As the Azmera ISRAEL Haven Retreat 2026 came to a close, the Care Crew took time to be still, pray for the women who had returned home, and reflect on all they had experienced together. There was gratitude and joy, but also room for honest conversations and tender hearts. The women who had spent the weekend caring for others needed His care, too.
Tuesday’s Sunrise… Glorious!
As the Care Crew prepared to say goodbye, Janelle Hsia reflected on a quiet morning and the meaningful time they spent encouraging one another and recognizing how God had worked among them.
It’s quiet this morning because our friends have all gone back to their homes. Instead of a few women at each table, Paula and I sat outside alone, at different tables—by choice—to watch the sunrise. We finished our personal devotions and got ready for the day.
Corporately, we continued to pray over them for the requests that they specifically raised and for the things not yet spoken. We prayed Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” over them, that the burdens they laid down over the weekend would stay down and that the father of lies would have NO hold on them. We prayed that the bonds that had tied them would stay broken and that they would remain free from bondage; that the father of lies would be defeated and the darkness would be cast away. May we all remember that we are sheep and that sheep are not designed to carry burdens; we were designed to be led by the Shepherd and rest in His arms.
An Azmera tradition is for each Care Crew volunteer to receive words of affirmation from all the other team members. It is similar to the yearbook signing that happens at the end of the school year; we have our name and picture on a piece of paper with the haven retreat information, and on this paper each volunteer writes a note. There are pretty colored pens so that our writing can be that much more beautiful (personally, I needed erasable ink because I had a few “typos”), and the notes are written in different directions on the page to make it a little artsy. But that’s where the similarities end, because Azmera does soul work. I polled a few women, and most didn’t have the energy to read their notes right away. They tucked them into their Azmera booklet to read once they had settled their hearts so they could savor the sweet words of their sisters.
Here, the Care Crew writes notes of encouragement to one another—words to carry home as a reminder that each woman is seen, loved, and appreciated.
We also took time to outline how we would share our experience with those back at home and with those who financially and prayerfully supported us. It’s so hard to boil the entire weekend into brief, succinct and cohesive thoughts, particularly when having to do it for different audiences: believing family and friends versus unbelieving family and friends. We helped each other think through different words to use and created simple 2–3-minute elevator pitches and documented a few wonderful examples that were very meaningful to us of how God changed lives.
Christina asked us to reflect and complete this sentence with three individual words: “At this haven retreat, I felt…” After doing this exercise, a few themes emerged that helped us reflect on the weekend. We rejoiced when we saw how much joy, peace and blessing God provided for us when we partnered with Him to do the work that He put before us. But there were also some feelings of anxiety, hurt and loneliness in the Care Crew team. We didn’t gloss over this or minimize these feelings; we acknowledged them and honored those who spoke about their struggles, too. So even though we ourselves came as broken women, God used this for His glory because it’s not about us; it’s about serving Christ Jesus, who died and bled for us and set us FREE. Even though some of us were hurting, some of us were new to Azmera, and some were full of a joyful and blessed spirit, God knit our hearts together to care for these women well.
As our haven retreat came to a close, we took pictures of our individual groups and one with all the attendees and Care Crew. The word signs, whether chosen or assigned, remind us of God’s presence with us throughout our time together.
Saying goodbye to new friends and old as we start our journeys forward. Never to be the same as Azmera Haven Retreats are a healing encounter for attendees and crew!
As we close these updates from Israel, thank you for praying, giving, and following along. Please continue to pray for the attendees and Care Crew as they return to their homes, families, and ministries—that the burdens laid down would stay down, the encouragement would take root, and each woman would remember that she is a beloved daughter of the King. Our time together has ended, but His care for each woman continues.
Reflection by Janelle Hsia.
Photos and captions by Christine Mousel.