While facilitating the Bible study called "Falling in Love with Jesus" in the spring of 2005, Kim met Mareta. They discovered they were close neighbors, and soon developed a wonderful friendship walking and talking together. What they had most in common was a deep love for Jesus and a desire to see believing women everywhere experience His lavishing love for them personally. One way to understand this love is to begin to see and know that He is their Eternal Spiritual Bridegroom.

Together, Kim and Mareta fashioned the "Your Bridegroom Awaits!" retreats this women's ministry offers. The specific purpose of the retreats is to help women, high school age and up, understand their relationship to Christ as His lovely Bride.

Kim and Mareta's desire is His Heart's Desire - to see women of faith come to an understanding of who they are through the eyes of their eternal Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and to equip them to live that truth out on this earth . During the course of the weekend, Kim teaches 4 of the sessions, and Mareta opens every session and leads the "Be Still" session on Saturday afternoon.

The ministry has been blessed with a very gifted team of women who help make the retreat weekends possible. These ladies have hearts to serve and long to see other women experience the lavishing love of their Bridegroom King, Jesus Christ!

The Lovely Ladies who make up the team are: (back row left to right: Karen Hall, Teresa Holland, Lois Bartz, Danna Castor, Ruthie Dearing, Nancy Holland, and Betty Caddel. (front row left to right: Mareta Walker, Carol Rutz, Angie Graves, Angela Manross, and Kim Francis. Those on team not shown: Phyllis Bailey, Sherry Bullard, Angela Buschman, Chelsey Hacker, Deborah McQuitty, Jackie Murrell, Lisa Pipkin, Betty Smith, and Becca Wood.

Steven's sister, Angie Graves, and her husband, John, open up their beautiful home for the regular team meetings. They have been a tremendous blessing to the ministry and have been instrumental in its establishment. They have believed in its purpose from the beginning, which has been a wonderful source of encouragement.

A couple of weeks after God gave Kim the vision for the retreat ministry, her husband, Steven, surprised her by saying, "You need to make sure that you have these retreats on my weekends off, so I'll be able to cook for you women." So began the birth of "God's Grillers", the wonderful team of men who serve the women delicious food on the weekends. Headed up by Steven, Kelly Brown, Ken Bullard, Robert Holland, and Byron Schwalk, and Garry Smith, all of Perryton, make up this team of men who are not only great cooks, but have wonderful servant hearts.