Friday, May 21, 2010

Friday night: The Women's Conference Begins

After beginning our morning with a trip to the local garden center to purchase mums to decorate the church platform, we picked up Jeremy Woltz and some of his guy friends to help us load the "Mama Chair" into the bus to take to the church. Our platform set called for a big, overstuffed chair, side table and lamp, and other items typically surrounding a woman's devotional spot. We tried to fit the huge chair into the luggage area in the outside back compartment of the bus, but it would not fit. So with much effort and many hands, we lifted it through the bus door and successfully wedged it between seats to hold it steady until we could get back to the church. When we finally placed it into the platform set, we realized how perfectly everything came together. The woods, the colors in the rug, the side table--everything looked beautiful together.

The service began a bit late because many women had worked long hours and the traffic here is terrible 24 hours a day. But once we got started, we counted 98 women in the main sanctuary seating area, with a few folks upstairs. The church worship team led us in prayer and praise. The guitarist blew me away! I've never heard anyone as good on the guitar as this humble guy. I reviewed the schedule and introduced our team speakers lined up for Saturday; then we opened with a scripture then I introduced Judy Clough, who entered down the center aisle from the back of the church dressed in bedroom slippers and her pajamas. She plopped down into the "Mama Chair" set and began her talk about the importance of "Hearing From the Heart" every day through a regular devotional time. (Her time with the Lord is first thing in the morning, before her day begins.)

Afterward, I interviewed Ann Tate about how to journal: the process, and the role it plays in prayer and communication with God. At the end of the evening, we invited women to come forward for prayer and our team members stretched across the front of the altar area to pray for them.

We ended the evening with coffee and desert in the church fellowship hall. What a delight to see many familiar faces. These are joyful people who are passionate about their faith. Tomorrow morning (Saturday) we will host a breakfast at our hotel for the women leaders and I will teach on "Leading from the Heart" (How to Have a Sustainable Life in the Midst of Ministry).

We have had a few elevator surprises (stopping and starting unexpectedly) and have laughed so much that our sides hurt. A great missions trip so far. We look forward to a very busy Saturday. -Marlyn

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