It was an impactful, transformative and inspiring evening at the recently concluded Women’s Leadership Webinar hosted by the National Women’s Ministries (WM) Department of the Assemblies of God, Guyana. This year’s webinar, the second of its kind, was held on March 26, 2022, under the theme “Rebuild and Rise from the Ruins”, with emphasis on Scripture from Nehemiah 2:7.
Women were inspired by four (4) dynamic speakers at the webinar: Bishop Dexter Williams, Reverend Selwyn Sills, Minister Shevone Corbin and Minister Dave Simpson, who all presented on key principles of rebuilding, referencing methods and strategies used in the book of Nehemiah.
The event was opened with a word of prayer, followed by brief remarks from National WM Director Rev. Mabel Grimmond. The Reverend warmly welcomed the speakers and the women who joined the conference across Guyana and the diaspora via Facebook and Zoom.
The first speaker for the evening was Rev. Selwyn Sills, Missions Director of the Assemblies of God (AOG) and Pastor of Praise Tabernacle Assembly (AOG) Linden, who spoke on the topic “Working the Plan by God’s Design.” He posited several ways leaders could activate God’s plan by His design. This, he said, can be accomplished through prayers and petition, planning, and proceeding with the plan after receiving God’s permission. He also noted the importance of seeking participation by engaging people, having a passion for and protecting God’s plan, persisting with the plan despite adversity, and praising God when the plan succeeds.
Min. Dave Simpson from Mizpah Seventh Day Adventist Church then complimented this remarkable exposition. He encouraged the women to “Rebuild in Faith.” In his presentation, Min. Simpson explained “faith” as an acronym and highlighted essential steps one must take when rebuilding in faith. Like Nehemiah, we must:
- F- remember our Foundation. He noted that “to perform [our] duties effectively, like Nehemiah, who did not forget the land of his forefathers and his foundation, we must remember where we came from and our foundation, which is God.”
- A – Activate our aspirations. Aspiration is the hope and ambition of achieving something. Nehemiah activated his aspiration to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem before the king, someone who was in a position to help him realise that aspiration.
- I – Ignite our inspiration. This is a crucial step in the rebuilding process, which must be carefully planned and orchestrated like Nehemiah.
- T – Transform within a timeline. There must be a workable timeline when rebuilding. Like Nehemiah, we must act with sincerity and urgency.
- H – Honour God as we rebuild. No process can be complete in rebuilding without giving honour to God almighty.
Min. Dave Simpson closed his message by giving a charge to women to “ignore the favours of men and seek the blessings of God as they seek to rebuild.”
The third speaker of the evening spoke on “Team Building is a Kingdom Principle.” He was none other than Bishop Dexter Williams, National Director of Evangelism in the New Testament Church of God and Pastor of the Revival New Testament Church. His message provoked imagery of teamwork that highlighted its importance in accomplishing any task or objective.
Asserting that no man is an island, Bishop Williams referred to Ecclesiastes 4: 9-11 (Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up), emphasising the need for teamwork in achieving any overarching goals and objectives in the kingdom of God. He noted that the body of Christ is called to excellence, and achieving excellence requires developing a team through the vehicle of team building. This principle, he added, is enshrined throughout Scripture since creation in Genesis 1:26 when God said let ‘us’ make man and in Mark 6:7, where Jesus himself had a team of twelve (12) disciples whom he assigned different tasks.
Bishop Williams also alluded that understanding the concept of teamwork is paramount to the kingdom of God, and leaders must have a willingness to share the workload and a desire to be trained. He further emphasised that there is no jealousy nor internal competition in teamwork, citing 1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” The body of Christ, he said, must work in unity as in 1 Corinthians 12:12- 31, all to the glory and honour of God.
Min. Shevone Corbin, a member of the First Assembly of God Wortmanville Diaspora Ministry in Geneva, Switzerland, delivered the final presentation for the Women’s Leadership Webinar. This phenomenal woman of God spoke to the women on the topic “Kingdom Connections.” Her message was filled with empowering scriptural truths, as she left the following nuggets with the audience:
There is no rebuilding if there is no ruin; ruin is the birthplace of a revival. – “Therefore, whatever you are struggling with, or wherever there is ruin, whether it’s in your family, career, health, business or ministry, God wants to show up and be the strength in our weakness. Remember His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9),” encouraged Min. Corbin.
Kingdom connections are all about relationships, intent and impact – “The intent of Jesus and the Word of God is that we influence. The impact is the change that must occur,” declared Min. Corbin. To further emphasise her point, Min. Corbin noted that “when we would have given our hearts to the Lord, in our heart was the intent that we wanted to love and serve Jesus and the impact was the way God transformed our lives.” Expounding that kingdom connections need people and are necessary for rebuilding, Min. Corbin referred to the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) to highlight the importance of the need for leadership to be buttressed by divine authority (loving God) and impact people (loving your neighbour).
“If we impact the lives of people by bringing them the same Christ that we sought and found, then we have established kingdom connections.”
Referencing several scriptures, Min Corbin drove the point home that God’s Word is the diplomatic blueprint that teaches us how to govern and influence the world for His kingdom. He has given us the terms of reference to be ambassadors for Christ, and He wants us to maintain diplomatic relationships and form foreign policy. She concluded by reminding the women that they are Christ Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:12) and that God has appointed them over nations and kingdoms to build and plant (Jeremiah 1:9-10)
A charge was given to the women, as ambassadors of Christ, to take the Word of God to the marketplace (in our families, schools, workplaces, the gym, etc.), connecting with people and bringing them into the kingdom of God.
After this profound presentation, the WM Leadership Webinar 2022 was concluded with an interactive question and answer segment that allowed the speakers to respond to questions posted by participants in the chat, as further rebuilding nuggets were divulged.
