Welcome to Bob and Barbara Japenga’s website for their Listening to God ministry. For almost 30 years they have been helping individuals and groups connect to God through Listening Retreats, Listening Seminars, and Spiritual Direction. Three tag lines define what they do. They encourage people to “Make Time to Take Time.” Unless you schedule time alone with God, it won’t happen. Then they encourage people to “Press the Pause Button.” They are not the only ones encouraging you to press the pause button. Your heavenly Father is as well. [Notice how God the Father is pointing to the Pause button in our banner. Adam appears reluctant]. Your heart also is hearing this. Stop running the rat race and
step away. Pause for times of silence and solitude. Finally, they tell people (and themselves) “Don’t just do something, sit there.” We are so goal oriented, sitting and spending time alone with God seems impossible.
Bob and Barbara have had the privilege over these past 30 years to help more than one thousand people encounter Jesus through silence, solitude, and listening to God. They would love to help you or your organization connect with God in a more intimate way. As one young woman said after a Listening Retreat: “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”
In addition, since 2003 Bob and Barbara have worked with church leadership teams, para-church groups and even families that wanted to learn how to listen to God together. This is not accomplished in a weekend retreat or even a week-long seminar. With the first church they worked with, they spent two years with the staff and the elder board. For any team to effectively seek God together requires a culture change in the way we lead. And that takes time.
What are you waiting for? Make time to take time. Contact us today to set up a time of Spiritual Direction, a Listening Retreat, a Listening Seminar, or if you are really bold, invite us in to help you learn to listen to God together.
In addition to the resources on this site, Bob has published 
three books:
- An Introductory Guide to Listening Prayer
- Listening to God Together
- An Introductory Guide to Intercessory Prayer
All three are available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle format.