Well .. its’ 9:45am, Saturday 28 April, the countdown is over (early for me, actually - I was awake at 4.00am) and people are arriving already – always a good sign. There’s a lot of enthusiasm around and lots of chat. Actually, we might as well do that all day – chat I mean; we’re really good at it. Maki’s touch is apparent everywhere - flowers in the toilets and chocs as you come in – that’s us, girls; it’s the way we like to do things.
Certainly, there’s a hubbub now, I don’t really want to break in but Maki gives me the nod and yes, the microphone does work and we begin.
A few practical sharing and a song and Mic, our leader, is at the mike. Well, this can be a dangerous point for me; sometimes hearing men talk about women is well, just awful. Before they’ve even say anything I feel my back stiffen and breathing gets quicker. They can be so patronising .. but no, not Mic. He spoke of how much the church needs women today and how important they were in the early church. After all, he pointed out, women were there where it was all happening and they got there first: at the cross, at the burial place and they were the first to tell everyone Jesus was raised, too. What’s the vision? For women in our church to reach their FULL potential. Sorry, Mic, I’m missing some of the gems as I’ve got half an eye on the programme, fiddling with the bits of paper in my hands and feeling a bit dazed. But it was great.
Rhoda is talking about her hero Martha from the gospels and then Debs and Deborah come in with their double act, an engaging and hilarious conversation between a discipler and would-be-disciple: Debs appears out of the cupboard, made up and dressed up to the nines and Deborah, well, is just her motherly self, reassuring but real too. One moment we’re holding our sides, the next moment …. those awkward lumps in the throat. The videos (Diane) were just brilliant – sometimes videos seem to cheapen or make shallow a little, I feel, what we believe, what we do - not this one. It was sensitive, original, the sort that can move you, to a better place. Ah, we all need more of that ….
Now, time for my chosen seminar: ‘healing and seeing ourselves as God sees us.’ It’s getting deep; one woman weeps as she shares the pain of not being able to have children and someone next to me sits with the silent tears falling: hearing such stuff, she tells me, has opened up her heart. Another shares the pain of not being able to communicate in her earlier years and speaks of the wounds resulting from coming from a dysfunctional family. These are the two women who said they were not up for taking this seminar. My response is: you two, this is just brilliant. It is bravery, this raw vulnerability, opening up to others your weakness, your pains, letting others see through the misty windows of your heart.
Lunchtime …thank goodness .. it arrives. Three good bros, David, Adrian and Karl are well up to the job of cooking for and serving us all … bless them.
Then, my friend Balbir (not her real name) turns up. She’s a Sikh. Actually she went to the seminar on prayer and we find out she’s been praying for an hour today already – that’s before her work which begins about seven. She’s probably been praying more than us all and that’s convicting …. But she’s in tears today and wants me to pray for her distressing domestic situation. This I gladly do .. may she find the reality of Jesus’ comfort and His arms of love around her.
After lunch, I decide I’m going to the seminar on ‘enjoying being a woman’: Marie inspires us with those heroes Gladys Aylward and Amy Carmichael – not heroes because they were great but because they were frail, written-off, cracked but obedient vessels that God could fill and use – and that means there’s hope for us, too. Maureen speaks of her experiences of being a local preacher, the journey away from timidity towards courage. Yes, perhaps courage is the overriding word and theme for today. Anna speaks of the importance of self respect…
We’re running late now and it’s time for the worship and response time. I’m feeling decidedly nervous about this one. The response time at the front is great but am I losing the rest of them? And I never thought beforehand how to finish and round up the day… help ….
The response is overwhelming: a great day. There’s another one soon but the vision is already there: all of us, everyone of us, need to be released into our FULL potential – and that takes courage. But, I’ve noticed today, there’s plenty of that around.
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