Networking is a good way to enrich your ministry leadership. You can build relationships with other leaders that will be a good resource for finding speakers, creating personal accountability, conference buddies, evaluation of things that have worked and not worked in their ministries, etc...

The toughest thing about networking is getting started! There may already be an organization in your area that encourages WM leaders to get together. They can be hard to track down, but worth it when you do!

If there is not a WM organization in your community, I recommend that you prayerfully consider starting one.

As with all things, spend lots of time taking your heart before the Lord before you begin. Pray for God to bring women together in your community, that you would speak clearly as you share your ideas with the other WM leaders, and that God would help each woman to work together to build the kingdom of God.

The simplest way to start networking is to open up the yellow pages and begin calling churches. Tell them who you are, what church you are with and ask if you may speak with, or leave your number for the WM Director or coordinator. In larger churches you will probably find that they have someone in the office. Medium to smaller churches will probably take your name and number and pass it on to the coordinator.

Another great place to research churches is the Internet. If you type in "churches in (your town/state)" in any search engine you will find a list of churches in your town and links to ones that have websites. Sometimes there will even be a list of staff members with their e-mail addresses or phone numbers... then you can contact the WM person directly!

Once you establish a contact, and let them know about your desire to start a WM leadership network in your area. You can make an appointment to meet with them one-on-one or arrange a meeting with several women at once. I have done this both ways and there are advantages to both methods. One- on-one, you get to know each lady more personally... but it takes more time, and if your personalities don't mesh... it can be a little uncomfortable. In a group setting, there is not as much personal contact, but you are able to present your ideas once and receive immediate feedback from all of the women. If time is a factor, the group meeting is easier to negotiate than 5- 10 separate meetings.

See what interests and needs the other leaders have and decide how often you would like to meet and where. With a bunch of strong personalities, and let's face it ladies, there are a lot of us around, it will also be important to establish yourself or someone else as the main contact person. Down the road you may even find a name for your organization and incorporate as a 501(c)3 or (c)6... but that is a whole different article!

However your networking experience progresses, if you keep the Lord in the center of it, you will create friendships, get some creative new ideas, and explore new resources.

It can feel risky to put yourself out there, but will definitely be worth it when you build a support network!

In Him... Robyne Beaubien, Editor

Theme Title: Mission: Possible

Based On: I Tim. 5:3 "Honor widows who are widows indeed" and I Kings 17:2-24 (Zarephath widow)

Description: This was a missions fundraiser event for our church's Zarephath Ministry (which supports widows in India - see www.zarephathministry.com).

The invitation said:

Mission: Possible
Recruiting special female agents to attend.
Top Secret Message: 'Your mission, should you choose to accept it is... to attend this special evening of fun, food, and fellowship, and to bring a friend with you.
Benefits will be two-fold: YOU will be refreshed, and the WIDOWS of India will be blessed by your generosity. This opportunity (& possibly you!) will self- destruct if you do not take time for yourself and take this mission seriously!

This, of course, was based on the old 'Mission Impossible' T.V. series.

We collected $5 donations at the door, where we also handed them nametags and tickets for door prize drawings. I wore dark sunglasses & carried a large magnifying glass to go with my spy theme. We invited our church ladies/friends as well as those from a local international Christian church (which is predominantly Asian Indian). We had both Indian and American cuisine (banquet style).

Tables were decorated in black (to go with the mysterious/spy theme) with round vases of red silk roses. A slide presentation was playing in the background of the Indian widows from the Zarephath ministry. After dinner, there was a devotion time where I read the scripture regarding the Zarephath widow & Elijah, pointing out that God is the Provider for all who trust Him.

After the devotion, we divided into teams and did a church scavenger hunt (since they were all special agents!). This was great for interaction between the two churches. Each envelope contained a scripture with a word in bold print that gave them a clue where to go next. (For example, Matt. 7:8 "...knock and the DOOR will be opened unto you" - so they knew to find a door for the next clue.) The last clue led them back downstairs where there was an elderly widow sitting by a special sheet cake (which said "Mission Possible"), and I read the scripture from I Kings 17 where Elijah told the widow to make him a cake first. I told the ladies we would now eat cake (& other desserts), and to give thanks for their blessings as they enjoyed it.

I also gave them each a "Treasure" piece of chocolate candy, as they had found their 'treasure' at the end of the scavenger hunt.

The dessert plates were spy-like, with the words "Top Secret" on them. After desserts, we did the door prize drawings. Finally, I handed each lady an "M-azing" candy bar, and told them individually, "Bonnie, you are M-AZING!"

Results: This event was incredibly successful. Everyone enjoyed the fellowship across nationalities, and we raise more money than we anticipated, because several people gave much more than the $5 requested donation...and even brought in donations from outsiders who didn't attend but wanted to contribute!

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There are a lot of ideas for icebreakers out there, but this in definitely one that is "tried and true."

Materials: a ball or a balloon or small slips of papers with numbers.

Procedure: I have used a ball or a balloon to toss around or handed out numbers to each person to determine the order that they share in.

The basic idea is to have the women attending take turns and share about themselves.

1. It can be done with a series of questions all pertaining to memories.
* what is your youngest memory?
* what is your best memory?
* what was your favorite holiday?
(The questions with this one are limitless but all are centered around people's memories.)

2. Or you can simply as the question... in what city and where were you born?
I have found that it varied from home, to hospital, to elevator, to a unwed mother's home. This one is fun and really gets people talking with one another. It is especially fun if you have a wide range of ages at the event.

Both of these ice breakers work with small and large groups but in a larger group you will need to divide them into small groups of around 10-12 people or the icebreaker will take a long time.

Submitted by: Lorene Kimura, Victoria BC, Canada
Email: lorene.kimura@shaw.ca

Java with Jennifer is an informal monthly ministry update specifically for friends who want to keep up-to-date on what is happening with Jennifer Rothschild's ministry of writing, speaking, and singing.

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A friend and I were having lunch last Friday and began talking about what books we are reading. Oddly enough, we both lightly lamented the fact that we did not read more fiction. However, the more we talked about it, the more authors and titles we could think of... maybe we are reading more that we realize!

So, I rushed home to peruse my library shelves to see just what I had there. If I don't love a book... I typically don't keep it around. I knew there were my favorites by Francine Rivers and Frank Peretti, but I have to admit that there are a lot of other great books. Here are some of my favorites:

Not so new, but I love them:

New friends:

Classics:

• The Screwtape Letters or anything by C. S. Lewis
• Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Is there a great fiction book that you would like to recommend? Let me know about it!

In Him.... Robyne Beaubien, Editor
Email: robyne@womensministry.net

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