It was the perfect setting to host our first-ever International Leadership Forum! The Guelph Bible Conference Centre was bursting with brilliant fall colours—ready to welcome our international guests and those who registered from nine provinces in Canada.

The theme of the forum was Called…It’s Time for More! Plenary and workshop sessions developed the theme into four main sessions: The Leader’s Calling, The Leader’s Preparation, The Leader’s Journey, and The Leader’s Destiny.

Heidi McLaughlin, Melissa Sharpe, Judy Rushfeldt, and Margaret Gibb were the plenary speakers. Ruth Coghill, Ellen Krahn, Sherry Stahl, Carol Ann Hurtubise, and Pat Klein presented workshops on Sacred Rest, Relationships, Mentoring, Conquering Criticism and Offence, The Devotional Life of a Leader, Messages We Give Ourselves, and How God Transforms Adversity into Opportunity.

Our schedule was full and so were our hearts! The Celebration of Nations event on Friday evening was a highlight. Our guests from Nepal and the Philippines told their stories and shared what God is doing through them in their nations. Stories from women who have recently immigrated to Canada from Egypt, Jordan, and Uganda added to the wealth of information we received that evening. Julia Garratt told her story of being imprisoned in China under charges of spying, and none of us will be the same again!

The purpose of the International Leadership Forum was to equip, encourage, and empower women in leadership to believe in their God-given calling and to move past obstacles and roadblocks and go for MORE! We based our theme on Ephesians 3:20: God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

The International Leadership Forum is yet another way to build a global community of women in Christian leadership who have one purpose and one heart: to serve God passionately and to allow Him to work His purposes and plans through ordinary women called by God!

It was a perfect day for a picnic! On a beautiful day in September, the Women Together Ukraine team gathered more than 50 women from 5 different churches to celebrate friendship with a picnic-style lunch. Everyone in attendance was wow-ed!

“There was an amazing atmosphere of joy and acceptance. The variety of ages added to the joy of being together. We truly celebrated friendship and God’s outpoured love on us,” commented Veronika Nuzhna, Women Together Ukraine Coordinator.

Veronika’s message was entitled, God’s Promises are More than Any Storm. “I stressed that when God gives a promise, He will lead you through the storm and to the other side. When we have difficulties, it is very important to remind ourselves of God’s Word and His promises and to speak those promises into our lives.”

A Christmas Event for women in leadership in Poltava Ukraine is now planned for Christmas 2018.

Returning now for their 3rd time in Uganda, the Women Together Canada team was delighted to be back Mukono, Uganda and working in partnership with ROTOM ministry.

ROTOM is a unique and wonderful ministry to seniors started because of the effect that HIV/AIDS had on families several years ago. In African culture, it is the adult children who look after their parents in their senior years. With HIV/AIDS taking so many adult lives, something had to be done to help the grandmothers who were living in severe poverty with the added responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Women Together has two aspects to their partnership with ROTOM:

1. Providing leadership training for ROTOM staff and
2. Providing Home Based Care Training to at-risk village girls.

In 2018, Evelyn Franklin, an RN from Brandon, Manitoba, taught the Home Based Care Curriculum for three months to 11 village girls. Eight of the eleven girls are now employed and using their new skills to help seniors and the grandchildren they are raising.

This trip was a reunion, a joyful catching-up, and a time of affirmation for the girls who have risen to the challenge, obtained a good start in medical training, and are using what they learned to help seniors and ROTOM.

Ellen Krahn and Margaret Gibb taught 16 staff members on Biblical Leadership. Their eagerness to take notes and be engaged in the training was indicative of their desire to learn and grow as leaders.

Women Together and ROTOM are moving forward with additional plans to develop our partnership further.

Watch a video from the Mission Trip to Kenya

We were excited! To be going back to Kenya, now for the 7th time, and to connect with leaders and friends we have made over the years heightened our anticipation for what God would do next!
We were not disappointed.

On our first day, we set up a tent at the Overcomers ministry to host another medical camp. Everything was carefully placed: the registration area, the nurses’ stations, the doctor and pharmacy area, and finally the prayer section. Everyone who came with a medical concern was prayed for.

Olive Holm and Evelyn Franklin saw almost 200 people – many with simple, yet concerning, problems due to the inaccessibility of over-the-counter medication.
In the following days, we hosted Pastors’ Wives gatherings where we affirmed the women in their calling.
We had a first-time visit to the Kenya Medical Training College and were able to be with some 200 students. Sharing our faith was encouraged and welcomed.

Our 3rd Peer Care Retreat was held at a Catholic Retreat Centre with eight Women Together team members. The leaders were from various vocations but all had a desire to grow as leaders and fulfill their God-given calling to women. Our prayer time was very meaningful.

We visited a new area, Kisii, and hosted a Women’s Conference and a Pastors’ Wives gathering. What joy to welcome women leaders from various churches in Kisii. The spiritual teaching, leadership training, and medical instructions were gratefully received. This area in Kenya, about a 3-hour drive from Kisumu, is ripe for greater development with women.
We also hosted a medical clinic in a Kisumu slum area. Men, women, and children came all day to see the Canadian nurses and to have prayer. Our two women’s events in Kisumu were special when we could pour into the women and have prayer together.

We continue to build Women Together in Kenya under the leadership of Eunice Monda and her inspiring team.

Visiting a new country can be daunting. As the Women Together team embarked on a first-time trip to Armenia, they were filled with questions: What should we expect? Who will we meet? What we learn? What will be the result of our visit?

Three women embarked on the journey to Armenia: Veronika Nuzhna (Women Together Ukraine Co-ordinator), Elena Gomela (Bible College Professor from Ukraine), and Margaret Gibb (Women Together Executive Director). The team was immediately put at ease when they arrived at the Yerevan airport and were greeted by two smiling young women holding a welcoming sign.

Veronika, Elena, and Margaret were delighted to meet many women who gathered outside of Yerevan for Women Together’s first retreat in Armenia. The retreat was coordinated by Manooshak Keshishian, a leader in her local church. The retreat was a special time of training, sharing, prayer, worship, and relationship-building. A memorable moment was at the end of the retreat when the women began dancing to some uplifting Armenian music! Their joy was contagious!

The women of Armenia want more of God and want to do more for God! They are beautiful women, ready and longing to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to fulfill their calling in their nation.

We learned, like in all countries, that when God gets a women’s heart, He gets everything.

We are looking forward to much more involvement in the beautiful nation of Armenia!