Free the Gifts Retreat
October 2-4
@ Thomas Road Outpost (TRO)
FREE the GIFTS
TOGETHER
There is something powerful about coming together.
We each have different stories, different experiences, different strengths, and different gifts. We don't all have the same role to play, and we weren't created to. Yet, in Christ, we are part of something bigger than ourselves—a body where every person matters, every gift has purpose, and no one is meant to stand alone.
"Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, 'I'm not a part of the body because I'm not a hand,' that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, 'I'm not part of the body because I'm not an eye,' would that make it any less a part of the body? ... All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:14–16, 27 (NLT)
This year at Free the Gifts, we're exploring what it means to be Together.
Together, we discover that our differences aren't something to overcome—they are part of God's design. Together, we learn to recognize the gifts in ourselves and in one another. Together, we find encouragement, belonging, and purpose.
Because we were never meant to do this alone.
Join us for a weekend of worship, conversation, connection, and community as we celebrate the unique ways God has gifted each of us—and discover what happens when we bring those gifts together.
What is Free the Gifts?
Free the Gifts is a weekend designed for women to step away from the demands of everyday life and create room for meaningful connection, honest conversation, spiritual growth, and fun.
You'll spend time together in large group gatherings, connect more deeply within your cabin community, and choose a connection path designed to help you explore what matters to you.
Gather
Large-group experiences designed to inspire conversation, challenge your thinking, and encourage you in your faith.
Connect
Small-group time within your cabin, led by your Cabin Host, where deeper conversations and meaningful relationships can grow.
Explore
Choose from several different Connection Paths that give you space to engage, create, move, learn, or simply enjoy time with other women.
Choose Your Own Connection Path
On Saturday, you'll have the opportunity to choose the Connection Path that best fits you.
Whether you're looking for meaningful conversation, creativity, adventure, rest, or something completely different, you'll be able to pick & choose the experience that helps you connect in ways that feels most natural to you.
Create
For the woman who connects through creativity and making something beautiful.
Move
For the woman who would rather be active, outside, and doing something than sitting still.
Reflect
For the woman who needs space to slow down, think deeply, and listen.
Connect
For the woman who loves conversation and wants to build deeper relationships.
Meet Your Hosts
You won't just arrive at Free the Gifts and be handed a cabin key.
Each cabin will have a dedicated Host who will help you navigate the weekend, create a welcoming environment, and guide your cabin community through small-group conversations.
Your Host is there to help you feel at home, connect with the women around you, and make the most of your weekend.
Andy Bruce
Andy Bruce is a California girl at heart, though she and her husband—also named Andy, affectionately called Andy Girl and Andy Boy—have called Virginia home for 20 years. Together they are raising three children who came along in less than three years, making life full and lively. Andy is a fun-loving extrovert who thrives in a room full of people, loves spontaneous adventures, and enjoys a good book.
Eme Eskaros
Hi! My name is Eden Moriah Eskaros, but most know me by my initials Eme (Emmy).
I am currently an LU employee working through my PhD in Music Education. While my passion is to teach jazz and world music at the collegiate level, I really just love all things creative. When I’m not in the middle of some artsy project, you usually can find me and my pup downtown, on the lake, or hiking the Blue Ridge
Galyn Damiani
Galyn is a leader of leaders, bringing both a strategist’s mind and a coach’s heart into every space she enters. She thrives on connecting ideas, people, and processes across fragmented systems, challenging others to think boldly, and mentoring women to discover and develop their unique gifts. Grounded in her gifts of leadership, faith, and wisdom, Galyn’s passion is designing systems that empower and engage.
Heidi Satterfield
Heidi is a registered nurse, Clinical Nurse Leader, and mom of two young adults. She loves asking questions, connecting the dots, and discovering more about God’s character. Passionate about Scripture’s historical and cultural context, she delights in helping women engage God’s Word with curiosity, authenticity, and vulnerability—and discover how His story speaks into their lives today.
Jenn Burgett
Jennifer is a wife and mom of three who attends Compassion Church, where she and her husband serve as life group leaders. Her spiritual gifts include knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, teaching, and discernment, and she loves using them to help others understand God’s truth more clearly. She is passionate about encouraging women to recognize their God-given gifts and step confidently into the calling He has for their lives.
Jess Gibson
Jess is passionate about helping people draw closer to Jesus and discover the unique ways He meets them in their everyday lives. She studied Youth Ministry at Liberty University and has served in full-time ministry both in the United States and overseas. Today, her greatest adventure is being a wife and mom to her two daughters. Jess loves encouraging others in their faith and helping them recognize God’s presence and work in every season of life.
Kadie Horseman
Kadie Horseman is a wife, mother and full time hairstylist of 13 years. As an aspiring author currently writing her first book, she has a love for writing and sharing the truth about God’s Word. Kadie leads a women’s Bible study in her home and has a deep heart for evangelism and discipleship. She is passionate in walking alongside others as they discover their identity in Christ and experience the transforming power of the Gospel.
Katelynn Barlowe
Katelynn writes software by day and spiritual-life thoughts in the margins. She and her husband are raising four kids, and she leads middle schoolers who keep her honest. Her faith is mostly about nearness: being with God and responding accordingly. She loves a long, honest conversation, and spends her days reading her own life and the world around her for God in the ordinary.
Katie Gravitt
After several years teaching in the public school system, Katie Gravitt followed God’s leading into a new season as a stay-at-home mom. She now serves at Compassion Church as the Women’s Ministry Coordinator and Nursery Director, where she delights in encouraging women, supporting families, and helping the littlest ones experience God’s love from the very beginning
Katie Marston
Katie Marston is a firefighter’s wife and mother of two boys who anchors her life in the healing power of Jesus Christ. With a gift for discernment, she helps others recognize their strengths and hear God’s voice. Blending spiritual insight with practical strategy, she loves turning vision into reality and empowering others to walk in their calling with faith, curiosity, and intention.
Kristin Burke
Kristin is a legal technology guru, girl mom, and wife of 17 years. A recovering self-saboteur, she describes her walk with Jesus as radically transformative. She is passionate about the redemptive work of Christ, especially within marriage, and being confident in who God says we are.
Lauren Barr
Lauren Barr has been on a journey with the Lord following where He leads for over a decade. Through career changes, pastoring, entrepreneurship, and moving states - she is an example of what it looks like to walk with God even when it doesn’t make sense.
Lisa Willis
Lisa is originally from North Carolina, though she has spent the last 25 years alongside her husband, who has pastored Compassion Church throughout that time. She works as an online English teacher and is the proud mother of three grown sons.
Lori McVicar
Lori is originally from Connecticut but has called Lynchburg, VA home since 2018. A Liberty University alum, she has dedicated her career to education and leadership, serving as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. Lori’s heart for ministry and service extends beyond the classroom—she has served on the boards of multiple non-profit programs, worked as a therapeutic foster parent, and supported youth through equine therapy programs.
Misty Andrews
Misty is a wife and mother to five children, ages 12 to 24. After 14 years of experiencing God through homeschooling, she is excited to begin stepping more boldly into the identities God has given her, outside the home. She deeply believes that abiding in Jesus and learning his voice, while in community, brings a level of unmatched intimacy with Him. More than anything, she wants others to know that God’s love is freely given simply because of who they are.
Tara Cofer
Tara loves Jesus, her family, friends, and her dogs. She serves in kids’ ministry and has a passion for traveling to Nicaragua to love on communities and share God’s love. Tara’s heart is to encourage others while helping them grow in their relationship with God at the center of their lives.
In her free time, she enjoys walking trails, crocheting, and connecting with people in ways that make them feel truly seen and cared for.
What ladies said when asked:
What did God teach you about your unique gifts at last years retreat?
"God spoke through the women at this retreat to affirm what He wants me to do. He even affirmed how He is asking me to take that next step. It’s still scary, but He removed the doubt of what He is calling me to."
"Building my faith. Being able to practice them multiple times at the retreat allowed me to gain confidence in them. I didn’t feel it at the time but it was a shift when I got home and realized how free I had felt this weekend and then how to keep that with me as I move back into the daily life."
“He continued to clarify that he can use me best when I step into my area of strength rather than trying do be good at everything. I don’t need to do it all. Instead, God designed the body to work together to show himself and his love to us and to the world. ”
“It was healing and empowering ; it was a time of learning some things about myself and areas to work on ”
A Place to Step Away
Free the Gifts will be hosted at Thomas Road Outpost, near Peaks of Otter. TRO is a beautiful camp and retreat center designed to help you step away from the pace of everyday life and create space to connect, reflect, and recharge.
You'll stay in clean, comfortable shared cabins and enjoy the opportunity to spend the weekend surrounded by nature and community.
Clean, Comfortable Cabins
Shared cabin accommodations designed to create a welcoming community atmosphere.
Beautiful Gathering Spaces
Room to gather together, learn, worship, and connect.
A Place to Breathe
A setting that helps you step away from the ordinary and make space for what matters.