Women's Leadership in Christ Takes Off

Tuesday morning began with a tremendous time of worship.    The rains soon came and at times it rained so hard that you could not hear even with amplification.   Then, the electrical power was off.   Neither the rain or power outage limited the powerful impact of the Women’s Leadership Conference in the lives of the women. 

Bonnie began the morning defining Women’s Leadership from a Biblical model of Jesus.   This led to a discussion of what is and is not a part of this model.   Women’s leadership as Servant Leadership vs. Power broker.    She outlined what all Christian leaders must have in common that led into an emphasis on intimacy with God and His calling upon the Leader(Woman)’s life.   This calling is defined by serving others as the leader follows Jesus Christ.  

At the end of the sessions, Floyd preached on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and His promises for Women’s Leaders who are pursuing their calling in real ministry.    Mpeli led in a time a prayer.  During the prayer, one of the women came forward to say that she was not really a disciple of Jesus Christ.   This was a great time of blessing for the women and challenging experience to all of us as the woman shared her life in the church and her realization of what being a disciple meant.   

The women celebrated Swiga’s birthday (Swiga is Mpeli’s sister) with her first (that’s right) birthday cake ever.   Tears flowed as Swiga thanked everyone for the cake and the recognition of her birthday.   This was such a blessed time. 

On the last day of the conference, the spirit among the women just kept building in excitement, enthusiasm, and deepening commitment to fulfill their calling in their communities.   During prayer and group times, the women formed groups to link them together after the conference.   Bonnie focused on practical matters of being leaders of vision, building a ministry team, developing next generation leaders, and the dynamics of practical, spiritual leadership.    Floyd closed the session with a message of encouragement to pursue the vision that God has given them from Joshua 1:1-9; Philippians 1:6.   

The women presented Neema, Mpeli, Bonnie, and Floyd with gifts of appreciation as they danced by and around them.   In keeping with their hearts, they also appreciated those who served behind the scenes, leading worship, and translation.    Everyone is looking forward to the opportunity to gather again.