Welcome to a place to grow!
A women’s retreat devoted to helping you understand God’s heart for you! Come ready for spirit-filled worship, engaging speakers, and renewing time with your Heavenly Father.
This Year’s Event!
November 14-16, 2025
Colombiere Retreat & Conference Center
9075 Big Lake Rd, Village of Clarkston, MI 48346
Join us as we focus on prayer
and the goodness of God!
Our theme this year is “Taste and See” from Psalm 34:8 as we dig into prayer and the goodness of God. We will unpack what that means biblically and in our daily lives. Our goal is to facilitate a time of entering into God's presence and learning about His desire for connection with each of us. He yearns for us to fellowship with him with frequency and intimacy. Both of those things can seem so daunting! Join us as we look at how to make it a reality in our daily lives. There will be opportunities for learning, prayer, discussion, worship, questions, and rest. We know if God is prompting you to be there, you will come away having been blessed and receiving something new from Him! We are really excited for the direction God is taking us this year and we sincerely hope to spend the weekend with you!
Love, all of the women at Equipped By God Ministry
Taste & See Speakers
Karen Budzinski
Karen challenges women to strengthen relationships, especially marriage. She has dedicated her life to helping others build better relationships. Karen is a teacher who shares her passion to live victoriously and leads groups in the United States and abroad. Karen and her husband, Gary, have five married adult children, twelve granddaughters, and six grandsons. Karen is a Certified Presenter of the National Center for Biblical Parenting with her husband. https://karenbudzinski.com
Rebecca Hirt
Rebecca Hirt provides a bit of shade and refreshment along life's journey to road weary Jesus travelers through perspective, truth, and compassion. She is a seasoned missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators using her skills as a Licensed Professional Counselor to support missionaries and leaders through counseling and consultation. She and her husband, Chris, have served for 15 years in Thailand and have enjoyed the adventure while holding tight to the Lord through mountain tops of Bible dedications and valleys of accidents and her husband's recent journey with lymphoma cancer. Rebecca and Chris have three fun adolescent third culture kids and they enjoy outside activities together.
Raffaela Hainbuchner
Raffaela Hainbuchner’s life motto is to love God, love people, preach the Gospel, and build the Kingdom. She is an alumni of the University of Michigan, and has a Masters of Arts in biblical studies from Moody Theological Seminary. She is a worship leader, retreat organizer, and co-host of the Time for the Soul podcast.
Michelle
“The experiences I had during the retreat are moments that I will cherish forever. I was in awe to see how things came together in such a divine way. I know that every one of the women who attended were meant to be there. The knowledge shared by speakers, the breakout sessions, the time spent in nature, and the individual time with other women all helped to prepare me for the trials and challenges I had no idea I would be facing in the future. I truly feel that I have become a woman equipped and empowered by God and I don't think I would have gotten to this place without attending the retreat. I am forever grateful to all the ladies that listened to the call and obeyed.”
Amanda
“During the retreat I learned that I am not alone in my suffering and that so many others are going through trials just like me. It was so neat to hear others’ stories and how God has brought them through it and out of it. I needed to hear that so badly. I learned that isolation is not good, but when you come together with the body of Christ, God can do amazing things in you and bring amazing people into your life. We were not meant to be isolated and alone. I left the retreat feeling revived and full of a newfound strength, hope, and perseverance to continue the battle I was in with fully surrendering, steadfast prayer, the word, and fellow believers. It was truly a wonderful and enlightening experience.”
Get to know us
We are a group of women from multiple faith backgrounds who God put together to encourage and equip women. We each love the Lord, the Word, and bringing light into areas that were once dark.
