Next retreat dates: TBD

Hi, my name is Steele Sessions and my wife, Natalie, and I, manage the youth program here at White Sulphur Springs. We also have a passion and feel a long-term calling to help others come back to the beauty of God’s design for our bodies in the ways we move, eat, and interact with each other. Our driving aim is to expose where we let culture quietly dictate our choices in movement and nutrition and instead bring every action through the filter of a vibrant and wholesome relationship with Jesus. We believe that God’s design for our life was expressed in the Garden of Eden where the kingdom of God perfectly overlapped with man. There Adam and Eve enjoyed life in the Spirit, where they walked with him in the “ruach,” the Hebrew word for God’s breath, spirit, or wind. Having been redeemed by the blood of Christ, we believe that this life in the Spirit is intended to permeate our worlds in body, soul, and soil.

We have a heart to help the Church out of the chronic pain and illness that so many of us are stuck in. We believe God designed our bodies well and that culture, like it has in other aspects of life, has distorted our food and healthcare system, robbing us of many of the simple joys of God’s gifts to the body. This retreat is not primarily about discipline, but about how we can approach our daily life and choices as an act of thankful and Spirit-filled worship to glorify God through the stewardship of our bodies. We see pain as a conversation starter with the God who calls us to pray without ceasing and who declares that his sheep will hear his voice. In facilitating this dialogue through prayer, we aim to reorient our lives from the position of Christ’s victory in the Spirit so that His heart impacts our souls (mind, will, and emotions) and bodies.

We are not focused on strict diets, counting calories, or hitting the gym every day. Instead, we will explore topics such as how to incorporate gentle, natural movement into your day, moving efficiently to prevent injury, and avoiding the pitfalls of modern footwear and a sedentary lifestyle. We will discuss how to enjoy nutrient rich, anti-inflammatory foods that are in themselves an investment in your health and longevity while simultaneously exploring the regenerative farming practices that benefit us as consumers, but also the animal, and the earth. We will parse through the failings of the current healthcare system and how we can take steps to find the root causes of our illnesses, invest in our bodies and avoid, or even get off, medication, when possible, through lifestyle choices.

We will learn together, not by simply sitting in a room and flipping through a PowerPoint, but through interactive movement workshops, through actually eating wholesome, nutritious locally sourced meals, and through small group discussions with experienced and faithful clinicians, farmers, and experts who take a holistic approach to medicine. We will do all of this in a way that honors God and His word.

This retreat is applicable and relevant for all ages and walks of life, from those who are injured or sick, in the prime of life seeking to optimize their health, and to those who may be in chronic pain and suffering from limited range of motion. We only ask that you come with an open mind, a reverence for God’s word, a curiosity about where culture might be leading us astray, and a fascination with God’s good design.

If you want to learn more about MadeWell Ministries, please visit the webpage at https://www.madewellministries.com/