Inspired to change: My visit to Colour Conference 2012

I had the privilege of getting to know Andrea through the world wide web. Her heart to encourage and lift up those around her is so evident, she's been an incredible blessing to know and I can't wait till we meet in person some day! After hearing about Andrea's incredible experience at Colour Conference this year and the passion it gave her to take those lessons back to her own church, I thought sharing those with you might encourage you to do the same. -Lauren

Colour Conference is a women's conference held once a year by Hillsong church in Sydney, London, Cape Town and Kiev. It is held over a couple days and includes teaching from prominent female pastors as well as a heap of time to connect with others. This year was the second time I attended, along with my friend Sarah and this is what I've learnt. 

Gathering together to learn, have fellowship and worship as daughters of God is crucial.

11,000 beautiful women gathering peacefully in one place; the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Can you imagine what this said to passersby at Darling Harbor?

There was something overwhelming about it all, it made me realize how important it is to stand together and to spend quality, encouraging, girl-time together; to honour what God has given us.

Bring your best to any project you are entrusted to.

The amount of love and care that went into every detail and design surrounding this event – from the printed information to the videos; from the mother’s retreat to the pamper areas and of course the stage design…All breathtaking and imaginative! When this much care goes into an event, you really do feel special as a visitor. I began to think about how much more I could accomplish with the gifts I have; not only at church but in my marriage, my home, my family and friends and my work.  It will bring glory to God and make his love known to others when we give it our all.

We have been made new in Christ.

Beth Moore presented 2 amazing messages. Her story of being 'stuck in that pit' of sin struck me. Sometimes it feels like we can never shake that past mistake, but she reminded us that we have been made new in Christ. Everything is forgiven and through Him I am whiter than snow.

The Gospel is alive.

Beth Moore has such a way of explaining the gospel and really getting into the physicality of it all. She uses her body to preach by acting out parts of the scriptures and imagining what everything would have felt and looked like then, I felt a had a better understanding of how powerful the Word can be. Sometimes it helps to get up and re-enact the story being told!

We can let our status in life help or hinder us.

The 'Sisterhood Sessions' really opened up the floor to some practical applications of how we can make a difference in the world – globally and locally. We had two great sessions; Sisterhood Session One focused on how we let our status in life help or hinder us. It was great to hear from a panel of people on how this has been evident in their lives and how through different life seasons and statuses they experienced God’s help and their own encumbering.  Sarah and I were really touched on how we should be happy in our own skin, wherever we are.

We CAN be the change.

A section of the conference was concentrated on what is happening globally through the Colour Sisterhood projects. We heard some very encouraging updates on the anti-human trafficking campaigns, through A21, Compassion; Vision school buses in India, and the Shine mentoring program for women. Until I attended the conference last year, I had no idea how huge and widespread human trafficking was. It is so easy to be complacent about it when we’re “the lucky ones.” I learnt that even though it is a mammoth problem, I have a voice and I can make a difference through my prayers and actions because I have God on my side.

Pick up the baton.

Christine Caine gave an inspiring message about how we need to 'pick up the baton' and take responsibility as women in our church, especially us youngen’s (ahem…cue guilty look…)   Sarah (who I attended the conference with) and I prayed and we were inspired to help revive women’s ministry and events at our home church and at Sarah’s school. We really felt the need to create a strong sisterhood of our own and make our worlds more beautiful and peaceful, according to the gifts God gave us. In Pastor Bobbie’s words; we were going to go home and FLOURISH, BABY, FLOURISH! 

God heard us and aligned us with other women at our church with the same idea and we held a day retreat in June where we focused on being fearfully and wonderfully made. It was a huge success – just the beginning! Thanks to Sarah for the additional pics ♥ I would highly recommend attending one of the Colour conferences around the world if you have a chance! You can get your tickets here.