Local Limelight » PWOC International Blog

Greetings from the Central Region!

Mar 172011

Submitted by Kristin Hathaway, Central Region President

I want to introduce you to our newest PWOC at Barksdale Air Force Base. This chapter meets on Thursday mornings and evenings to study “Words That Hurt, Words That Heal” by Carole Mayhall, and Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer.

This brand new chapter began shortly after the International Conference and now has a president, first vice president and administrative coordinator. They have a regular attendance of about twelve ladies.

Please pray for this new group as they grow. We are so excited for the ministry opportunities at Barksdale! As women hear about PWOC, we pray they will find it to be a place where they can develop Christian relationships and grow closer to the Lord.

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That's The Way We Shine!

Devotions, Local Limelight

Nov 122010

Submitted by Moriah Hamm, 1^st VP for the Minot AFB

She shines as she prays with her husband before he leaves for work each morning. She shines brighter as she prays for him throughout the day.

She shines as she asks a sick spouse if she needs anything from the commissary. She shines brighter when she brings that spouse ice cream even after she said she didn’t need anything.

She shines as she cooks dinner for a family with a brand new baby. She shines brighter when she prays over the baby.

She shines as she delivers cookies to the dorms for airmen at the holidays. She shines brighter when she gathers a group to pray for the airmen.

She shines as she holds the door open for the person entering the Shoppette behind her. She shines brighter when she lets the person through the door before her.

She shines at the spouses’ social as she praises her husband while other spouses complain about theirs. She shines brighter when she doesn’t boast about it to her husband.

She shines as she smiles at the gate guard when he checks her ID. She shines brighter when she wishes him a great day.

She shines as she tips the commissary bagger a little extra on a rainy day. She shines brighter when she does it on a warm sunny day.

She shines as she opens her home to a friend who needs a shoulder to cry on. She shines brighter when her house is a wreck but she doesn’t think twice about inviting in that friend.

She shines as she invites her neighbor to Bible study. She shines brighter when she introduces her to other ladies at Bible study.

She is fictitious, but she isn’t unattainable. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus commanded each of us to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. Look into your hearts. Is your light shining? Are you living a life that glorifies Him? And if you are, how can you shine brighter?

Lord, we ask that you give us opportunities to shine for you. Alert us when we have those opportunities so we may glorify you to the best of our abilities. We long to follow the command of Christ to do good deeds that make others praise you. And, Lord, in Philippians 2:14-15, we are told to do everything without complaining or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, children of you, God, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation; Then we will shine like stars in the universe. Lord, help us accomplish this. Help us reflect your light and shine for you. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Local Limelight

Oct 222010

Submitted by Donna Nall

Just this past week I had a wonderful experience as Michelle(s) emerged in my Bible study. This week our class was ” Loving our Ladies: LOL” and because it was our turn to serve we did not meet for a regular study discussion. Since our time together was short, we had a recap week in which two ladies stepped up to share what impact the first three chapters has had on their lives. It was a nice break as the group leader to be able to hand off the responsibility for a week. (We’re doing Judy Rossi’s Enhancing Your Marriage, not light reading!) But, let me say I am not one to give up control of “my” classroom easily. God kept telling me this is My class and I want you to allow Michelle a chance to grow. I knew He wanted me to provide opportunities for the ladies, and to trust Him that they were ready to present to a group. Did I mention both of these ladies are brand new to our PWOC? I knew very little about them up to this point. I am not talking about ladies that have been there and done that.

After a little apologizing for not being a good speaker both ladies did a fabulous job. Not only did they share their insights into the study but what a great way for us to get to know them better. The transparency of these ladies will definitely bring a more intimate, safe and open atmosphere to our group. It also revealed two Christian women’s love for Christ. I look forward to hearing from either of these women during a corporate devotion time or even leading a class in the near future!
Praise God for the courage of Michelle and willingness to be obedient to a calling. And I thank the Holy Spirit for the push, pull and shove that offered them the opportunity to Shine!

As a Margaret, yep that’s me, maybe not quite yet in age but close enough, I want to encourage all of our leadership to keep offering the opportunities! Stop turning to the “old reliables” of your ministry and open the doors for Michelle to Shine.

Thank you for the visual picture of Megan and Michelle.
_______

Local limelight is published every Friday. For submissions, questions, or comments email blog@pwoc.org

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Teaching, Developing, and Involving Michelle

Local Limelight

Oct 222010

Submitted by Donna Nall

Thank you for the visual picture of Megan and Michelle.
_______

Local limelight is published every Friday. For submissions, questions, or comments email blog@pwoc.org

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What does God say about me?

Bits & Pieces, Local Limelight

Sep 242010

Submitted by Nancy Sheridan

What does God say about me?

The lies I’ve been told along the way fade and dim

as I hear the melody of who I am strummed

against the minor notes of pain in my life.

Who am I?

A light, a sparkle in my Father’s eye,

and when I nestle into His love,

the darkness flees as the next stanza resounds…

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Local Limelight

Sep 172010

“If you’d like to share your local news with other PWOC’s around the world, please send your request to the Blog Manager at Blog@pwoc.org. If you include pictures with your request, please make sure that you have permission from the folks in the pictures before sending them!”

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Desiring God

Local Limelight, Testimonies

Aug 202010

Submitted by Therese Ragland, Fort Bragg, NC

The other day I was watching a father and daughter walk together hand in hand. She was no more than five years old and she was grinning from ear to ear. As I watched her for a moment, and smiled as well, I glanced at the father. He had a smile just as big. They weren’t really talking or doing much of anything, just walking hand in hand and smiling. Both seemed so content and pleased to be together.

That got me thinking. What if that is a picture of how God wants to be with me? Not just in Heaven but here on earth, right here right now. You see, I know as a Christian I should spend time with God, read his word, and go to Him in prayer. But what if the should turned into a desire? I desire to spend time with God, read His word, and go to Him in Prayer. Then a really funny thought hit me. What if God desires me?

Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” And 1 John 4:16 says “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

These are two verses that make the point very simple. God does desires us; the entire Bible is full these scriptures. Not only did God create us in our mother’s womb and know every hair on our head. He desires to be with us. When He created Adam and Eve the Bible mentions that they would walk and talk together. They spent time together. God did not do that so that Adam and Eve would just love Him. He loved them. He wanted that time with Adam and Eve. They were a delight to Him. He loves us with the same delight. I find it unfathomable that God wants to spend time with me. He created me and saved me through the death of His son because He desires to be with me.

At one point when I was watching the father and daughter, they stopped and looked at each other. Nothing was said they were just there in that moment. You could tell he wanted to be there just as much as she did. Looking at each other they were delighted to be together. What a picture of God walking hand in hand with us?

If you find yourself in a place of disconnect with God, please open your heart to Him. Not because of the reasons mentioned here and not just because our lives are full of chaos but because the God of the entire universe desires to be with you. Think about desire. What do you desire? Do you desire for God to do something for you? Do you desire to know Him by spending time with Him reading His word? Are you hungry for more of Him? Open your hearts to the thought that God desires you.

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PWOC Europe Update

Local Limelight, News & Announcements, Who are we

Aug 122010

By Christine Young, Europe Region President

It’s that time of year when summer is coming to a close. Soon the kids will go back to school and PWOC will kick into high gear as our new theme begins to blossom uniquely in over 150 chapters worldwide. Europe is one of the eight regions in PWOC International with 34 chapters: 21 Army, 10 Air Force and 3 Navy.

Our region is unusual in that it has 8 Areas and two major conferences each year. In the spring we’ll have WILD and in the fall we have Worship & Study with about 400 women attending.

One thing we are observing across our region is that women are responding to God in obedience and doing things differently than what has “always been done” in the past. There is a level of freedom and permission that is evident and it’s exciting to see women respond to God and try new things.

One example at the regional level is that we are having 6 speakers at Worship & Study this November, rather than one…and we didn’t change our budget. We found speakers who are a part of PWOC and our military community. These women understand who we are and what the needs of our women are as battle weariness and deployments continue. So, we’re stepping out in faith and trying something new with great excitement as we look forward to seeing all that God will do in the lives of women who attend.

I love Hebrews 11:1 that reads “now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Later in that chapter in verse 8 we see that “by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was going.” My prayer for each woman in PWOC is that she has an intimate relationship with Christ and that she hears and obeys His voice. Sometimes that means we have to act on what He asks us to do when we have no clue where we are going or what His purpose is. Faith may require that we step out “blind” with boldness and in obedience. May we all be found faith full.

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A Beautiful Picture of God's Love

Local Limelight, Testimonies

Apr 072010

Submitted by Erin Nonaka, PWOC worship leader – Fort Bragg, NC

In the planning and preparation for our final PWOC meeting before Easter and Spring break, I was praying that the Lord would give me direction for our praise and worship time. For months as I prayed, the Lord gave me a vision of our women having the opportunity to lay their burdens at the cross and to find newness and freshness in Him. What a better time to do this than when we are preparing our hearts to celebrate the sacrifice God made through the gift of His Son. What a time to start fresh; to have a visual representation of new life through the Cross. WOW!

So as the music team and I prayed for this week, we prayed that the Lord would intentionally place every song, every word, every scripture, and every person that would be a part of this time we were to share together. And that is what He did!!

As the worship began, there was a large wooden cross in the front of the room. Each woman had a piece of paper on their chair as they sat down. I shared with the women that the papers were for them to write down anything they needed or wanted to give over to God. The women could take the pieces of paper and place them on the cross at anytime during the service. The time here was for us to do some business with God, so to speak; to get our hearts right before Him, to cleanse our hearts and our minds.

As our time together continued women came up one after another to place their papers and burdens on the cross. My heart was overwhelmed with how it created such a beautiful picture of the purpose of the cross for us. It opened our hearts in a fresh way, and His Spirit filled the room with such sweetness. The way that everything was orchestrated could not have happened without the divine hand of our loving Father. To have the treasure of leading, participating and watching God’s goodness that morning was a great honor and tremendous blessing.

My prayer was then and remains to be, that women’s hearts will continue to be transformed as we draw nearer to our unconditionally loving God who desires to call us His own.

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Women’s Ministry Coordinator - New Position this year!

Local Limelight, News & Announcements

Aug 202009

Submitted by: Sandy Murphy, Ft. Bragg PWOC Chapel Liason

Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) has a new ministry position. The position is called the Women’s Ministry Coordinator. When PWOC International updated the PWOC Women’s Ministry Manuel, this new position was added in order to provide a liaison between the local PWOC and each of the post’s Protestant chapel services. See the new Women’s Ministry Manual for a complete description.

At Ft Bragg & Pope AFB we have many Protestant chapel services. Ft Bragg’s PWOC has created a Chapel Liaison position to serve as the lead Women’s Ministry Coordinator to oversee each of the Women’s Ministry Coordinators of the various Protestant chapel services.

The primary goal of the each of the PWOC Women’s Ministry Coordinators is to be a liaison between Ft Bragg’s PWOC and her specific chapel service that she attends. Information and announcements will flow both ways. PWOC recognizes the importance of getting PWOC information and announcements to each of the chapel services. PWOC is also focused on educating the PWOC community about our fabulous chapel services and community support needs that our chapel services may require. The Women’s Ministry Coordinator of each chapel will work closely with her specific chapel chaplains and be a bridge between the PWOC Community and each Protestant chapel service.

As we begin a new PWOC year, we are sending out a letter to our Protestant chaplains educating them about this new position. PWOC will be advertising the need for PWOC ladies to fill these positions. We are asking each of the chaplains, who are leaders in the outstanding chapel services on Ft Bragg and Pope AFB, to encourage one of the PWOC ladies attending their specific service to serve as their chapel’s Women’s Ministry Coordinator. If a chaplain has a candidate for this position, we are asking them to contact the Ft Bragg PWOC Chapel Liaison.

Many thanks are going out for the support that the Ft Bragg PWOC community receives from our chaplains as we continue to live out our PWOC aim of involving women in the work of the chapel in keeping with their abilities and interests.

Peace and Blessings to you all!!

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PWOC International Blog

Greetings from the Central Region!

That's The Way We Shine!

Teaching, Developing, and Involving Michelle

What does God say about me?

Submitted by Nancy Sheridan

What does God say about me?

The lies I’ve been told along the way fade and dim

as I hear the melody of who I am strummed

against the minor notes of pain in my life.

Who am I?

A light, a sparkle in my Father’s eye,

and when I nestle into His love,

the darkness flees as the next stanza resounds…

Desiring God

PWOC Europe Update

A Beautiful Picture of God's Love

Women’s Ministry Coordinator - New Position this year!

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