.png)
WOMEN OF WITNESS
/ˈwɪtnəs/ "To see or know by personal experience."
2023
WOMEN OF WITNESS - GLORY
WOW! Conference 2023 was a refreshing time in the Lord’s presence as our ladies took time out of their busy schedules to come aside to seek His face. There was such a hunger for the messages of our guest speakers, Reverend Dr. Naomi Dowdy, Reverend Dr. Suzette Hattingh, Pastor Bonnie Chavda, and Mama Heidi Baker all carried a similar theme: Becoming Vessels That Carry His Glory.
Finding Treasure Through the Storms
Mama Heidi was moved by three paintings that were put up for sale to raise funds for Iris Ministries. With captions like “harvest is plentiful”, “willing and well-equipped labourers”, and “haul in the harvest” accompanying the pictures of boats out at sea, they reminded her of her journey of looking out for those in need of Jesus on the mission field. She shared that the storms of life sometimes bring people to us, and accelerate that drawing towards the Saviour. In the same manner, storms in our own lives bring forth the harvest. “We need to ask God to take our little lives and go through the storms that come our way so that we can allow the oil inside us to flow,” she challenged the ladies in attendance. She also spoke about the need to have a face-to-face, heart-to-heart encounter with God that gives us “fresh bread” for the spiritually hungry, and to be filled continually by the Holy Spirit. In that place of intimacy, we find fresh “oil” to do the deep and impossible things He calls us to, and then He calls us to surrender again and again.
Rev. Dr. Naomi Dowdy continued this thought of letting God bring us through our storms so that He can reveal His glory through us. His word (2 Corinthians 4:7-9) tells us that we have treasure in jars of clay, that we may exhibit the exceeding power of God within us to a hopeless world. Because of Christ, we can be hard-pressed but not be crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. “We are designed to be God’s delivery system no matter what trouble we go through. In fact, the trouble will only cause the content inside us to be released even more freely,” she shared, challenging us to carry God’s message to those who need to hear it no matter our circumstances.
Turning Aside in Humility
Opening her session with a time of worship, Pastor Bonnie Chavda invited everyone to a deep place of encountering the Lord. Just like how Moses turned aside for that encounter with God at the burning bush, she encouraged everyone to lay aside all as we come into His presence. The removal of his sandals represented the departure from self-sufficiency towards humility and submission, and that vulnerability allowed God to fully use him to demonstrate His power. Many women were called to break out of fear and to radically step into all that God had for them with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There is power available to us to confront the enemy, and to go forth and make a difference for the Kingdom of God.
Sing O Barren Woman
Throughout the WOW! Conference, the message “no weapon formed against us shall prosper” echoed the different sessions. And Rev. Dr. Suzette Hattingh exhorted everyone to take this a step further by seeing every challenge in life as God’s way of moving us into a higher dimension. “It is time for us to embrace the barrenness of our lives and sing and worship until a breakthrough happens,” she emphasized, quoting Isaiah 54 – “Sing O Barren Woman!” She added that we mature when we can sit with our own “Judas” in our lives and turn every painful experience into an opportunity for growth. The Holy Spirit moved powerfully during ministry time, as many responded at the closing of the conference, inviting the Lord to turn their “Valley of Achor” into a transformative encounter with God. Christ in us, the hope of Glory is revealed when we are changed!
