Girls and women are suffering in unspeakable ways in many parts of the world. Come alongside the rest of WIC and make a difference.
Female genocide
107 million females missing on the planet through murder, abandonment, and gender discrimination.
Sex slavery
Estimated numbers of children (vast majority being girls) forced into prostitution could be as many as 10 million.
Domestic Violence
…and murder of female partners happen in the United States and most of the world in epidemic proportions.
We want to help educate girls. Lack of education leads to oppression and poverty.
We want to help establish women’s centers where women have a safe place to stay, where they get discipled, and given training to start their own business. Since women tend to teach their newfound skills to women around them, the ripple effects are substantial.
Not only can women support themselves and their extended families, but they can afford sending their daughters to school and thereby end the cycle of illiteracy, poverty, and female oppression.
At WIC we see it as our CALLING to do our part to stand up against the ATROCITIES committed against women and girls.
Here’s how we are taking ACTION.
1.
We conduct workshops and create educational videos addressing domestic violence and safe relationships for women.
2.
We provide resources to help bring awareness of the plight of women locally and globally.
3.
We help raise finances to support women’s shelters in countries where females are oppressed.
Bold Venture Tulsa Recap!
Close to 180 women participated in our Bold Venture Event in September, the largest Bold Venture in 14 years. Women came from every corner of the United States including Florida, Seattle, Boston, Houston, Chicago, Missouri, and various cities in Georgia, besides many from Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We were especially blessed by the group of 12 Ugandan women from Boston who graced us with singing and dancing on Friday evening. From the first meal and welcome, one could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air.
In preparation for this event, those of us who had been to a Bold Venture before simply found it hard to convey what this event really is. The eye-opening truth of what God has in store for women today, the unimaginable reality of our oppressed sisters overseas, and the strong and passionate call of God to mentoring and passing on the torch to the next generation washed over us in the power of the Holy Spirit as speaker after speaker shared their heart with fervency and conviction. I can’t often say this about conferences, but truly, every speaker (including the panel speakers) brought a word that truly resonated in my heart.
The stage was set when our theme scripture—Judges 5:7, the song of Deborah—was declared in nine different languages by various attendees. I choked up just a little over the beauty of this moment.
God moved in a powerful way the first evening when women were called to wholeness and restoration. We heard powerful sharing from therapists and disciple makers, seasoned ministers as well as a young female pastor. We had 4 powerful panels with speakers of all ages addressing and challenging both the younger and the older women. This was a true meeting of the generations, and we made some amazing connections! The seven of us who were main speakers experienced a love, deep respect, and kinship that I don’t think I have ever experienced in an event like this. I believe that this is exactly what our host, Lee Grady, very intentionally cultivates and facilitates.
I have a hard time putting into words the significance and depth of the heart of God that Lee expressed in his two messages. Many women in ministry have encountered obstacles, criticism, and belittling simply because of their gender. We were stirred by the biblical story of Hannah and her cry to God for a child who could bring repentance and revival to a backslidden Israel and a corrupt priesthood. Many women have experienced the mockings of “Peninnahs” or derogatory comments from leaders, as in the case of the priest Eli, who treated Hannah as a depraved woman. A host of women attendees rushed forward to receive prayer and healing over similar hurtful experiences.
Lee’s second message centered on a display of some of his overseas Empowerment Centers for women. Next came a powerful portrayal of women who changed their generations, such as Catherine Booth, Mary Slessor, Aimee Simple McPherson, as well as contemporary women like Natalia Schedrivaya, who is training hundreds of women and planting hundreds of churches across Russia. It is simply healing and immensely refreshing to hear a man of strength and integrity having such a heart and respect for godly women. Lee truly gets it. He has seen the indescribable atrocities committed against women across the world. He also understands the constant microaggressions against Christian women in the U.S. as they are often made to feel less than, unqualified, invisible, and insignificant and their giftings and influence unrecognized.
The climax of Saturday morning was perhaps the pronouncing of a father’s and mother’s blessing by Lee Grady and our very own Paula Derby. This was a holy and powerful Holy Spirit moment as women hurt by their own mothers and fathers crowded the altar.
Throughout the event, several women approached me to share how God had touched their lives and how grateful they were to Women in Community for organizing it. We heard attendees telling us of their lives and ministries being “reset” and “redirected” through a new Holy-Spirit perspective. And oh, I appreciated every single expression of gratitude. However, the deepest and strongest feeling in my heart is a deep awe of what Jesus, the head of the Church, did through this event. We can only respond, “Thank You, Jesus, glorious One!”
