A Lesson in Going from Spiritual Restoration to Transformation

Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church of Elizabeth City, NC, under the leadership of Pastor L. Shawni Basnight held their first Spiritual Restoration Retreat on Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The morning kicked off with a fellowship breakfast and an icebreaker activity involving both adults and youth called "Bible or Not." Our youth, Trenity Everett and Keona Williams, were exceptional at discerning whether specific quotes, phrases, or scriptures were from the Bible or not. In a society where the boundaries of the world seem to blur with our faith, it is amazing and quite encouraging to see our young people able to discern biblical truth from secular and worldly views.

For the morning session, Pastor Basnight taught the various inward spiritual disciplines (meditation, prayer, fasting, and Bible study) and outward spiritual disciplines (simplicity, solitude, submission, and service) as outlined in Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Spiritual Discipline: A Path to Spiritual Growth. We ended the morning session with a fun team-building activity - a church "Escape Room" created by our very own church members, Tre'Quon McPherson, Helena Roscoe, and Dontae' Williams. The retreat participants worked together to find and decipher biblical clues from various locations around the church. The Escape Room was a fun way to acknowledge each person has a vital role to play in the church, from the creativity of those who set up the Escape Room to the young people searching high and low for clues to the wisdom of the elders, and everyone in between who contributed thoughts and ideas to help us ultimately "escape." If we are ever to be free from the grasp of Satan, then we must all work together to escape his bondage. That's a great lesson for all of us to learn!

We continued the day with a wonderful lunch, enjoying the camaraderie and fellowship of like-minded participants. For the afternoon session, we had a prayer service based upon the theme “Rebuilding Our Faith Walls” with various individuals leading corporate prayers in 7 key areas: Youth and Children, Spiritual Growth/Discipleship, Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church, Unity, Local Community, Nation and World, and Leadership. Afterward, we had breakout sessions for alternative ways of individual prayer by kneeling at the altar, peaceful prayer walks, or coloring prayer mandalas. The prayer service was a continuation of our inaugural "Prayer Lives Matter" prayer service we started in July; it was such a huge hit that it has become a regular 5th Sunday event. Overall, it was a truly spiritual revival for our souls. If true spiritual transformation is ever going to occur in our lives, we must replenish our spiritual wells and allow ourselves to grow beyond superficial faith to plant seeds of hope with deep roots. Our end goal is to watch our spiritual maturity move from tired and lifeless to spiritual restoration and renewal of our minds to the ultimate transformational phase of experiencing transformative breakthroughs and deliverance.