“I wear feather boas because I found it is hard to have a bad day wearing a pink feather boa.”
Mary KrulikowskiMary Krulikowski, better known as Florida’s Funny Lady, flipped her bright feather scarf to the laughs of hundreds of ladies gathered at the 2008 Women’s Lifestyle Evangelism Conference. Krulikowski entertained the crowd with her unique brand of “girl humor” rattling off hilarious situations with which all women can identify.
But Krulikowski told the women her life has not been all laughs. She told her very personal story of her husband’s recent suicide last May and how her family has been coping the past eight months.
“God came right behind the suicide and said, ‘I am going to be there for you and your children,’?” said Krulikowski.
Under the theme Unashamed of the Gospel, the Lifestyle Evangelism Conference drew more than 3,000 ladies across three different locations throughout the state, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Columbia. Attendees were encouraged by the personal stories of the conference leaders to set aside fear and boldly live a life of courage in showing others the difference Jesus has made in their life stories.
Kimberly Sowell“When we take a risk, we open ourselves up and we may fail. But God is calling you to be a spiritual risk-taker,” Kimberly Sowell, speaker, author and Bible teacher, told participants.
Recalling the story of David’s call to be king of Israel, Sowell encouraged women to see themselves in the same light as David.
“You are God’s chosen one. Like it or not, believe it or not, you are God’s chosen one.”
Yet, Sowell says, so many people size up the abilities of everyone in the church before “stepping out” toward God’s call.
“If all of us continue to stand back, who will begin to step out? When we step out, he will always show up. He will get there before you do,” Sowell continued.
Thelma WellsThelma Wells, author and frequent speaker on the Women of Faith tour, shared her life story with participants and affirmed that every person in Christ has a story to share that will profoundly impact another person’s life.
“We don’t tell people who Jesus is – not because we don’t want to, but because we don’t know who we are. Be aware of who you are. There are no two people alike, so we don’t witness alike. You know your story,” she said.
Wells encouraged the ladies to know and use scripture when interacting with others.
“You don’t ever lie when you use the word of God. It ain’t your opinion!” she said.
Wells was born to a teenage mother and raised by a great-grandmother who took her to church. When other relatives would lock her in a closet during the day, Wells would sing hymns to herself to pass the time and calm her nerves.
“The world is waiting for us to get real. – Tell your story. Do you have a story? Absolutely.”
Deborah Cannada, North American Mission Board missionary to West Virginia, joked with attendees about her area of work.
Deborah Cannada“I can hear the conversations about this conference now. ‘We had a missionary, but she wasn’t a foreign missionary. Apparently, you haven’t been to West Virginia!’?” said Cannada.
Cannada and her husband Norm minister in inner-city West Virginia where, according to Cannada, if you “take the hillbilly lifestyle and add to it drugs and close living quarters, you have my neighborhood.” Cannada works at a school library during the day and also runs an after-school program, where she “loves on them for four hours and sends them back to the neighborhood.”
One of the programs Cannada and her husband started were dance classes for the children.
“When they dance their praise to the Lord, that’s church! They see their bodies as an instrument of praise, and it changes the way they see themselves so they do not have to give their bodies away to some little boy,” she said.
Cannada encouraged attendees to not only live a Christian life, but to also speak Jesus’ name when possible.
“If we say that we are going to proclaim Jesus with our lives alone and not our words, we are proclaiming too much of ourselves.”
“Everyone in this room would say that they are not ashamed of the gospel – just a little embarrassed. Embarrassed is not an option anymore,” she continued.
And much like in her neighborhood, Cannada said all people know someone who needs Jesus’ love. Cannada summed up the message of the conference simply: “Go find you a sinner to love on.”