselves and to introspect whether we truly love God. He also emphasized that our love for the Lord must be free of calculation.
When the time for the departures had come, the brothers and sisters were sad to depart due to the strong bonds they had made in such a short time. There had been beautiful moments, great reassurance and new insights of faith for each and every participant.