The pandemic in 2021 dictated that our Annual Women’s conference, Refresh, needed to be held online. Therefore, it was wonderful to be able to gather together again in person in 2022! On the 10th of September, close to 60 women gathered together at St Phil’s from 8 different churches to be “refreshed” in their relationship with the Lord and through their fellowship with each other.
We were greatly blessed to have Wendy Potts as our keynote speaker. Wendy has a background as a Mission’s pastor and currently works for Anglicare as their Learning Consultant for Evangelism. Wendy loves to introduce people to Jesus and engage with people seeking to understand more of the Christian faith. She shared with us:
- Biblical principles of “preparing the soil” by the lives that we live, and how we can open up conversations about Jesus through the carefully crafted questions that we ask.
- How we plant and water the seeds by sharing our personal stories of God at work.
- How we grow seedlings by sharing Bible stories of Jesus.
- How to share God’s story through a simple gospel outline.
Wendy’s Biblical teaching and ease of application was enthusiastically received by all. It was no accident that we women were upskilled in our personal evangelism skills leading into the Year of Evangelism!
Our morning’s conference was further enriched through a newfound faith interview, evangelism book reviews, worship and prayer, a potting station and a sumptuous morning tea.
Many thanks to the gifted and hardworking Refresh team – Amanda, Lee, Bron, Heather, Karen and Sarah for pulling this conference together, and to our coffee cart, sound and worship volunteers.
We look forward to Refresh 2023 and all that the Lord has install for us!
Cathy Gravitis
(on behalf of the Refresh Team)