Thrive longs for each global woman to find transformational change when she attends a Thrive retreat. 

In Phuket, the theme that emerged again and again was the need to be seen. “And we really need someone from outside of us to see,” Sharon said. Therese added, “And to be seen for the right things and in the right way.”

Judging by the stories shared at today’s final gathering, woman after woman found that she felt seen this week. 

These global women have found the retreat a safe place to process challenges they cannot address on the field—issues such as enduring a season of difficult relationship with God, grief regarding the loss of “home,” prodigal children, and, often, a sense of parental guilt for bringing children into a challenging lifestyle they themselves have not chosen. 

Over the past several days, these burdens have been brought into the light, where they can be seen and processed. And in that light, these women have found healing and hope. 

Being among women in similar situations allowed them that safe space to talk about the hard things. “It’s so freeing,” Marianne said. “You can talk to them about situations and people, knowing that their situations are different but still similar. There’s so much a greater chance to make a good connection—to find that other person that makes you think, oh, you’re just like me.”

Many attendees did not know anyone else when they arrived three days ago. Did Thrive make it easier to make friends and go deep quickly? “Yes and no,” Marianne said. “On the one hand, I did not do a good job in carving out time to be with people socially.” On the other hand, because of common foundations of faith and function, “We just wind up going deep quickly because they understand what I’m like.”

As one global woman affirmed, “It’s just so powerful to be seen and known.”