It starts with a quiet yes. A yes to show up. A yes to leave comfort behind. A yes to step into sacred spaces, some halfway across the world, others buried deep within the heart.

For women who travel with Beauty for Ashes, this yes is often whispered. Sometimes it’s offered with shaking hands. But always, it’s the beginning of something holy.

From the highlands of Guatemala to the red-dirt mesas of New Mexico… from the ancient paths of Spain to the hidden villages of South Asia… we’ve watched that yes unfold into redemption, forgiveness, freedom, and so often, multiplication.

Healing Comes Slowly, Until It Doesn’t

In New Mexico, she was quiet. Almost distant.

She hadn’t planned on sharing anything during the retreat. She came because her mom invited her, and honestly, because the name Beauty for Ashes intrigued her. But over the course of a few days, as stories were shared and presence was held, something shifted.

She opened her mouth and told the circle about a day she had never spoken of. A day her father nearly killed her. A memory she had carried for years in silence.

But God met her in that moment, not with shame, but with healing. He showed her where He had been all along. And that same woman, who had come uncertain and guarded, stood before the whole room and declared her story as a testimony of beauty from ashes.

Her yes didn’t just change her; it changed the atmosphere.

The Same God, On a Different Path

Half a world away, women walk Spain’s Camino de Santiago, step after sacred step.

Some begin the pilgrimage hoping to reconnect with God. Others are seeking rest, clarity, or simply space to breathe. As they walk, God begins to speak – not always in words, but in presence. In the rhythm of footsteps, in the quiet between villages, in the prayers that rise unspoken.

One woman said, “I thought I came for an adventure, but I found myself in a conversation with God I didn’t know I needed.”

That’s the power of the Camino; it creates space for God to reach places we didn’t know needed healing. The same Spirit who met a woman in New Mexico under open skies is the one who walks dusty roads in Galicia, whispering truth with every mile.

Healing That Multiplies

In Guatemala, a woman named Sully shared that she had wanted to be baptized since she was 15, but had grown up in a home where she was told she wasn’t worthy. That she didn’t have the character. That she didn’t have the spirit.

But at a Beauty for Ashes retreat, surrounded by women who saw her, she was asked, “Do you want to be baptized today?”

She wept, “Yes. Absolutely. But only if my table sisters can stay with me.”

And they did.

The Invitation Is for You, Too

None of these women came with perfect stories. They came with pain. They came with questions. They came with a yes.

And that yes was enough.

If your heart is stirred reading these stories, maybe God is inviting you into one of your own.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to carry someone else’s testimony. You just have to show up.

2026 Beauty for Ashes Opportunities:

New Mexico – March 22-30 or August 5-10
Spain (El Camino) – May 17-23 or September 6-12
Guatemala – May 16-22 or September 19-25

View all upcoming trips and apply now!