Past event: Leadership Conference

• WHERE: Calvary Community Church, Fullerton, CA
  
• WHEN: March 17, 2007
  
• THEME: "Come, Now is the time for: Living Your Faith, Loving the Lost, Learning to Serve"
• THEME VERSE: I Corinthians 15:58: "...always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

  The women of the Pacific Southwest District were recently blessed with a visit from Janet Spencer and Ruth Vallevik our National Chairwoman and Director of Women’s Ministries, respectively.

  The women of PSWD gathered at Calvary Community Church in Fullerton, CA, traveling as far as Arizona for this special event.

  Janet Spencer shared her personal experiences as well as practical steps in equipping Women with God’s Word. Janet taught us how to prepare ourselves and our study material. This is key in effectively teaching the Word of God or facilitating a discussion in small group settings. Janet presented us with many valuable facilitator tips and study skills to encourage us.

  Janet also gave us an assessment tool, “The Spiritual Gift Profile”, to help women define the gifts God gives us and to inspire our use in ministry as well as personality styles and team-building skills. The Spiritual Gift Profile is an exciting tool, and from what I hear, it was pretty right-on target for the ladies in attendance that day. Not only does the profile graph your gifts, but it also includes descriptions of each gift to give you further knowledge of your potential future path.

  Ruth Vallevik helped us explore the Development of Women for Leadership roles within our ministries. Ruth shared the five different levels of leadership and what it consisted of, as well as the myths of leadership (which was quite eye opening) and the qualities to look for in a leader. A quote of John Maxwell, (Leadership 101) that Ruth shared with us, and it continues to linger in my own mind, is “She who thinketh she leadeth and no one is following, is just taking a walk.” How true, how true!

  An area that Ruth broached and an area that we all need help with is “Creating a Climate of Peace”. Ruth gave us tools that were simple and helpful that we can use in all of our lives when it comes to approaching someone you have a conflict with. A very valuable lesson taught Ruth, thank you.

  The last session was presented by our own Pastor’s wife, Marilyn Erickson. With her personal experience in the mission field, Marilyn provided us with updates on all of our current CLB missionary families as well as the importance of reaching the lost in our culture. Marilyn shared from her heart and offered many practical tools for supporting and promoting missionary efforts. Thank you, Marilyn, for the eye-opener of the mission ministry.

  The day was jam-packed full of great tips and tools. There was also time for worship and praise, scripture and prayer. And whenever you have a group of women that numbers more than one (ha, ha), you’ll always find a room full of laughter, fellowship, and celebration of being a child of God

  On behalf of the women of Calvary Community Church I’d like to say thank you and God Bless You to each of our presenters that day and continued prayers and goodwill to your future conferences throughout the districts. It is a definite must-see conference for all women with the CLB.

• -Sharon Walters, Fullerton, California
  

• We met March 31 - April 2, 2006 at Yuma, AZ
• Speaker Suzi Kallam spoke on the theme: Deeply loved, firmly planted
  
• Worship Leader Rhonda Rubio led us in praise and worship

• Suzi reminded us we were made to know God; we’ve deeply fallen but are deeply loved.
• We must face Sin as Sin and repent or face the consequences of sin. We need to allow God to search our hearts.
• He wants all of me.
• “Like a tree planted by streams of water” Psalm 1:3, our spiritual roots should go deep in Christ. Do others see Christ in me a righteous woman firmly planted?
• Are we spiritually fatigued? We need to pray for revival every day of our lives regarding our walk with the Lord.
• We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, bring ourselves low, not higher than God. We need to be still and know He is God!
• Commit to knowing Him more and letting Him lead me with his righteous right hand.

 Our Praise and worship time was led again this year by Ronda Rubio from Rancho Cucamonga. The songs she chose lifted our hearts and minds to focus on our Lord and blessed us richly.

 The Holy Spirit was truly present and working in our hearts. It was a very inspirational weekend.

 Delvina Simonson, PSWD WM President

Sunny California was the setting for the Pacific Southwest (PSW) annual district meeting and J-term held January 21-22 at Victoria Community Church, Rancho Cucamonga, California. District delegates, pastors, and women of the district were invited to be part of these training sessions with seminary professors Dr. David Veum and Dr. Gaylan Mathiesen.

Here are some gems gleaned from sessions:

• The Church is an expression of the Kingdom of God.
• We receive to give.
• We are the Body of Christ to the world – we are the ambassadors for Christ – the only way the world can see who He is.
• Christ was concerned about people on the periphery. Are we doing good in our own community?
• We need to listen to those who live there – what are their felt needs? What does the Bible say about those needs?
• Reach outside of yourself – be a missional church.

During break time, women were given information and encouraged to plan to attend the March 31-April 1,2 PSW District retreat in Yuma, AZ with speaker Suzi Kallam on the theme: “Deeply Loved, Firmly Planted.”
-information from Delvina Simonson, PSW District President