Getting Time Right

The team was excited.  We were to have dinner in the home of a known University Professor in Uganda and the Anglican Bishop, of a substantial area, and his wife were invited.

At the dinner table, I was asked to sit beside the Bishop, a refined and dignified man.  While their wives served the food, we enjoyed engaging conversation recounting those memorable moments of our 14 scheduled days in Uganda.  The topic then moved to culture and the difference between life in Canada and life as we had observed in Africa.

My comment to the Professor focused on the value of keeping time largely because I was still adjusting to the African version.  “You know, Professor, in our culture, if we are late by five minutes, we call and apologize.”  He turned his shoulders to face me squarely, looked into my eyes and said with utmost sincerity: “I’m so sorry for you!” 

He went on to explain that Africans to not run their lives by the clock like we in North America.  They are much more concerned about build relationships than keeping things on time.

Does God keep North American time or African time?  Neither.  He lives in the timeless and has His own interpretation of time.  Phrases like:  “And it came to pass in the process of time”  (Exodus 2:23); “in the space of time”  (Acts 5:7), “in a little while”  (John 16:16) and that dreaded word ‘wait’ found throughout Scripture, especially the Psalms, teach us that if we ‘live and move and have our being in Christ’ (Acts 17:28), we will need to adjust and align our lives to His interpretation of time. 

It is one thing to love God, and quite another to love His timing.  Trust issues for most of us do not focus on God’s character but on His timing.  A natural season is usually a few months in duration.  But a season under God cannot be predetermined and timed.  Our need for God to fit into our time schedule will always bring a conflict.  Hard, firm human plans with timelines have to surrender and give way for God to work.

Yet God often interjects Himself into our precise time schedule and does so for the African and their relaxed time system.  And we stand in wonder at His timing!

What does God want from us, punctuality or relationship?  Taking a scheduled time-out with God may have value for us because it is the right thing to do and can be programmed into our busy day.  But God longs for and desperately wants relationship.  Meaningful times of heart communication, mediation, listening to His voice, moving prayer from the mind to the heart, all surpass a schedule and require unscheduled time, spiritual hunger and initially work.  A solid, lasting relationship cannot be made in snippets of time.

The Anglican Bishop had it right!

Margaret Gibb

(First published in www.maranathanews.com  June 6, 2012)

Necessary Endings

In a converstion with a friend, I was told that she and others were part of a recent lay-off due to downsizing.  In our conversation, I could hear her frustration with the realities of her circumstances and the unfairness that she and the others received in the lay-off process.

My friend is a believer, loves Jesus passionately, and is trying to make some spiritual sense out of this unexpected turn in her life.  On the one hand she believes that God is in control, but is asking the big question:  “Why?”  She is desperately trying to trust God, yet needs employment to provide for the family income, now!  She is wavering somewhere between doubt and faith, worry and trust and knows that she will not find a healthy spiritual balance in her conflict.  She must deal with the pain.

Based on the many experiences I have been through with unexpected turns in my life, and now having a perspective that only time brings, I challenged her to think differently about her circumstances.  “It is possible that God is moving you on, while your company is calling it a lay-off?”

“To everything there is a season.”  Life is composed of cycles and seasons.  Nothing stays the same.  Change is always happening and will come whether we want it or not.  It is inevitable. It is necessary.  It is transformational. 

Could God use an unexpected lay-off, a painful ending to a once meaningful position and role, to move us into the next chapter of our lives, a place that is part of His plan for us?  Absolutely!  Something must end, for the new to begin!

The prophet Isaiah sounded the promise of a new season when he said:  “Forget about what’s happened, don’t keep going over old history.  Be alert.  Be present.  I’m about to do something brand-new.  It’s bursting out!  Don’t you see it?  I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”  (Isaiah 43:18,19 The Message).

There is a place between natural seasons - those weeks when winter is saying goodbye and spring is making its colorful entry - a transition.  In the seasons of life, there are transitional points, when we must work through the pain and grab onto the future.  The spiritual work of “leaving and preparing’ are critical and necessary during transition. 

Alan Cohen describes the transitional place well when he wrote:  “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure to embrace the new.  But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.  There is more security in the adventuresome and exciting for in movement there is life and in change there is power.”

Based on God’s unfailing promises, His plan for my friend will unfold.  It’s only a matter of time. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord…plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

(This article was first published in www.maranathanews.com June 2012)

Don’t Shelve Yourself!

I was scramming!  My family was coming, groceries had to be purchased and oh yes, I had to purge my fridge and cupboards for items that had expired the ‘best before dates.”  I am convinced my family believes that “best before” means the ‘throw-out’ date. I counter with, “it’s all a marketing gimmick!”

In our excessive throw-away society, many things have a shelf life.  Besides food items, magazine, movies and books, the entire fashion industry has an unmarked shelf life.

Do our gifts and abilities have a shelf life?  Do our God-given gifts come with a ‘best before’ date?  How about our calling?  Does it too have a ‘best before’ date?  Thankfully God doesn’t operate by the terms of our in-out throw-away society.

Yet we can shelve ourselves! We can throw in the towel and remove ourselves from life and ministry because of criticism and discouragement, lack of opportunity, fear and age!

During my college years, I was severely criticized for my piano playing.  True, I was self-taught and needed more training but the over-the-top criticism crushed me deeply and I quit.  Quit!  Stunned and hurt, I laid my talent aside never to be picked up again!  For months, I couldn’t let go of the pain.  One of my roommates brought me to reality one day.  “You are wasting your God-given talent.  Rise above the criticism! Don’t shelve what God was given you.”

In his excellent book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”, author John Piper tells a sad but humorous story of a couple who took early retirement when he was 59 and she was 51, to live in Florida, cruise, shop and collect seashells.  John writes:  “At first when I read it in Readers Digest, I thought it might be a joke, a spoof on the American Dream, but it was true.”  He adds:  “Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord, see the seashells we collected in Florida in our retirement.’”

We live one life - that is it!  Our gifts, gift-mixes and calling - given wrapped up are to be discovered, developed and used over our life-time for God’s glory and the work of His kingdom- cannot be thrown-away and set aside no mater what the reason.

Retirement is especially a tacky subject because we have been trained by society to accept an age limit for effectiveness. What a waste!  A colossal waste!  Knowledge and wisdom that comes from a life-time of experience cannot be shelved because someone has decided on a ‘best before date.’ The calling of God does not age.  It matures for greater effectiveness.   

Paul wrote:  “I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished…”  Philippians 1:6

  Your work is not complete!  God has no ‘best before’ dates!  Rise above the fear, the criticism, and current thinking about age.  Don’t shelve yourself!  Your greater effectiveness is ahead.  

Margaret Gibb

Founder & Director, Women Together

First published in www.maranathanews.com

I’ll Tell You Later

The scribbled handwritten note would read something like this: “Had an interesting phone call today, I’ll tell you later.” Whether the message came from my children, husband or a friend, the “I’ll tell you later” part was always (and still is) irritating to me. I don’t like being kept in the dark. It the news is good, tell me now. If it is not so good, well, okay, it can wait for that appropriate moment of disclosure.

Often, God’s message to us is: “I’ll tell you later.” I have often wondered if Joseph, in living out his story, felt that way!

If we were to zoom in on Joseph’s life and highlight the marked moments and events of his strange story, he moved from one challenging change to another - none of which made sense. In each change, it seemed like God was saying, “I’ll tell you later.”

It all started with a coat and jealousy among his brother, then the story unfolds with Midianite traders, and a less than thrilling trip to Egypt. Potiphar and his deceitful wife then enter the story. Then there’s life in prison. Finally, by a series of events and the use of his long-buried gift of interrupting dreams, Joseph gains favor and becomes Prime Minister of Egypt, a most unlikely ending for a Hebrew slave in a foreign country.

Each event and encounter was like a link in the chain of his story keeping him in a constant state of living in the suspense of “I’ll tell you later.” Finally, he knew! The reunion of his beloved father and brothers all came at the right place, in the right way, and at the right time. They didn’t know it, but God was writing His own redemptive story through all the personal and family drama.

Our journeys will not be like Joseph’s but we too will experience changes, marked seasons of challenge, times of transition, complicated people interactions that do not make sense - but all come with the message, “I’ll tell you later.” We, in those times, have to patiently wait itout and see what God will do in and through us to accomplish His plans and purposes. It’s usually much greater than we imagined.

“So trust with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“You do not realize now what I am doing but later you will understand.” John 13:7

Don’t strive, trust! God’s plan for your life, will unfold. It’s only a matter of time.

Fulfilling roles - fulfilling a calling. Is there a difference?

“Why would you ever want to take on the challenge of leading a national women’s ministry organization? You should be thinking about ‘slowing down!” My caller was sincere in her question. She was calling to offer both her congratulations and share her own personal dilemma.

As the conversation continued, I learned that we had many similarities. We had been pastor’s wives, lived busy lives, had grown children and were in fact discovering the wonderful world of being a ‘grandma.’ Added to our similarities, we were about the same age. She was ‘slowing down’ but seriously questioning her own lack of purpose at this strategic time in her life. In her own words, she was ‘no where.’

Then she added this reflective statement: “I feel like I’ve filled many roles in my life but I’m not sure that I’ve fulfilled my calling!”

Her statement made me reflect on my own years in ministry, especially pastoral ministry. Although I deeply valued God’s call on my life, at times I battled an inner sense of being ‘boxed-in’, and in Henry Nouwen’s words was “a prisoner of people’s expectations, and not liberated by divine promises.”

Women are naturally givers and multitaskers. They have an innate ability to juggle a number of roles and responsibilities at the same time. But busyness and stress are the harsh realities of our day, making our lives like balls in a pinball machine, moving in many directions, sometimes without a real sense of purpose and mission.

The dilemma women find themselves in today, is that they have come to believe that in filling their roles they are in fact fulfilling their calling. Women move from one role to another within the church context. They have landed and plateaued in a stage of development, never going beyond. The longer they stay in that place, the more they question their ability to each higher. They build for themselves a ‘box’ and are afraid to step out of its confines. Latent ability lies dormant and dreams to fulfill one’s calling are somewhere off the radar.

Roles change but our calling does not! God has a purpose, a plan , a specific mission for our lives and the development process to fulfill that mission will always be bigger than we are. Development means, we find ourselves in a constant learning curve!

Are roles valuable? Absolutely! Roles give us experience. Experiences are stepping-stones and will move us from the comfortable to new and exciting horizons.

At a vision-casting meeting, with a group of women, a young mother who accepted the challenge of pastoring a small church made this profound statement describing her own leap of faith: “I don’t need to see the whole staircase to take the first step.”

In my own development as a leader, I have come to understand what Henry Blackaby expressed in his book: Experiencing God. “I have come to the place in life, that if the assignment I sense God is giving me is something that I know I can handle, then I know it probably is not from God. The kind of assignments God gives in the Bible are always God-sized. They are always beyond what people can do because He wants to demonstrate His power, strength, provision and transforming grace.”

You are feeling boxed-in, trapped, stressed…seeing beyond but not knowing how to get there?

By faith, move forward. Take action steps. Trust God to lead. There is more in you than you know!

Sodom is Married to Gomorrah. Really?

“Who was swallowed by a whale?” was the question poised by a Children’s Pastor in a gym filled with rambunctious students.  Hands shot up in the air:  “Jesus!. “Moses!” “Paul!” shouted the eager students.  As hands continued to wave in the air, the Pastor began to feel some anxiousness to land the right answer. Finally, a quiet unassuming young girl said, “I think the answer is Jonah.”

We can excuse a scenario like the true one described and suggest that the mix of students could have been more from the community than the church. Surely, “churched kids’ know all the familiar Bible Studies, can name the players and draw some vital life lessons from their lives.

Today’s reality is that basic Bible knowledge is acutely absent.  Whether children, youth, or adults, most ‘churched’ people are functionally biblically illiterate.  In his book, “the Gagging of God,”  D.A. Carson writes:  “In many parts of the country, we cannot assume any biblical knowledge on the part of our hearers at all:  the most elementary Bible stories are completely unknown. Furthermore, the situation is getting worse!”

Gallup poll finding and independent studies have found that many Christians cannot identify more than 3 of the disciples and fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.  While Bible sales and distribution are still remarkably high in Canada and the US (168.000 per day) and available through every new technological means and hundreds of translations, a recent George Barna survey showed that 35% of evangelical Christians do not read the Bible at all.

The lack of Biblical literacy has been a point of study among research groups and biblical professors for years.  They all draw one conclusion.  While North American evangelicals understand that Biblical illiteracy is commonplace in our secular society and are deeply concerned about society’s rejection of Biblical truth and values, Biblical illiteracy in the church has reached a sobering crisis level.  Basic “Bible 101” surveys have been conducted with shocking results.  No, Jesus was not baptised in the Red Sea, betrayed by Samson and buried in Bethlehem, and no, Sodom and Gomorrah were not married!

Over the years I have been increasingly concerned about the lack of expository preaching and teaching in evangelical churches.  Corporate worship should not be an entity unto itself, but a heart preparation to hear the expounded Word.  The centrality of a worship service is not music but the preaching of the Word - precept by precept, line upon line.

Having been in pastoral ministry for 25 years, I have been first-hand the outflow of a life grounded in God’s Word.  Studying and knowing Biblical precepts and truth gives a foundation to life that cannot be provided by any other means.  In recent years, the introduction of small group ministry has certainly increased opportunities for fellowship and has reclaimed some ground in Biblical study.  But the challenge in “Christians discussing” is to get beyond our self-absorbed and emotional perceptions to see what God is saying in His Word and then applying it.

Knowing basic doctrine is not an elective but at the heart and core of building solid devoted followers of Christ.  Knowing what we believe and why settles life’s questions, gives clear purpose and life direction, and creates stability in our position and relationship with Christ.  We cannot live higher than what we believe.  Doctrine shapes our belief system.  Without doctrine, Christianity becomes a weak and pitiful religion.

The Bible is not merely a ‘classic’ or an ancient document revered in the past:  it is a living book - God-breathed, inerrant and infallible, unchanging and indestructible, ageless and universal, and life-transforming.  It is God’s Story - a story of redemption provided through the atoning work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Living in a ‘what’s in it for me” narcissistic society, we have a God-given opportunity to teach the ‘whole counsel of God’ and lifting the church to new levels of knowing, understanding and experiencing God, developing an unshakeable faith in devoted followers of Christ.

“Are you ready for another Bible Story?” asked the Children’s Pastor to her fidgety congregation.  “Yes!” they called back.  “I want to tell you about Rizpah…her name means pavement…”

I’ve Never Been Here Before

It’s a common, everyday statement.  We walk into a store, holiday in a new part of the country or make a major move and comment:  “I’ve never been here before!”

In my home I have a small plaque that simply reads:  “Each moment…is a new place you’ve never been before.”

It’s my reminder that in every new learning curve that life hands me, including those unplanned, unwanted and sometimes down-right ugly experiences, are places I’ve never been before.

The Bible is filled with stories of people who faced life-places where they had not been before.  Some came from their own choices.  Most came from God’s direct call.  

Joseph and Esther are two good illustrations.

Joseph’s story is strange in the unfolding of unprecedented happenings.  God moved him from the love and comfort of his father’s home to a pit, a foreign country, then to a prison and finally, a palace.  In each situation, Joseph had to adapt and use wisdom to deal with places he had never been before.

Mordecai, Esther’s uncle and mentor, coaches her at arms length while the twisted plot unfolded in King Xerxes’s palace to annihilate the Jewish population.  At the most tense moment, when the situation looked bleak and hopeless, Mordecai sent word to his beloved niece:  “Who can say but that you have been elevated to a place for such a time as this?”  That was enough for Esther.  She moved into a place, she had never been before and instructed Mordecai: “Go, and gather together all the Jews and fast for me….” 

What do you do when you find yourself in a place where you have never been before — a tough hard place?

l.  Ensure that the foundation of your life is solidly built on Christ.  In her book, Your Life, God’s Home, Nancie Carmichael writes: “our spiritual foundation has the potential to shape our lives, setting us on an unfolding journey of discovery and mystery.  My foundation is made up of sacred commitments, vows, and solemn promises to ideals far bigger and grander than anything I could conceptualize. This foundation - its chief cornerstone Christ Jesus and His work on the cross, is built on faith.”  Stand firm in Christ.

2.  Understand that you live not only in a physical place but also a spiritual place — in Christ. Paul declared:  “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me…and…the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

We have been empowered.  God’s presence is in us.  When you find yourself in a hard place where you have not been before, remember Christ is not only walking with you, but is in you.  He cannot and will not send you to an unknown place without going with you because He lives in you!

3.  Surround yourself with godly and wise friends and mentors.  Don’t work through a tough place you have never been before, without support, prayer, and solid friendships. Choose people who know God and can help you make sense of what you are experiencing, and can discern God’s workings in the midst of your hard place to enable you heal and take positive next steps.  Your circle of influencers must be wise, godly people. 

4.  Know that the lessons we learn from “the places we have never been before” equip us for the future.

God is at work, whether we feel it or even know it.  He is doing his work within us and when it’s complete, you will have changed because of His redeeming grace.  The changes within you equip you for the future.  The places we have never been before can be our greatest turning points in new direction, a new calling and for sure a new understanding of the love and grace of God.  When you experience redemption anew, you are forever changed! 

5.  Watch for God’s activity. 

Henry Blackaby, in his book, Experiencing God wrote:  “God is always active.  Right now God is working all round you and in your life.  Once you know where He is working, you can adjust your life to join Him.”  God’s activity and workings will come in a thousands ways - watch for it.  

David, who experienced many a hard place -  places he had never known before - wrote:  “But I trust in your unfailing love, I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because He has been so good to me.”   Psalm 13:5,6

Tough life-places we have never been before, ultimately bring a song of redemption, deeper trust and greater love for Christ. 

Career or Calling? Is there a difference?

“What is your career?”  a sincere inquirer asked me at a social gathering for ministry leaders.  Career?  Word usage often confuses dialogue and I was confused.

I have never viewed my work as a career but rather as a calling.  Unfortunately, in our society, the word ‘calling’ is passe, a word used in a bygone generation and replaced by ‘career’ to fit the spirit of modernity.  Yet, there is a vast difference between choosing a career and conforming to a life calling.

A calling is something that comes from God.  We do it for Him, allowing God to guide our development story.  A career is something we choose for ourselves because it promises us comfort, benefits and success.

We have bought into the American dream - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Happiness comes through choice - our choices.  A career that is wrapped in an attractive package of status, job security, financial gain and power is deemed as the life-path that fulfills dreams.

The word ‘career’ does not appear in the Bible.  Men and women in Bible times were called.  To the young man, Jeremiah, God said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.  Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”  Set apart and appointed!  God takes the initiative, calls and then tailors a life-long development process for a unique purpose which fits into His overarching plan.

There is no example in Scripture of a well-thought-through career plan with goals, objectives and evaluation process.  Personality tests to ensure that the one called would fit the calling were non-existent.  God made an arbitrary decision without consultation and simply said, “Go!”

When God called Abraham, He said, “Leave your country…and go to a land which I will show you.”  God had a plan

Esther like all women in ancient times, only saw marriage, wheat fields and children in her dreams, yet God called her to a royal marriage and strategically placed her in a corrupt palace to fulfil His divine purpose.

Moses bucked at God’s intervention and commissioning at the burning bush.  He pleaded with God for a new job description. Going back to Egypt to release God’s people, was returning to a place that brought nightmare memories. Yet, God had a plan.

After Moses died, God appeared to Joshua with an obituary announcement and a clear call to leadership.  “Moses my servant is dead.  Now, then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them.”  God chose Joshua.  He had the plan.  Joshua had nothing to offer except his fears and insecurities.

Dr. A. W. Tozer, a master theologian of former years, offered this insight, ‘a true and safe leader is likely to be one who has has no desire to lead but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the pressures of external situations.”

Who God calls, how, when and why He calls are questions wrapped up in what Paul called, ‘the mystery of His will.’ When we yield to His call, we come into partnership with God and not God in partnership with us.

F.B. Meyer once said, “Sometimes we want God to carry out our little plans, when He wants us to help Him accomplish His great plan.”

Over the years, in my administrative responsibilities, I have developed a love/hate relationship with organizational and personal strategic plans.  It is not that I do not believe that personal and corporate planning is necessary.  I am simply not convinced that they work.  Even with our best intentions to follow a man-made plan in the execution we still face the unpredictableness of life.  The ‘it wasn’t supposed to happen this way’ realities do happen.  Hard disappointments and demanding pressures follow.

If you are a teacher, nurse, administrator or business woman, see your life as not building a career but a calling from God.  Pray for God’s direction.  His word is clear, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.  I will counsel you and watch over you.”  Hold your goals with an outstretched hand to God. If God is not in the goals, they aren’t worth achieving.  If God is directing you, He will take your life in directions you would have never dreamed possible.  In a true calling from God, your goal is not to build your resume, but to build your soul.

“I know what I’m doing.  I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”  Jeremiah 29:11 The Message

Would I Belong?

Our flight from Toronto to Frankfurt was over. Bob and Ruth Coghill, my ministry companions, and I were waiting for the boarding announcement for Lufthansa flight #1490 to Kiev, Ukraine.

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as I looked at the faces of the passengers.  Why were they coming to Ukraine and from where?  I wondered how many of them were of Ukrainian descent. In a mere 3 hours I would be in my ancestral home - the country where my grandparents and parents were born.  Would I belong?  Would I feel a connection with the women?  Would my Ukrainian background be received since I do not speak the language or understand the culture?

After two days of recovering from jet lag and enjoying the sights of Kiev, Ruth and I were experiencing the normal rush of adrenalin preceding a conference.  Our notes were ready and the schedule checked.  We were prayed up and our clothes chosen.  Yet, the nagging question lingered in my mind, ‘would I belong’?

A driver, whom we presumed would have a working knowledge of English, was appointed to pick us up at our hosts apartment.  We were eager to have an engaging conversation with a native of Ukraine.  When the buzzer rang, Ruth, with her warm smile, opened the door and confronted a tall stoic Ukrainian man who said two words, abruptly:  “Let’s go!”

As we followed him, single file, to the elevator, through the front door and into a battered up, rusty robin egg blue van, I felt like we were living-out the script of a mystery novel.  We stepped into the van, and took our places on dusty, hard seats and pondered our unexpected circumstances.  Who were we with?  Where were we going?  We did not have a cell phone or contact information in case of an emergency.  No questions were asked because our driver did not speak English.  Our strange scenario only played more havoc with my ‘will I belong?” thoughts!

In what seemed like hours through busy Kiev traffic, the driver, at one point, signalled and pulled into a parking spot.  He turned off the ignition and waited, and waited!  We waited too, in silence, wondering what was next in the script.

From the crowded sidewalk, a young bright woman appeared at our van, smiling!  The driver opened the door and immediately her warmth and engaging ‘hello’ eased our anxiousness and my tension.  Maria was our interpreter.  Instantly, we connected! The next several miles were abuzz with conversation.  Even our driver was engaged in our meaningful chatter through Maria.

When we arrived at the conference location, women greeted us with smiles and hugs.  As we made our way into the auditorium, worship music filled the air.  Four beautiful Ukrainian women were singing, “Shout to the Lord” in the language of my birth!  Even though I didn’t understand the words, I understood their hearts.  Their worship was from a deep place, a place that has known pain and God’s bountiful grace.  In that holy moment, my eyes filled with tears and I knew I belonged!

Over the next two days , we shared the Word of God and they responded with eagerness to learn.  Scripture memorization, interactively led by Ruth, was the hit of the conference.  Prayer times were rich and meaningful.  Hearing them pray, all fully engaged in audible expressions, lifted my spirit with praise.

In small group settings and over lunch conversations, we heard their stores and they heard ours.  Moments of laughter spontaneously erupted.  They were memory making moments which further endeared us to each other.

After two amazing ministry weeks in Ukraine and on my long flight back to Toronto, I reflected back to my initial apprehension with the ‘would I belong’ question.  I pondered the rich connection I have experienced with thousands of women across our nation - from Campbell River, BC to St. John’s, Nfld - in Uganda, Mexico, United States and now Ukraine.  I recalled many conference settings, prayer times, special bonding memory-moments, and amazing ordinary women who have enriched me as a woman and leader.  

No matter where women live, or whatever their life circumstances, women want to:  

• Connect - in meaningful relationships
• Belong - be part of a larger community for mutual support and encouragement
• Serve Jesus - even though cultures are different, women long to know God and see Him at work.
• Grow - by sharing life and sharing their faith journey together.  Growing in God, in friendship and in meaningful relationship is at the heart and core of every women’s desire.
• Nurture - invest themselves in others 
• Give - wholeheartedly help others in whatever form they can.  Giving makes life richer and the world a better place. 

Yes, I belonged to the women of Ukraine and so would you!  We belong to each other!