SINGLE
WOMEN'S
SEMINAR
"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for JOY. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." James 1: 2-4. JOY was the theme of our single women's conference and our focus was summarized in these verses. The J in JOY represents Jesus and our need to put him first in our lives. The bible verse we chose for this is Matthew 6:33. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The O in JOY represents Others. When we put Jesus first in our lives, we are led through his holy spirit in us to seek out and serve others. The need for connection with other women was emphasized as necessary for healing and growing, and the need to serve others becomes a natural outgrowth of our thanks to Jesus for giving up his life for our sins. The bible verse for this is Matthew 7:12.
"In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you. This is written in the Law and the Prophets." The Y in JOY represents Yourself. By putting Jesus first, connecting with and serving others next, we are able to discover our true selves and God's purpose for our lives here on earth. As single women, we are given the divine opportunity to give undivided, undistracted loyalty to the Lord. This is a very special time in our lives and we should consider this period of singlehood as a gift from God to do His work. The bible verse we chose for this is 1 Corinthians 7:34. "His (a married man's) interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be more devoted to the Lord in body and spirit, while the married woman must be concerned about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband."
Our conference was held in Pastor Shadrack's Deliverance Church with approximately 50-60 women from the Kiminini community with a wide variety in age. We handed out paper and pens for taking notes, printed copies of James 1:2-4, and beaded bracelets with the word JOY on them. We each took one of the letters and expounded on it, and finished this part with a summation. Pastor Shadrack was given a bible study from Saddleback Church's Purpose Driven Series called "You were created to be like Christ", with ten books and a DVD. We explained that this could be used by these women as a way to connect with each other as we do in our small groups at Saddleback. To illustrate how we interact in our small groups, we ended by modeling a small group, discussing weddings and how each of us has differing perspectives, based on our life experiences. Our goal was to give single women in Africa a new, hopeful view of their lives in singlehood - the most powerful, joyful position of their lives. It seemed to be very well received and we were very pleased with the outcome.
-Suzy Connellan, Tamela Pugh, Denise Fetter, Regina Mantei