The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of fun! Some of our pastor's wives from Celebration Zimbabwe came into town for our annual women's conference Shine. The photo above is with Pastor Chipo, wife of Pastor Dixon of Celebration Zimbabwe- what a sweetheart she is! I had the opportunity to spend alot of time with them and I'm so thankful for that!! What an amazing group of women we have at Celebration Zimbabwe! We had days of fun before the conference going to the beach, shopping, exploring St. Augustine, killing snakes (eek!! not that fun), and just spending quality time together. Ps Chipo, Faith, Auntie K and Auntie Joyce- love to you all, I can't wait to do life with you in Zimbabwe soon! I know I have a big family waiting for me there :)
Well what can I say about Shine? It's hard to express in words. I was literally blown away by how AMAZING the Shine conference was this year. And I know all the ladies in the house will agree. The topics were just what I needed to hear- all about courage and empowerment. With each step of my journey to Zimbabwe God just knows when I need lifting up, He's so cool like that. There are days when I may be feeling discouraged but I will keep pressing on because I know God has called me to help the children in Zimbabwe.
I loved Ps Kerri's message called "Having the Courage to Fight". She spoke about many things in this message. About how our place of safety can become our place of containment and we need to step out of that safe place. AMEN!! God is helping me step out of my safe place every day. Her three points were:
1) We need to stand up to our bullies
2) We need to stir up Passion (passion comes with courage)
3) We need to learn to love the fight.
What is your battle cry? Put all your focus into your battle cry! My battle cry is for the children and lost in Africa. I'm believing God will help me have the courage to fight!
And then there's Christine Caine. I don't need to really say anything else, right?! Her messages on Risk and Suffering Well always hit home. She said something at Shine that really stuck with me. She asked the question, "Are you willing to go where there is no path?" So many times we want a clearly paved path. God wants to take us to places we've never been, paths we can't imagine. And then the question, "Why didn't we come sooner?" rings in my head. God doesn't want us sleepwalking anymore, He wants us awake and ready. The siren is sounding and we need to rescue a lost and broken generation, we can't keep them waiting. Life is short and eternity is long. We can't get caught up in the temporal. Chris is just full of wisdom, God surely spoke through her and these are messages I won't ever forget and ones I will put into action.
I could go on and on about Shine and the amazing speakers- Jentezen Franklin, Julie Hadden, Mercy Lokulutu (Be a PIG Christian!), Delynn Rizzo, Stovall, and Lori Champion- ALL were so good!! I'm so blessed to be part of Celebration Church, I don't ever want to forget how truly blessed I am.
My journey to Zimbabwe continues. Tonite my mom is hosting a Zimbabwe vision party for me and many of her friends are coming to show their support. I'll get the chance to share my heart and the vision of what I will be doing in Zimbabwe. I'm praying for a fruitful night and that lives are touched. And Thursday I get to have another Zim vision nite at my neightbor's house. God is good! And in just 1 week I will be on my way to Zimbabwe leading a team on a 10-day trip! We will be coming alongside Joyce Meyers medical team to help with clinics and support Ps Stovall as he speaks at Joyce Meyer's "Festival of Life". Wahoo!!!! I can't wait to see what God is going to do!
Be blessed in all that you do!
Shannon
