Women gather to ‘proclaim gospel’

More than 5,000 women were expected to attend the 2009 Women’s Lifestyle Evangelism Conference, held over three days from Jan. 29-31 at locations in Taylors, Myrtle Beach and Columbia.

Nearly 1,200 women gathered Jan. 29 at Taylors First Baptist Church for the 2009 Women’s Lifestyle Evangelism Conference, the first of three identical meetings to be held across the state.

Deborah Klassen, a Canadian-born singer, leads conference attendees in worship.

Organizers with the South Carolina Baptist Convention expected more than 5,000 women to attend the three meetings, based on pre-registration numbers. Other sites included Myrtle Beach Community Church on Jan. 30 and First Baptist Church, Columbia, on Jan. 31.

The theme for the conference was “Unashamed to Proclaim the Gospel.”

“We’re really excited at what we’ve heard through the speakers and through God speaking through them,” said Laslene Glymph, women’s ministry associate with the evangelism group at the state convention office.

“We try to have a testimony of God working through a woman’s life. That’s what we want to drive home to women: that in any situation, we need to be proclaiming the gospel and be unashamed to do so. That’s what we want women to leave here with today.”

Maria Owens, a Bible study leader and speaker from Columbia, shared with the audience the story of how God worked in her life during and after her first husband’s fatal struggle with AIDS. After his death, she said she faced “the most difficult time of my life.”

Maria Owens shares a testimony of how God ministered to her and her first husband as he succumbed to the effects of AIDS.

“I was a widow and hated it,” she said. “I had to figure out this whole Christianity thing all over again.” She recounted how some “strong women of God came and walked with me and pointed me back to God. They weren’t afraid to get dirt on them,” she said.

Other featured speakers included Liz Curtis Higgs, author of 26 books and the video Bible study series, “Loved by God”; JoAnna Ward, a fitness instructor who made her debut on CBS’s “Survivor: Amazon”; and Kim Hardy, a speaker and singer who serves with her husband as a North American Mission Board missionary in Michigan. Deborah Klassen, a Canadian-born concert artist, was worship leader.

The first Women’s Lifestyle Evangelism Conference was held in January 1995 at North Spartanburg First Baptist Church. As attendance grew through the years, and in response to participants’ requests, organizers began offering the event at three locations across the state.

The conference is sponsored jointly by the evangelism group of the SCBC evangelism and missions team, the South Carolina Woman’s Missionary Union, and the Woman’s Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina.

The purpose of the conference is to “encourage women in their relationship with God and empower them for a lifestyle of compassionate, intentional witness for Jesus Christ.”

Women’s Lifestyle Evangelism Conference attendees worship at Taylors First Baptist Church.