The 2015 GO Conference was held April 17-18 at First Baptist Church, Spartanburg. Women from across the state were invited to learn new ministry and evangelism tools, then immediately put them to use in the local community.

“The focus of the GO Conference was for participants to build relationships with those they encounter in order to share their faith. My prayer is that God opened the eyes of the participants to see that they have a mission field right in their own community, and that they would decide to serve and share what God has done in their lives,” said Melanie Ratcliffe, women’s ministries strategist with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

Participants gathered Friday night for worship led by leader and songwriter Jarod Espy. Conference speaker and author Rachel Lovingood brought unique evangelism tools and perspectives from her experiences with ministries to women’s groups, minister’s wives, and students.

Carolyn Reece attended the conference with a group of 11 women from Fairview Church in Spartanburg. “Rachel taught us that lost people don’t know scripture, so they aren’t going to understand if we just quote a Bible verse to them. So we should build a relationship with people first, and get to know them on their level. I had never thought about it like that,” Reece said.

Saturday morning the participants were introduced to the ministry activity they would be serving in that afternoon. They learned practical evangelism tools and how to share the Gospel relationally. Groups set out Saturday afternoon to practice hands-on ministry including hosting a block party at a local apartment complex, children’s ministry, visiting in a long-term care facility, prayer walking, and helped homeless teens apply makeup before attending their school’s prom. Each opportunity gave participants experience interacting and building relationships with people in the community.

For her part, Reece said the team from her church will be using the tools they learned at the conference in ongoing ministries at Fairview Church. “For so long I have felt afraid and stifled to share my faith, like I wasn’t making a difference. Now I feel so much wiser and stronger. I have a whole new perspective about sharing with others. God changed me and has done so much in my life, and the least I could do is go and share with others about what He has done,” she said.