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Join us May 30- June 1, 2025

2025 Speaker: 

Melisa Stranigan

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My name is Melisa Stranigan. I have been a Christ-follower for over four decades. My amazing husband and I have been married for 32 years. I am a mother of two beautiful children. The eldest is our biological daughter. She is 24 years old and is a successful esthetician.  The youngest is our 19 year old adopted son who is serving in the US Marine Corps. We have been residing in the quaint town of Monument since early 2000. I’m a certified Biblical Counselor through the International Association of Biblical Counseling. It’s a joy coming alongside women and offering them help, healing and hope by pointing them to the Wonderful Counselor for true and lasting  transformation.  My husband and I married young and always wanted to have children. After 8 long years and many months of trying fertility drugs we finally conceived. What a miracle it was to finally give birth to a beautiful daughter. When she was four years old we wanted to have more children, but my body simply didn’t cooperate. I’ve always had a heart for adoption, so we prayerfully decided to adopt. We began the process by attending workshops, talking with other families, and completing our home study. We chose to adopt a girl from China. Now that we submitted all the paperwork, it was ‘hurry up and wait’. Our patience was being tested as days turned to weeks and weeks to months with no news. This was different from being pregnant. Pregnancy has an end in sight. We had no idea when we would be bringing our daughter home. The unknowns would sometimes darken our vision, but we remained hopeful and continued to walk by faith. The phone would ring and we would rush to pick up to discover that we haven’t been matched, but then told to ‘hang in there’. Other times we would get phone calls from our social worker that a potential case matched our profile for the most part, but there was always an obstacle that came between the birth mother and us. I felt like my heart was in a tug of war. The Lord would whisper into my soul to ‘be still and know that He is God!’ One Friday morning I opened my emails and came across one from our social worker greeting us with good news! I was thinking to myself…finally! Our little China doll has been matched with her family. As I continued reading, she mentioned that a handsome African American baby boy was born on Wednesday. The birth mom read our profile and thought we were the perfect match! The mixed thoughts and emotions rushed through me and spilled out through laughter and tears. Maybe this is why God had held us back from China, because our child wasn’t several countries away; he was only a few states away. I knew in my heart when I saw his precious cherubim-like face, that he was our son. Our plans don’t always align with God’s plans, so we sought the Lord and He assured us that this was our child. Our story of adoption has been filled with both joy and challenges across the years. However, we know our gracious and merciful God has used and is still using all of it to draw us closer to Him and to bring Him glory.

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2025 Break-out Speakers

Connie Broske

By the amazing grace of God and an intense love of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Connie Broske has been married to her best friend, Pastor Michael Broske, for 32 years. Together, they have raised two adopted sons, hosted church in their home since 2010 and offer their home as a place of peace and respite for burned out pastors and missionaries.


Connie is a stay-at-home mom who recently completed homeschooling their two adopted sons. Jonathan, 22, their eldest, is married, a deputy sheriff, a member of Security Forces in the air National Guard and has a small business startup. Daniel graduated in May 2024, is currently a music minister in three different churches and is attending Spartan College of Aeronautics preparing to follow in his father‘s footsteps as an aircraft mechanic in May of 2026.


While in the adoption process, Connie started an adoption support group which led her and Michael to counsel with several prospective adoptive couples over the past 23 years.
Connie offers her extensive equine skills to help others build knowledge and confidence while sharing the love of Christ in various equine-assisted therapies. She also loves learning, gardening, photography, and travel.

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Heather Hunt

Heather grew up in a Christian home in Englewood, CO. She was saved after watching “Thief in the Night" at her Pioneer Girls lock-in in 1983. She attended Furman University in Greenville, SC, studying health and exercise science while competing for the cross country/track teams. On a freshman hike, she met her future husband, Steve. They married on Pi Day, 1998 at Littleton Bible Chapel, then started married life in Fairbanks, AK. As a military family, they weathered relocations and deployments, until Steve retired from the army in 2022. This triggered a “final” move to Sumter, SC in 2024.

 

As for children, many years of infertility led Steve & Heather to consider international adoption, ending when barriers impeded the process. They switched to domestic, infant adoption. In 2006, they finally brought Sylvia home. Maecy was adopted in 2008. God interrupted a third adoption, when Heather discovered she was pregnant. Trip was born in 2010 and Mina in 2011.

 

The past 20+ years have brought both heartache and blessing. Longing for children, then raising them in a mixed-up world has been hard. Yet, by God’s grace, Heather remains committed to Christ, her family, and the lifelong adoption journey. She hopes by sharing what God has taught her, moms who attend Hearts Encouraged leave feeling the comfort of 2 Corinthians 1:3-8 which says in part, “…For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too…”

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Conference Location

This year we are excited to continue partnering with The Hideaway.  The Hideaway is a beautiful venue located in the woods in The Black Forest. 

 

Choosing The Hideaway continues to ensure that that retreat costs will be kept as affordable as possible.   

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Relax and Connect

To allow for as much fellowship and relaxation time as possible, our 2025 retreat will continue the 2-night format of past retreats. 

 

We are also making sure to build in chunks of free time in the schedule to allow for time with the Lord, connect with other women, explore the Hideaway’s amenities, Learn a new craft, or whatever will best fill your spirit and bring you joy!

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CLICK HERE to learn about this year's craft opportunity!

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This year we will offer free massages, have s'mores around a firepit, enjoy a free coffee bar, and more!

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Breakout Sessions and Q&A

Heather Hunt will be guiding us through Psalm 143 in a hands-on way and offering resources that she has found helpful on her journey.

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Our panel this year will be made up of adoptive mothers who will share scripture with us and how God used His Word to comfort and guide them.

#HeartsEncouragedRetreat

 is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to uplifting and blessing adoptive and foster mothers.

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Images from Willem van de Kerkhof, Danielle Henry, Valerie Crowley, eflon, nessguide, barnimages.com

Samantha Taridona Setzler 3, nerissa's ring, Dano Sanchez, xEmmybearx,

Becca Bond Photography, Lynn Lin, OakleyOriginals, Josh Hamman, and Jim Crotty via Flickr

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