BY Kristen Mitchell, Children’s Ministry Coordinator at York Alliance
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
Psalm 84:5
As a mom of three who recently became the Children’s Ministry Coordinator at York Alliance Church, I registered for the Empower Program to help me gain a little more ministry training. Unlike some of the other women, I came to faith in my late twenties and did not grow up in church.
Though I found myself complaining about the work of reading books and doing papers, the more I processed the material I saw God using it to change me:
• God’s Word was strengthening my faith.
• I was understanding more of my identity in Christ.
• I began processing life more through the eyes of Jesus.
• God was molding me and shaping me for HIS purposes.
• God was using this program to help me look beyond my own ideas for life.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts1:8
Through Empower, I connected with other women who along with me were struggling through their past, present, and what God has for their future. These new relationships were centered on Jesus, and God weaved a network of women together in our mentor groups where we went from superficial conversations into deep places where God revealed Himself to us as a group. It was a place where the Spirit could work through words of knowledge, wisdom, faith, healing, and discernment.
God used the experience at Empower to bring light into areas of darkness in my own life that I was avoiding, issues that I thought had I dealt with, but God was not finished completely restoring me from darkness I did not even know existed. I learned that before God can use me to bring others to freedom, His freedom must first be real in my own life.
“But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.”
Psalm 130:4
Registration is open for the 2022-2023 Women’s Empower Program. The program is designed for women who desire to invest in their relationship with Jesus, their identity and freedom in Christ, and to gain a better understanding of their gifts and how to live out their unique design. To hear about scholarships available for pastors’ wives and women in ministry, please contact Sharon Howard.