Abide Gathering 2025

“I have been back home from Abide for one day and I already can sense that God is changing me. I am practicing the skill of paying attention to my thought patterns and recognizing when I am acting out of avoidance toward God due to issues such as fear of change. The deep sharing with others has been so impactful. I’ve never been to a retreat like this before, and this might actually be the best retreat I’ve ever been to.”

“Abide has been a space of being poured into and pouring out. With the prayerful, thoughtful intentionality of the Abide organizers, each detail is a loving hug to allow space and spaciousness for the Holy Spirit presence to orchestrate and work individually and within the community. Abide has been a rare, precious, joyful space to equip, embolden, and encourage me in my journey of integration.”

“I feel less alone knowing there are so many of us who recognize our generational trauma and are willing to break the cycle.”

• Where and when we met: We met from July 6-9, 2025 at The Henry Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. This was our third year meeting at The Henry and new and returning attendees continue to share their appreciation for the exceptional hospitality and care from the staff, delicious food, and how the hotel space and service contributes to our annual gathering experience. Here are a couple of attendee compliments for the hotel staff on the Kudoboard we created after the event:

  • “I am refreshed and connected to myself because of the space that you all were gracious enough to create at Abide 2025!”

  • “This is my third time at the Henry and the service NEVER disappoints. I've never experienced such great service -- it's warm, friendly and attentive. The Henry is also a lovely venue, perfect for Abide. Thank you so much for always making this time special for us!”

• Who was there: 75 adults (including 23 who were first-time attendees) coming from 15 states, representing various ethnic and vocational backgrounds. We also had 32 children and youth participate in a day camp based out of the hotel. As a testament to the stellar team that leads our kids and youth programming every year, several kids said they were sad that Abide was over, wished that it was longer, and preferred it over other vacations. It has been a joy to hear about kids asking to return to Abide each year and to see the next generation of Abiders connecting and forming friendships.

• What we learned: The importance of working on and sharing the parts of ourselves that we hide, and how this leads to emotional health and spiritual maturity; the cyclical nature of growth and healing and how it happens in seasons with unique invitations; integration is tied to the process of unveiling (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) that allows our whole selves/faces to be seen and how that affects our relationship with God and others; the journey to wholeness is a team sport that takes intentionality from ourselves, others, and the Holy Spirit. Our breakout session topics were: Rule of Life; Redemptive Power; and Nonviolence, Repair, & Peacemaking: Living Gently in a Violent World. Some notable quotes:

  • “One of the best things about Abide is to share our hidden parts, even the ones that are unbecoming, so that through sharing our stories we can grow and heal.” —Drew Hyun

  • "Mycelium is the network underneath trees. A sapling's growth depends on other trees. They keep each other healthy and alert each other of danger. At Abide, we're actually forming these underground networks even though we live all over the country. In sharing our stories, we're sharing nutrients with each other. And we can't do it by ourselves." —Joyce Koo Dalrymple

  • “Integration helps us recognize that our journey of flourishing is bound together.” —Stan Sonu

• What we experienced:

  • Multicultural and soulful worship led by Aisea Taimani

  • Abiding practices and exercises led by Tracy Mathews (which we also learned from Stan are ways to break out of feeling disintegrated!) to help us grow in attunement and discern God’s specific invitations for us

  • For the first time at any gathering, the youth joined our morning worship. Deep connection and conversation through sharing our stories

  • Experiencing God through art: visio divina, playing out a scene from these paintings as part of an attunement exercise, vision boarding our hopes and dreams, creative response stations with tactile ways to respond to what God is doing at Abide.

  • Fun fellowship through pickleball, a food tour with an unexpected behind the scenes tour with the owner at one restaurant, a “Walking and Wonder” art tour in downtown Detroit, late night fun with karaoke, ping pong, Asian snacks, and ramen, and more!

“Abide has become my annual ‘wholeness’ checkup that creates space to be still so that I can see myself and my God more clearly. And doing so in community with others that share my faith and cultural context means that I don’t feel alone and can learn from others who are further along on this journey.”

“For me Abide has been a safe space to share and process forgotten/suppressed moments.”