Find an ugly rose. Take a picture of a hot snowball. Describe a typical Thrive volunteer. All of the above are impossible.

God has drawn a marvelously diverse group of 22 women to serve at this Copper Mountain, Colorado, site and we invite you to pray for them:

Women like Jamie: a Physical Therapist who has been involved since 2009.

Or, Elizabeth: who is involved in counseling education at the doctoral level.

Michelle: a first-time volunteer, a young teacher who went to school on the Wyoming plains and now lives in the Pacific Northwest - motivated to come, in part, because of a friend in Kenya who attended a Thrive Retreat.

Anne: a white-haired grandmother who brings her photography skills all the way from Virginia without knowing another soul at the retreat.

Mandy: a mother of five children intentionally living in Utah with memories of life in Zambia, who brings direct knowledge of what global women face every day as they serve cross-culturally.

Some come from towns just a few miles up and down the front range of the Rockies. Some come from the far corners of the US – Oregon and Florida. Some are single, some widowed, some married for many years. Some have served in occupational ministry, some serve with nonprofit organizations, some serve in education or are retired. There are those who can hike in the 9,000+ elevation and those who pause often to breathe deeply of the thin mountain air.

No one is typical but they have one common heart: to encourage women who serve overseas. They all want to provide spiritual refreshment through fellowship, study of the Word, intercession, and rest.

Maybe God is calling you to pray as these women gather. Maybe you will be one of those hard-to-describe volunteers at a future retreat.