Upon returning from a short-term mission trip to Zambia in 2005, a friend invited me to see a film, called ‘Yesterday’. It was the story of a South African woman named Yesterday, and told of the losing battle she and her husband had had with AIDS. The film summarised the stark reality of life for many millions of African women. I was deeply affected and asked the Lord, ‘what can I do?’ When so many are suffering one can feel completely overwhelmed and wonder if there’s any point in doing anything at all. But then the Lord reminded me that every person is incredibly valuable to Him and even if I was able to make a difference to the life of just one person it would be worth every cent and every ounce of energy that I used in doing it.

African women are in my opinion, the backbone of the continent of Africa. They are
incredibly hard working and resourceful when it comes to providing for their families. You
see them everywhere carrying enormous loads on their backs, or working hard in the fields
from dawn to dusk with a baby slung across their back. Many times they are alone, since
their husbands either work away from home in the cities or have died from AIDS, and they
don’t just need to provide for their children but a brother’s or a sister’s orphaned children as
well. There is no Government assistance or Medicare, and as a result they live in tremendous
fear of not having enough or of dying themselves since many of them are HIV positive, or
worse, losing one of their precious children to sickness and disease. In short, they live in a
constant state of desperation.

I have always had a passion for the Word of God. Through the power of the word I have
experienced healing, deliverance and God’s provision for my life. I have an absolute
confidence that if a person will just believe what the Bible says about itself and by faith lay
hold of all it promises, they can also experience God’s power and provision for their life.
And so, an idea began to form in my mind concerning holding Women’s Conferences in
Africa, where I and others would teach the principles of God’s word and give faith and hope
to these truly wonderful women. We would cover such topics as Who we are in Christ,
Overcoming Fear, God’s Powerful Word, How to Receive Your Healing, the Power of
Prayer, etc. What other answer is there for them, but God and His word?

 

2007 was the inaugural year for ‘Women Arise!’ in Africa.
We travelled to two Zambian cities and were overwhelmed
at the response. The two conferences attracted around 2,000 
desperate women who came hungry for God and His word.
In 2008 four of us travelled to Malawi and Zambia where we
held a three day conference at Blantyre, Malawi and two one
 day conferences at Chingola, and Mufalira in Zambia, and a
two day Conference in Kitwe, Zambia. We also spent a
heart-breaking day in each of two women’s prisons in Malawi
 teaching and praying for women who felt they had no hope.
Once again God did exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think as
some 3,000 women were ministered to.

 

During both trips we prayed for hundreds of women with AIDS and countless other
sicknesses and diseases. We also prayed for many hundreds of babies that were present with
their mums in the meetings. We left each woman who attended the conferences, a booklet
written by my husband Richard, ‘Confessing and Praying God’s Word’ that would continue
to help to build their faith. Many testified that they would never be the same again and were
thankful for the truths that we had deposited into their hearts. Many testimonies of healing
and deliverance have also continued to come in, for which we give God all the praise and
glory.

We have been amazed at how God has used His people to so wonderfully provide the
finances that we needed to hold these conferences, and we are so very thankful. 2009 will be
a new year filled with new opportunities to make a huge difference to the lives of many
thousands of African women who would otherwise have no hope and no answers. If you are
interested in partnering with us in this God-ordained ministry, you can phone our office on 03
98406994 or feel free to deposit your offering direct into our bank account – detailed below.

Liberty Christian Church - National Australia Bank – BSB 083-218, a/c no. 493429576.