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!
This was such a wonderful weekend and it had such an impact on my life. It helped me discover more about myself and how I can grow in what God has CALLED me to be and do. I look forward to CALLED 2019.