Colour Conference twenty-13

As each Colour is uniquely different so are the girls that formed the sisterhood at Colour Conference this year. But as each colour comes together a beautiful rainbow is formed. A rainbow signifies the end of a storm and that’s what I believe the Missio Dei “Mission of God” was for this years’ Colour Conference. It was the end of unawareness about all the troubles facing the world, it was the end of not knowing how one can help, it was the end of living in the darkness, it was the end of loneliness, grief, anger, pain, loss, and ignorant living, but was the start of a revolution of PEACE, LIGHT and LOVE!

So instead of the usual praise report, I thought I would take it a bit further and write a praise report blog post. Because the space on that report card is too darn small to express the gratitude I have for God and Hillsong SA as a whole for bringing me to my knees at my very first Colour Conference! Not only did I have the opportunity to attend the conference but I got to attend it with the very best of friends. I invited one of my best friends in particular after God planted the desire in my heart to experience this wonderful weekend with her! I knew it was something important she needed in her life as it was a great way to show her that no matter how broken and hurt some people can make her feel there is a God in heaven knocking on her door waiting for her to accept his glorious invite into her life!

This weekend started with our spanking new t-shirts stating a simple line: “I will Rise” and that we did!

Nearly 6500 women queued in front of the doors at the Grand Arena. The doors were opened and the conference begun, but don’t for a second think that women are gracious when it comes to getting the best seats in the house of God, oh no! Like I can imagine a race to get the last pair of Jimmy Choos at a sale would be, so the women pushed, shoved and stampeded to get those seats, I can admit I was no different! Whatever you do....Do NOT send me to the balcony!

The stage was breathtaking and the Worship team, who was absolutely fabulous, opened with a stunning worship session. Bobby Huston gave us a wonderful word about our journey into Zion beginning with God and ending with Jesus and about our Missio Dei “Mission of God” while we on earth.

Hearing 6500 woman sing-along to Oceans from the Hillsong United C.D. Zion still gives me goosebumps when I think about it! Such a beautiful song and such a beautiful moment!

And so, day two commenced, starting bright and early with our arrival at 7am of course, because no, as I said before, I was not sitting on the balcony! Haha! Priscilla Shirer an American woman of God brought possibly the most wonderful Word I have ever heard! About when we step out of the boat and give up that’s when Jesus steps into our boat and tells us to go deeper, to try harder and for us to know we not doing life alone!

Beautiful Canadian, Helen Burns, then brought us the Word about not being Isolated, about loving one another, building communities and having strong relationships with others as 90% of our destiny is in other people. Relationships are all about caring, commitment, conviction and courage.

During our breaks finding a store to purchase food without a line that stretched to the ends of the earth and back was impossible. So I settled for fish finger tasting chicken nuggets, thank goodness for the snack pack we received in the morning. During the breaks I got asked by numerous people why there were so many women all together and it gave me an opportunity to tell them about God and invite them to Church and NOTHING makes me happier than to give someone the opportunity to experience the happiness I am now experiencing.

The next half of the day Bobby Huston encouraged us to talk about Jesus more to radiate his light through naturally charged conversations when introducing your friends to your other Friend!

The next session dealt with important matters and light was shown on serious situations in the world. They introduced us to initiatives like The A 21 project that is driven towards rescuing woman from human trafficking, WAR which is Woman against Rape and the 500 project that encourages us to raise money for woman in Uganda who have stopped going to school. Check it out here: www.coloursisterhood.com. They shared inspiring life stories and it truly encouraged me to stay true to the Big Idea I have been planning. You will all hear about it soon, still tons of research and planning to happen though.

Priscilla Shirer brought another wonderful message about patience and that when we think God has cheated us, he has actually chosen us! God has saved me, he will change me and he will use me through justification, sanctification and location!

Helen Burns then spoke about God strengthening you to do what you have been called to do. Bobby presented a wonderful gift to us and the worship team closed off with a stunning performance based on shining your lantern brightly.

The conference as a whole was amazing but the things that drew me so close to God was in the small conversations I had with people outside the conference, about when they started attending church and how God has worked in their lives, I even got introduced to a person that told me exactly the truth that I was seeking, I asked him how he knew my heart so well and his reply “It’s not me talking to you it’s God talking through me” and this in its own was my little miracle of the weekend not to mention my best friend got saved! Hi 5 Colour!

So I just want to thank all the volunteers, the Colour Conference team, the Pastors, Hillsong SA as a whole and all the lovely ladies for making this weekend one not to be forgotten! Next year I will be #ONMISSION to invite all the ladies in my life to partake in Colour because I feel that no woman should ever miss out on an opportunity like this! After all it is the greatest love story ever told! Cape Town Stadium 2014, taking it to a whole nother level! Let’s Go!