Alongside Women Learning Lab

Learning Lab

And the adventure of being an alongsider continues……

This is a recent note I received from Jan.  Jan attended our recent London Alongsidewomen Learning Lab with 3 friends.

They are presently meeting to encourage each other in faith and mission.

Here’s Jan’s note:

“I just needed to send you a note to tell you that I started a discipleship group with 3 ladies that joined me at the recent London Learning Lab.They are so willing to learn more and encourage each other as they take this next step of building into other women! Who would have thought that I would be doing this!!! We are presenting our life stories the next time we meet. Bible verses, journalling and the Journey of Discipleship book are other aspects we are being accountable to each other for.  I just had to share my excitement…”

Thanks Jan for sharing your excitement with us.  And God bless you as you take this first step of building into other women.

Comments from a Recent Learning Lab

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Comments from the recent Learning Lab:

  • “Awesome. I look forward to seeing how God plans to use this in my life and in the life of others.”
  •   “The Learning Lab is a venue to sharpen and spur on women such as me to keep persevering.  I appreciated the practical tools, hearing the stories and lessons learned from others, and the emphasis on prayer and depending on the Holy Spirit. “ 
  • “Wonderful, practical & rich experience! A worthwhile investment for the rest of your life and someone else’s!”
  • “This has been excellent for all walks & stages of life- to be equipped with tools for this type of ministry.”
  • “It’s always great to get together with other women to better ourselves through the encouragement we can give each other while learning what God would have us do.”
  • “I was blessed and thank God for all the godly women, willing to invest in the lives of others.”
  • “Amazing. My confidence to disciple and mentor has accelerated.  I feel better equipped.”
  • “This was a wonderful conference & should continue! Thanks!”

What it means to be an “Alongsider”

To our Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,

God continues to open doors for ministry into the lives of women.

Your support has produced spiritual fruit as I come alongside women who are anywhere along the journey from exploring becoming a Christ follower to intentionally investing in the life of another.  Let me share with you 3 stories:

·         Friendships – biking and Portugal trip

·         Life Issues- Conference Speaker: “When the going gets rough”

·         Alongside Women – Making Disciples - 5 Day training at Wesley Acres Family Camp.

1.          Coming Alongside in Friendship – Portugal:

For several years a group of ladies from the neighbourhood have been biking on the local trails. This spring after 5 months of training and planning, 4 of us went on a week-long guided biking trip to Portugal in celebration of our 50th birthdays. (Although mine is next year).  My prayer was that God would allow His light to shine through me as I came alongside them, affirmed them and promoted a spirit of God’s love. God answered!

The week preceding our departure I sent out an email to the ladies sharing what I had just read from The Message in Matthew 6:34  because we were worrying about flight cancellations due to volcanic ash fall out.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

God prepared us because the next day our initial flights were cancelled because of a British Airways strike!  One friend was so impressed with the “message” and it’s timing that she passed these verses on to 3 of her struggling friends to encourage them!

During our times of biking and hiking in the beautiful hills and medieval villages of Portugal I looked for opportunities to bring the Kingdom of God into the moment – prayer was often welcomed. One friend thanked me for praying in a to a personable God, expressing verbally what fears and thoughts were in their hearts. It was a great opportunity to live Christ before them. We’ll continue to stay connected, biking and involving our husbands whenever we can.

2.          Coming Alongside with Life Issues- Conference Speaker: “When the going gets rough”

Chris and I have been praying that God will use us and that He will be glorified as we share about how He has been sufficient in the midst of our difficult circumstances and losses.  A recent speaking opportunity allowed me to come alongside a group of women (dressed in 60’s attire) and speak about “When the going gets rough: We must Trust in Our Loving God and Creator” based on 1 Peter 4:19

“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

I spoke from my journal entries about how the Lord has sustained and even blessed us as we rely on His promises then, now and in the future.

Left picture is of me jumping off an 80 cliff backwards and TRUSTING on the zip-line to get me across a 220 ft. River bed at Elora Gorge. A great “cliff jump” illustration!

3.          Alongside Women – Making Disciples

5 Days of Training at Wesley Acres Family Camp.

I connected with many wonderful women from all over southern Ontario who felt inspired, convicted and equipped to intentionally minister alongside other women. One elderly woman shared with me that she wished she had heard this many years earlier! A couple of women came up to me after the first day and said that now they understood why the Lord had them come to family camp!

 Encouraging Quotes from Ladies Who Attended One of the Training Events Over the Past Several Months

·         “Over the years that I have been a Christian, I have attended many workshops. This week at our Family Camp, Kimberly Matthisen walked us through the exercise of discipling other women through the development of an intentional relationship. Kimberly motivated, encouraged and equipped me with the tools to enter into this discipling type of relationship. It is exciting to realize that God will use me to mentor those new believers that He brings into my life. The workshop was practical and enlightening in a way that will allow me to apply the skills I have learned. Hence, it seems to me that this workshop was more helpful and beneficial than many I have attended.”

 (Veteran Alpha leader who has now started a discipling group with a couple of gals  who have just become Christians )

·         “Thank you for the tools. I truly felt it was the best part of family camp for me!” Judy van Gent

·         “I wish I heard what you shared many years ago.” Arlene Oliver

·         From the Wesley Acres News:

“If you have ever dreamed of becoming a spiritual dynamo, authentically living out your faith on a daily basis, Kimberly Matthisen will get you there! In her morning seminar, Alongside Women, she pours her life and extensive understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ into the over 85 women attending each day. Using Scripture, Power point, handouts and video clips, Kimberly encourages women to move out into greater areas of leadership through mentoring….Here is a solid, informed and authentic leader women can certainly relate to.”  Reporter: Pastor Linda Dixon

A Mandate for Mentoring

By Dr. Howard H. Hendricks

The most compelling question every Christian must ask is this: What am I doing today that will guarantee my impact for Jesus Christ in the next generation?

If I understand my New Testament correctly, there are only two things God is going to take off our planet. One is His Word, and the other is His people. If you are building His Word into people, you can be confident that will last forever.

That’s why I am so passionate about mentoring. Mentoring is a ministry of multiplication. Every time you build into the life of another man/woman, you launch a process that ideally will never end.

Check out the rest of this excellent article at:

http://bernardbragas.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/a-mandate-for-mentoring/

A Mother’s tribute

“I would like to just thank 3 women who have played a big part in Tara’s spiritual journey:

The first two are are Leanne DeBoer  (who unfortunately could not be here today) and Carrie-Anne Milne (Tara’s aunt).   Leanne and Carrie-Anne were Tara’s small group bible study leaders all through high school.  They were young, busy moms at that time and they devoted every Wednesday night to a group of girls and guided them through some of the toughest years that a teenage girl can go through.  We would like to say thank you for giving so much of your time and of yourself to Tara and all of those girls over the years – your example of Christian women with uncompromising values and morals was invaluable. I know that you both had a big influence on Tara,  and she really loved having you all through those years.   Thank you, too, to Leanne’s husband Luke and their kids and Carrie’s husband, Darryl and their children for sharing their wives and moms with those girls.  Your input into Tara’s life was beyond measure.

And the other woman is Carli Chitty.  Carli has been Tara’s mentor for the last 2 years.  Carli has committed to meeting every 2 weeks in her own home, with a small group of twenty-somethings and has been helping them navigate through the years of  early womanhood – she has been through engagements, weddings and babies with these girls and her love for them is so evident when she speaks their names.  Carli  – your example of love, serving, commitment and grace to these young women is amazing – Tara simply adores you and she respects you.  Thank you for making time in your life when I know you work full-time and are a loving mom of two of your own young adults, and a great wife to Brad.  Thanks Brad for supporting Carli in doing this.

All of these women chose to invest in the lives of young women and in doing so have helped to shape who they have become – may God bless them for that.”

The Mentoring Process

A few Sundays ago, a friend and myself travelled to London to meet with about 13 women who are either building into the lives of other women or are seriously considering starting the adventure.

Here’s a sample of what we talked about:

 

THE MENTORING PROCESS

 

Do we enjoy each other? Is this person comfortable with me? Am I comfortable with her?

 

Is this woman open to learning? Does she have a searching and questioning attitude?

 

Is she willing to commit to our meeting together and to do the assignments we agree upon?

 

Lucibel VanAtta, Women Encouraging Women, Multnomah Press.

 

 

1. Initiate the Relationship. Get to know each other. Discuss the possibility of a mentoring relationship.

2. Answer: What would be the purpose of this mentoring relationship?

3. Clarify and agree on the desires/expectations for the relationship.

4. Clarify the responsibilities in the relationship.

5. What type of accountability and confidentiality would strengthen the purpose of this pursuit together?

6. When and how often shall we meet?

7. Evaluate the arrangements and fulfillment of expectations periodically. (How are we doing?)

8. Modify expectations and arrangements to respond to evaluation.

9. Bring closure to the mentoring pursuit.

10. Pray and prepare faithfully throughout the mentoring pursuit.

Paul Stanley, 1993, Leader Development Network, Navpress.

The “With” Principle

Thanks for joining Alongside Women.

We believe that change can happen in our lives and in the lives of women depending on who they spend time “with.” The “with” principle is so powerful. We see it in the book of Acts. In Acts 4:13 the religious leaders took note that Peter and John’s lives had been transformed from ordinary and unschooled to courageous and bold. They attributed the change to the fact that they had been “with” Jesus. I love this. How can I change? How does anyone change? The answer lies in part, I believe, in who I choose to be “with”.