Are you Thirsty?

Leadership Wednesday
Nov 232011

On the Friday before our Fall Kickoff this September, I was blessed to take part in our local chapter’s Water Bottle Blitz. As a Publicity and Communications gal at heart, I witnessed not only an effective way to get the word out about the upcoming PWOC meetings, but what a powerful, spiritual gift we have in water.

Our local outreach coordinator stationed two sites to spread the news: one at the gym and one outside the PX. If you have ever livedabroad, you know that these two places are vital to survival in living overseas. The key objective of this outreach was to give out approximately 400 water bottles in four hours to active-duty women (since we have a lunch time study for active-duty ladies) and ladies passing by our tables.

Those three hours were highly successful for not only the warm day, but for spreading the news of PWOC and the Lord. You see, when you hand someone a tangible gift, in this case water, you are handing that person a spiritual gift as well. It is an invitation to come and hear of Christ’s love for them as well as an opportunity at that precise moment for the Lord to use you in speaking love. Not all ladies took the water bottle or took the time to stop and talk, but some were very open. They paused for a few moments in their day to talk about their present situations. This outreach opened an amazing door of ministry to take place.

Jesus said in John 4:13-14:

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well is our present reminder that the women around us are looking for water that will not run dry. They are thirsty. They are looking for water that has a continuous flow, quenching the dry and the weary. PWOC is a place where the Lord will satisfy this thirst through the Spirit of God. It is a safe place for these women to come, drink of this water, and have eternal life through Jesus Christ.

You might be considering an outreach tool to spread the news of PWOC at your installation. Consider an effective communications tool such as a Water Bottle Blitz. The Lord can use it not only to meet a physical need, but to open doors to meet a spiritual need in the lives of the women around you.

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Tag, You're it!

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, News & Announcements, Resources
Sep 142011

We grew up with this well-known children’s game. Kids ran freely through a playground with the goal of tagging friends, unfreezing others, trying not to get caught or maybe to avoid being “it.”

It’s funny how I have heard these same kinds of words at PWOC events. After a time of prayer, singing, teaching, and lunch, one friend says to another, “I’ll tag you.”

Of course, the PWOC friends are talking about sharing photos and stories on Facebook. What a great tool to use in our chapels to spread the news of Christ and His work here in our communities! That is, after all, what He has called us to do — to spread the Good News of His plan of salvation and redemption. Our relationship with Christ is often evident in our profile and status updates on Facebook. We share with our virtual world our goods, our bads, our moods, our children’s accomplishments, our PCS transitions, our interests, likes and frustrations. We communicate to and connect with others not only through our FB but also link our texts and Tweets to our FBs. It is a need we have – to communicate with others. To communicate with God. To let them know how we’re doing. To be known.

Being someone who is characteristically introverted yet driven by the Great Commission and a strong affinity for words, I find great joy in sharing the Gospel of Christ to each generation through the social media of Facebook. This is how God has called me to evangelize and serve and be in relationship with His people in this season. And so for this reason, I want to encourage and challenge you each in the words of Jesus as He spoke to His disciples: And Jesus came up and spoke to them as it’s recorded in the book of Matthew, chapter 28, saying, “18All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

PWOC International has been involved with Facebook for about two years. Our Page is a place to share the blog, prayer requests, Scripture, advice, suggestions, ministry news, discussion pages, and regional and local updates. We currently have almost 3,000 “likes” to our Page, which means almost 3,000 people who say they follow us online. That’s cool! Let’s continue to encourage the several other ladies who attend PWOC weekly to also be part of our online community. I hope our Page is something you enjoy seeing when scrolling through your News Feed; it is updated daily.

As PWOC is a chapel-sponsored (i.e., government-sponsored) organization, we must abide by certain regulations that allow us the resources and advisement that we are accustomed to receiving at each level of ministry. Below are a few items found in our current “SOP” (Standard Operating Procedure) and guide the Facebook presence of PWOC International (local, regional, area, and international).

  • Please use the correct (turquoise) logo in the profile photo.
  • Please include webmail address and website address in the Info tab, plus any other local contact information you have (blog or website).
  • Please consider the safety and personal issues of all before posting unit or deployment information or photos. Practice good OpSec.
  • Please use only chaplain-sponsored “like” Pages in the left side of your Page (not military unit, civilian community, or other non-PWOC ministry Pages)
  • Please be sure to use your webmail when creating your local or regional Page
  • Please be sure your PWOC Facebook presence is on a Page – not a Group, not a personal Profile
  • Please feel free to share the links posted from www.facebook.com/pwoci — these may include blogs, home page updates, YouTube videos, and theme resources

Local executive boards can also network with others in their same position through Facebook Groups listed here:

Local Presidents  http://www.facebook.com/groups/134771346542949/

Local Spiritual Life VPs  http://www.facebook.com/groups/136400213047504/

Local Programs VP  http://www.facebook.com/groups/138443599506685/

Local Administrative Coordinators  http://www.facebook.com/groups/196429240405726/

Local Financial Liaisons   http://www.facebook.com/groups/168980749834802/ 

We are called to take His Word into the world – the message of the Gospel of Christ – the love of God – and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit!  Lord, I pray that this genius of social media will be used to the Glory of God for the purpose of YOUR KINGDOM COME on this earth, as well as in Heaven.

Be blessed – for the Glory of Christ and His Kingdom!

Love,

Melinda Hemphill

PWOCI Facebook Coordinator

The Facebook SOP can be found at http://resources.pwoc.org/web.

Please send all correspondence to facebook@pwoc.org. 

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Boldly Proclaim

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
May 252011

Submitted by Jenn Cook, PWOCI 3VP Communications

Webster defines a testimony as a public profession of a religious experience, but I would take it a step further to say it is a divine experience, orchestrated by the hand of God that begs to be proclaimed for all to hear…and we are called to do just that…proclaim it!

A Christian testimony tells your story, or of an experience that transformed you on your spiritual walk. A testimony can explain why you are a Christian; testify to a transformation, or how you overcame a battle through the power of Christ and for God’s glory! Luke gives an account in chapter 8 about a man who had been possessed with many demons. Jesus freed the man of this bondage by casting the demons into a herd of pigs, which rushed down a steep hill, into a lake and were drowned. What a sight to behold and in it, a man was delivered of his extreme bondage! However, the townspeople were filled with fear and asked Jesus to leave. This transformed man begged to go along and accompany him but Jesus said this to him, “‘Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

He began proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Simple equation: BONDAGE + DELIVERANCE = PROCLAMATION. In this man’s case, it was a deliverance from bondage which made it possible to give glory to God for his freedom from captivity. For you it might be making it through a deployment’s hard day, the Lord healing your marriage, a spiritual or physical healing, or possibly the testimony of how you came to accept Christ in your heart. You might have a testimony of how your PWOC or someone in your PWOC showed you kindness, spoke truth in love or ministered the love of Christ to you.

The Communications Team wants to encourage you to share A Story for God’s Glory. When we hear the story of someone overcoming a struggle or testifying to the hand of God at work, our own hearts are encouraged. Our desire is to post these on our website at www.pwoc.org for other ladies to be encouraged and to give God praise for His power at work in and among us.

If you are interested in sharing, go to www.pwoc.org and click on the button “Testimonials” in the bottom carousel or email us at testimony@pwoc.org. We look forward to joining with you in proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus has done for you!

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Passing the Baton of Leadership

Leadership Wednesday
May 112011

Submitted by Beth Mills, PWOCI President

It’s that exciting time of year when we hand off the leadership baton to the next generation of leaders at each PWOC installation. It’s a time of celebration for all the Lord has taught us over the year, and the deepening of our relationships with one another. For some of us, it’s a time to say goodbye to friends and launch out to a new adventure in God. It’s a time of excitement and expectation as we head into a new year of discovery in God’s Kingdom. To those who have been in local leadership this past year, thank you so very much for embracing the call the Lord laid upon your hearts to lead women into an ever deepening relationship with Christ. Thank you for your loving service to the women and families in your chapel community, and for your strength and partnership in prayer with the chaplains to shine the light of God’s glory at your installation. As you have gathered together in worship and Bible study and willingly followed God’s leading, you have been a “city on a hill”, bringing God’s light and life to those in need. To those ladies who have just recently said, “Yes” to this call of leadership, thank you for your willingness to step out in faith and follow the Lord wherever He leads. We will all be praying for you and with you as you seek God’s vision to meet the unique needs at your installations. As you receive this baton of leadership, keep your eyes focused on the goal, throw off everything that would get in your way, and know that we are cheering you onward in God’s Kingdom calling.  May God bless you abundantly with His love and His grace, may Jesus be lifted high as you meet together with Him, and may you be filled to overflowing with His Holy Spirit!

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Curtains Up!

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, Resources
Apr 272011

Submitted by Jenn Cook, PWOCI – 3VP – Communications

At midnight on April 4th, the curtain was raised to unveil the new look of the PWOC International website at www.pwoc.org. For several months now, the Communication Team has been developing the new look and structure and we are excited to finally present the redesign to you!   We hope you’ll share in our excitement by taking time to browse the site and take a look at all the content the new site offers.  There’s information for everyone!

  • New to PWOC?

Read welcome letters from the International and Regional Presidents, learn the history, the aims, and read the PWOC mission statement.  You can also find information on your region, upcoming special events, training opportunities and more.

  • Ready to Participate?

Brush up on the PWOC aims, meet the international and regional boards, find conference dates and locations, plus see upcoming events! Don’t forget to checkout the Resource Library. Do you have a great idea to share?  You can contribute resources to be used by the ladies in the worldwide PWOC body!

  • Ready to Lead?

Find information on this spring and summer’s Wild training, Find information on your leadership position and useful forms in the new Resource Library.  Publicity items, theme related material and much more are available for your use.

  • Moving Soon?

See the PWOC Installation locator under Connect to find the days and hours for your new PWOC.  If the installation is marked with the Facebook logo, you can also meet the ladies of your new installation there and receive timely information on local events.

  • Need Encouragement?

With several posts a week, the blog entries provide voices of encouragement, exhortation, and devotion composed by women serving in PWOC locations around the globe.  No matter where you find yourself, these brief entries will speak to you!

Our prayer is that the redesigned PWOC International website will be an effective tool and blessing to you. Please spread the word about www.pwoc.org and be on the lookout for new content coming soon!

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A Leader Who Shines....Connects with Preparation

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
Apr 202011

Submitted by Victoria Robinson

Live the Prepared Life. Preparation is an activity that is often attributed to God: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 1Corinthians 2:9

It is also an activity that God wants for believers.  Before the Boy Scouts had the motto “Be Prepared” God called His people to live the prepared life!

The ministry of Jesus was introduced by John the Baptist who declared: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” in Luke 3: 3-6.

Francis Frangipane has written:

“Repentance always precedes the coming forth of the living Christ in a person’s life. To prepare and make ready is the purpose of repentance.  Let us understand this: John’s repentance didn’t just make men sorry, it made men prepared.”

What does this prepared life look like?

First we start with repentance.  We must turn from anything that is keeping us from God’s best for us and purpose to live what we know is God’s will for our lives.

Second we see in 1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  Our minds are “prepared for action” when we are prepared to pray, preach or die!

Pray

There are public service announcements that prepare us on what to do if our clothes catch on fire, to “Stop Drop and Roll!” As PWOC leaders we need to be prepared to “Stop, Drop and Pray!” This comes by daily having our hearts set to “pray without ceasing;” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Preach

“But in your hearts always set apart Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

“Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words.”( Francis of Assisi)  We must be prepared to preach with or without words.

Die

It is said that the person who has settled where they will spend eternity is truly the person who is prepared to live their earthly life.  Paul said; “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

In John 14:2 we read the words of Jesus; “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

Jesus is preparing a wonderful place for us.  This is a powerful motivator to live a prepared life for Him!

Be prepared to pray, preach or die!

A familiar chorus gives us a prayer for the prepared life.

Lord Prepare me to be a sanctuary,

Pure and holy, tried and true

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living

Sanctuary for You

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From Death to Eternal Life

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, Seasonal teaching
Apr 132011

On February 17th I attended an Ash Wednesday service at a local church to begin the season of Lent. The minister had burned the palm branches from the previous year, mixed them with water, and administered ashes on the worshipers’ foreheads with these words: “Turn away from sin, and be faithful to the Gospel.”

While not specified as a feast day in the Bible, the seasons of Lent and Easter are part of the historical Christian calendar. Our Aim 2 gives us freedom and guidance in teaching ladies the history and programs of the church along with Bible study.

Some Christians traditionally give up habits or drinks or foods during Lent; others focus on adding something to their observance. Working at an assisted living facility or a soup kitchen or homeless shelter – or helping other less fortunate people in the community – are ways to add acts of service to your Lenten activities.

The first two days of Lent this year were focused on my Dad’s last two days on this earth. After a yearlong battle with lung cancer, Mom and I were privileged to usher Dad into Glory on the evening of February 18th. It is something that has changed me, and I hope that as I grieve in a healthy way, the change has been for the good.

I find it interesting – providential – that during a season of preparing my heart and mind to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that I have been in a period of intimate mourning. My focus during Lent this year has been death. As I witnessed those last struggling breaths, I thought about how Dad would see Jesus soon. I thought about what Jesus’ last day on earth was like. It wasn’t in the privacy and comfort of a home. It was public and controversial and bloody.

While our identity as Christians is all wrapped up in the Christ’s resurrection, this year I’ve been forced to consider the extent to which He went to seal and secure our eternal life, i.e. His physical departure from this earth. While His mother and friends watched. As they prayed and cried.

I’m sure they were changed as well. And what a glorious day it was when He came back from the dead!

I pray your Lenten season has been one of great reflection on Jesus. Look for blog entries that reflect that last week that Jesus walked on the earth – from His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem to the long road that carried Him to the old rugged cross. Come, be part of this journey that begins with death but ends in eternal life!

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A Leader who Shines.....Connects with Identity

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
Mar 162011

Submitted by Cinky Jones

Can you identify a genuine Coach handbag or eye a Brighton bracelet at twenty paces? Can an onlooker identify you as a genuine servant leader of Christ and not just a PWOC member or leader?

Are you dressed, “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, [with] compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another… and forgiving each other?” The first chapter of Colossians reminds us as servant leaders of Christ that this is the outfit we should be wearing as His chosen ones. As The Message states it, “You’re done with that old life. It is like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom made by the Creator, with His label on it… And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”

Paul points us to the Creator of our identity and invites us to stick our selves in the item that He picked out for us, overlap the flaps, and to give the belt a nice snug pull. He shows us that it’s one of those beautiful and yummy outfits that you never want to take off.

When we lead, with or without a leader title, we want to be identified by Whom’s we are – by our Designer’s label. Second Corinthians, chapter 1, states that God has commissioned and identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of the wardrobe He will complete.

As we lead – old fashions, titles and labels need to be torched by the fire of the Holy Spirit working in us. The stunning accessories of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs along with the holy coordinates of peace, unity, wisdom and thankfulness will surely have all eyes on Him.

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A Place in the Family

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, President's Pen
Mar 022011

By Beth Mills, PWOC International President

[W]e were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

I Thessalonians 2:8

I love it when our family is invited to dinner with new friends. Often when we arrive at their home, everything is already prepared and ready. Although I offer to help serve or clean up, the offer is usually turned down. “You’re our guest,” our friends reply. I leave feeling special and a bit pampered by their kind hospitality. But when I’m allowed in the kitchen with my hands plunged deep into soapy dish water, I know I’ve crossed that tipping point when we move from “guest” to “member of the family”. When I take part in the preparation and clean-up as well as the great dinner and conversation on the couch, I feel like I’ve been given a place in the family, and that’s a home I want to return to again and again.

It kind of reminds me of my first PWOC experience. Our president at the time was masterful at involving women in chapel ministries, helping them to feel that sense of belonging to a family. She rarely had to make a plea from the podium for volunteers. An unsuspecting newcomer in our midst often found herself right in the middle of great conversation as she and others stapled packets of paper, filled goody bags, or decorated tables for a program. Many times I found myself by our president’s side passing out bulletins for our Sunday chapel service, or helping her clean up tables after a Sunday Fellowship Dinner, laughing, talking, and learning. Although I didn’t carry the responsibilities of a “position” in PWOC at the time, I was given a “place.” And I found it was a place where I belonged.

We can make the atmosphere at PWOC a home, where our guests become a member of the family. Let’s invite women to become a part of our lives, a part of the life of the ministry at our installation. If we’ll give women the spur-of-the-moment personal invitation to join us in the task at hand, it communicates that they’re presence is important to us. We value the part they play: lowering the lights and screen for worship time, holding a squirming baby so his momma can listen to the devotion, placing a special favor on each chair prior to opening session. Involving women in chapel ministries gives them a “place” where they’ll want to return to again and again.

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P-What?: 8 Ways YOU can Share PWOC in Your Community!

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
Feb 232011

Submitted by Jenn Cook, PWOCI 3VP Communications

Have you ever been chatting with a lady at the commissary and asked if she attends PWOC and she replies “P-What?” Have you driven around your base and wondered how many of the ladies could be blessed if they only knew that PWOC existed?  Do you wonder how you can reach out and share PWOC with those ladies and help promote your local group more effectively?

The communications team offers a few simple ideas that can help anyone spread the word of this amazing ministry called Protestant Women of the Chapel (or simply PWOC) on your local military installation:

• Invite your neighbors to come along with you.

• Express your enthusiasm about your local PWOC on facebook.

• Volunteer to insert flyers into the Sunday bulletins at all your chapel services.

• Hand out PWOC business cards advertising the local meeting day, times and location.

(Or add this information to your personal contact cards!)

• Attend your Base’s Newcomer’s Briefing and share PWOC.

• Ask if your local PWOC has a t-shirt and wear it proudly in your community.

• Use the words of your mouth to spread the news of PWOC.

• Join your local PWOC’s publicity team.

If you’re already on the Publicity team, try these ideas:

• Create a walking billboard (called a t-shirt) advertising your PWOC.

• Provide flyers and PWOC information cards for women to share.

• Recruit volunteers to hang flyers in offices such as ACS, Lodging, Housing, or at the   Commissary and PX/BX.

• Advertise meeting times on the installation’s scrolling marquees.

• Promote events with news releases to your local or AAFES radio stations.

• Raise awareness by sending information to your installation or local TV channel.

• Place ads in the installation’s military newspaper

• For more ideas and helpful downloads visit the Publicity section of pwoc.org located under Resources.

Since  PWOC is a part of the Chapel Ministries, always coordinate with your local Chaplain Advisor for permission and helpful advice when advertising in your military community.

The Communications Team would like to hear from you. If you have creative ideas that have worked in spreading the news and advertising your PWOC, please send them to: communications@pwoc.org.

Remember, a personal invitation is the most effective advertising! Think about what brought you to PWOC for the first time. Are you utilizing that kind of publicity?

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