Revive Conference
About a month ago, our women's ministry here at The Chapel partnered with Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church to put together an event called Revive. Here is recap of that event written by Kim Holet (Women's Ministry Director at The Chapel).
Whatever God wants to do, he will do by using all of his people. At The Chapel we believe that God wants every man, woman and child to have repeated opportunities to see and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This means each follower of Christ is called and equipped to serve alongside God in his mission. “All people” includes women. So, Thrive Women’s Ministry held a conference on March 21-22 called Revive, and the purpose of this conference was to encourage and equip women in using their lives for God’s mission. 240 women fromThe Chapel and various surrounding area churches attended Revive.
"Whatever God wants to do, he will do by using all of his people."
The atmosphere was a summer Hawaiian luau with fun music, fruit drinks and snacks, a limbo bar, speed friendship and an artist painting a summer scene on a canvas. Everyone entered the East Worship Center for a time of worship through music and teaching from scripture. The main speaker, Sarah Sumner, spoke on John 8:32, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”. She taught that truth is found in Jesus Christ. It is only when we are honest (fully truthful) with ourselves that we are able to trust God.
When we trust God, we can be free and transformed. Sarah challenged the women to examine their hearts to see where they were not being fully honest with God and let truth guide their thinking. After the teaching, there were multiple areas in which they could serve on campus or off. The service opportunities ranged from cutting and pinning fabric, to making pillowcases for City Mission, to handing out food to the homeless. The reason for providing service opportunities is that putting action to our faith makes what we believe stronger; we are seeing what we have learned worked out in real life and how it blesses others.
The ladies loved giving their time and energy to bless other local ministries and enjoyed getting to develop new friendships as they served. Saturday, we joined Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church for their simulcast of 16 leaders each speaking for 9 minutes on topics like leadership, spiritual growth and conflict resolution. It was a lot of information that spurred great discussions and creative thinking. Overall, God used Revive to encourage women towards being intentional with their lives by seeking truth and serving others. Many ladies needed the fun atmosphere and connections with others to help them push through the last cold, gray weeks of winter.
One woman who was new to the area said she was so grateful to have the opportunity to meet people and start to form more connections here. One of the homeless ladies at Lockport Cares renewed her commitment to Christ as a result of the off campus outreach that was held there on Friday night. God also used the conference to continue building good relationships between the churches in our area. It was a blessing to spend time with other believers who are serious about living for Christ.
For more information on Thrive, please visit thrivewomen.com