Event: Come to the Well: A Retreat for Inner Healing and Restoration | On-Site | Speaker:Mariya Vynnystka Date: 31 Mar Time: 10am to 5pm Venue: River Glory Church #08-15 Mapex, 37 Jln Pemimpin, Singapore 577177 (Marymount MRT) Fee: $50 | $45 for payment by 29 March | limited capacity ______________________________________ There is a backpack that most of us carry everywhere.
You may not always see it. You may have carried it for so long that its weight has simply become the background hum of your life — a quiet heaviness that follows you into your mornings, your relationships, your prayer times, and your quiet moments before sleep.
Inside this backpack are things we have never fully named. Fears that have shaped our choices without our permission. Guilt we keep revisiting even after we have confessed it — as if carrying it is somehow the price we must pay. Shame that whispers in the dark: you are too broken, too complicated, too much — or not enough.
We learn to manage these things. To smile through them. To pray over them. To keep moving. And yet… they remain.
The Cost of What We Carry We live in a city that prizes composure. Singapore's culture — and Christian culture in particular — often rewards those who keep it together, who serve faithfully, who appear stable. And so we become extraordinarily skilled at functioning on the outside while quietly fracturing on the inside.
But unprocessed emotion does not simply disappear. It goes underground — and it shapes us from beneath the surface. Here is what we know, both from psychology and from Scripture:
When FEAR goes unprocessed... We live smaller than we were created to live. We avoid the risks that belong to our calling. We misread God as distant or punishing. We keep people at arm's length, or cling too tightly — both from the same wound.
When GUILT goes unprocessed... We become exhausted people-pleasers or hard-hearted perfectionists. Grace remains a beautiful doctrine that never quite lands in our souls. We see God as a judge who is always counting — rather than a Father who is always welcoming us home.
When SHAME goes unprocessed... We hide — behind roles, achievements, ministry, even theology. We cannot fully receive love because we believe, somewhere deep down, that if people truly knew us, they would leave. And so we offer a curated version of ourselves to everyone — including God.
This is not the life we were called to. Jesus said, 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (John 10:10). The path to that fullness runs directly through our inner world — not around it.
What This Day Is For This is a full onsite immersive experience — a deeper dive than an online session can offer. You will have time and space to pause, reflect, and process what is actually happening in your interior life, guided by both Scripture and psychology.
We will not rush. We will not perform. We will not pretend to have answers we don't have.
What we will do is create a container — held by God's Word, grounded in psychological research, and filled with compassion — where real inner work can happen.
WHAT WE WILL EXPLORE TOGETHER ✦ A deeper and more personal look at how fear, guilt, and shame have been operating in your specific life and story ✦ Scripture and psychological frameworks that help you understand what these emotions are telling you — and what they cost you when left unaddressed ✦ Guided reflection exercises designed to surface what is hidden, name what has been unnamed, and bring it before God ✦ Faith-based and evidence-backed tools for processing, releasing, and healing what comes up ✦ Space to encounter God's grace in the specific places where you have most needed it ✦ A safe, non-judgmental community of fellow journeyers — because healing rarely happens in isolation
You Will Find This Space Meaningful If... ✦ You are a Christian who loves God but sometimes feels stuck — going through the motions of faith without the deep freedom you long for ✦ You carry a persistent sense of guilt that doesn't fully lift, even after confession and prayer ✦ Fear — of failure, rejection, the future, or what others think — quietly governs more of your decisions than you'd like to admit ✦ There is a part of your story you keep hidden, even from yourself, because the shame of it feels too heavy to look at directly ✦ Your relationships — with God, others, or yourself — feel stuck in a pattern you can't seem to break ✦ You are a leader, caregiver, parent, or ministry worker who gives a great deal of yourself but rarely creates space to tend your own soul ✦ You have experienced hurt in church, in family, or in life — and you suspect it is affecting you more than you have acknowledged ✦ You simply feel tired. Not just physically, but soul-tired. And you are ready to put something down.
WHAT TO EXPECT This is an intimate, facilitated group experience. The session will move through three primary emotional territories — fear, guilt, and shame — using a blend of: ✦ Reflective teaching that integrates psychological insight with Biblical truth ✦ Guided journaling and personal reflection exercises ✦ Small group sharing in a safe, confidential space ✦ Somatic awareness practices (learning to notice where emotion lives in the body) ✦ Scripture meditation and prayer ✦ Moments of personal encounter with God — unhurried and unforced
The pace will be intentionally slow. This is not a session to absorb information — it is a session to be transformed. You will leave with greater clarity about what you carry, why you carry it, and concrete, compassionate steps toward freedom.
Please come prepared to be present — not perfect.
About the speaker
Mariya Vynnytska is a psychotherapist from Ukraine, educator, global health practitioner and co-founder of Ukrainian NGO sychology Center THE SOUL. She came to Singapore in 2022 and continued her journey of faith in Asia where she became a born-again Christian.
She has over 15 years of experience in management and international development with a focus on public health and community programs. Her passion is to help people move through psycho-emotional challenges and trauma towards growth for unlocking their full potential and living a meaningful life. She is helping individuals and organizations to apply mental health tools to have better relationships, create inspiring projects, and serve the people in need through compassionate leadership and faith.
Currently, Mariya is based in Singapore. She is practicing as a psychologist and working as Programs Director in Renovaré Pte Ltd, an organization dedicated to holistic care and authentic growth. Mariya is proving counseling, training and consultancy services locally and abroad, and she continues serving Ukrainian people affected by the war, helping them find strength and renewal.
