If you have taken women to a life-changing event such as Living Proof Live, or perhaps provided a retreat experience that was a spiritual marker for women, how can you follow up and share those changes not only with the women who attended, but as an encouragement to other women who didn’t attend? Oftentimes, as soon as we complete one transformational event for women, we are on to the next thing on the calendar and can miss an opportunity to nail down commitments made by attendees.
What if next time you plan something that you expect to be life-changing (which should be all women’s ministry opportunities), you plan a time a couple of weeks after where women will reflect on what God did in their lives. Instead of calling this a “fellowship” (an important aspect of ministry with women, but often not what will draw women to attend), call it something like, “Sharing God Stories.”
Plan a time of fellowship and food, but focus on having women share in small groups at their tables, and also allowing for some stories to be shared with the whole group. In fact, as the entire group first hears the platform stories, they may begin to reflect on their own stories as a result of having earlier attended the life-changing event. Make sure you include others who may not have attended the event to reflect on their own times of transformation so that they might share as well.
Hopefully next time you offer a transformational opportunity, others will attend due to hearing what happened in the lives of those who did attend. There’s nothing like hearing how God worked in another woman’s life to make me want God to do the same in mine. Sharing stories of life change with others helps to solidify that work in me as well. In that way a “follow-up fellowship” becomes an experience with deep and lasting purpose.
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