September 21, 2011 by Jessica Compton 0 comments

Posted in: Kirkplace Events

A recap of Kirkplace at Womens Katoomba Convention

On Saturday 23 of the Kirkplace Ladies went to the Women’s Katoomba Convention. The morning began at 7am as we drove up the mountain to Katoomba to meet with an auditorium full of other Christian women to think through the topic of what is a ‘Life worth Living’. We listened to three talks from Jane Tooher and Cathie Heard on the book of Philippians. They discussed how Paul wanted Christ to be exalted in his life and in his death and what that means for us as Christian women.

Changing our focus off ourselves and onto God we’re able to have a humble quiet mind that enables us to join with our fellow believing sisters and contend as one for the gospel. But in case we were tempted to think that a life devoted to God and the gospel meant that we all had to be spectacularly strong able women who can take on mountains, we were reminded that a life glorifying God and spreading his glory does not look the same for every woman. By looking at the Philippian church we saw that it was not what they did that was important but instead what was behind their actions - a desire to serve God. Cathie spoke on righteousness and reminded us that how God grows each of us is going to be different but the goal is the same – to be more and more like his Son.

We gained much food for thought from these talks and they were the source of discussion on the drive back and over dinner. But everyone agreed that it was the ‘Bite Sized Segments’ and Naomi’s talk on Gladys Alward, which had the most powerful impact on us all. We heard a couple of snapshots of women who had lived lives devoted to God in some very different situations and stages of life. This helped focus our minds to realise that our journeys and the ways we glorify and enjoy God are going to look different.

We learnt from the example of Gladys not to try and excuse ourselves from being used by God based on our seeming ordinariness; to focus on God and his desires for the world instead of our own ability. Gladys was an amazing woman not because she was awesome in and of herself, but because she was able to trust it all to an awesome God. She knew who her God was, she knew what his desire for the world was and so she charged onward not self confident but confident in her God. She took on Russia, China, and Prisoners with machetes, cared for and protected one hundred children in war time, not because she had the ability in herself but because she knew God could protect her and spread his message through her.

 

One of the main highlights of the day was the fellowship we enjoyed out in the sun with women from Kirkplace (The wise amongst us sat in the shade). Driving up and back and eating together really gave us a chance to get to know one another better and gave us the chance to chew over some of the things we had heard. We talked about Gladys and Zoe’s mother and although we were tempted to think we are not capable of what these women did, we were reminded by each other that, that wasn’t the point - God is capable - we just need to be devoted to him.

With the aid of caffeine, snacks and talkative passengers, we made our trip back down the mountain – but our fellowship continued on at Hurstville over pizza. The conference and the conversations have given us a lot of food for thought about what a life worth living really looks like. We chatted into the evening more about the highlights of the conference and enjoyed one another’s company.

- Jessica Compton

If you'd like to watch Naomi talk 'A life worth living: Gladys Aylward' then click here: