WOMEN IN ACTION

This is our youngest Pledge, only 17. She has been attending the church for the past 1year and 7 months, coming from a very troubled background as any of our teenagers who mingle with the crowd.

At the age of 14, she got involved with bad friendship who introduced her to every practice that teenagers follow in the world. She did drugs, she went to parties and she became a bully herself.

Short tempered by nature and as a survival skill in school, no one would there to confront her.

She applied for Sisterhood last January and made her way through beating another 50 candidates. God had a special plan for her, through Sisterhood.

She has been reporting to us dramatic changes in her perception of life, future goals and character.

Who is our Thando today?

She is self controlled, to the point of friends enquiring what happened to her for more they try to take her out of Spirit, she does not give in. She found herself as a feminine and beautiful young lady, she was baptized with the Holy Spirit last May, she is a candidate to become an assistant , an active Youth Group member and is volunteering now in Sunday School.

Are we still wondering what God can make through Sisterhood? No, we are not. We know!

But maybe you are still wondering what God can do to change your life, as a Pledge. The secret is simple: give yourself entirely to God, no reserves, do not try to keep faithful to the old you, let Him make you all over again.

I am just sitting here looking out my sliding glass doors. The Lord’s beauty just overwhelmed me and my thought was ONLY GOD. The sky is clear blue, and the trees are very still and beautiful. The birds are chirping; the sun is not out; this morning is so peaceful. Just to see God’s creation is so wonderful! ONLY GOD!
I began thinking how only God could have brought me through this last illness. ONLY GOD! ONLY GOD! ONLY GOD! Two months ago, I could not even get out of bed or a chair. My muscles had totally collapsed, and my mind was so confused trying to deal with the new problems. My faith had not wavered, but I was having a difficult time accepting the immobility that besieged my body. ONLY GOD!
Satan was at his post, working very hard trying to put my faith done. As I lay in bed one evening, he began attacking me saying, “Where is your God? You are alone and cannot get out of bed. Where is he?”
I did not know what to do. I was hysterical. Satan was laughing and asked, “Where is the God you serve?”
Immediately, I realized that Satan was at his prime job of trying to make me deny God and follow him. I was totally embarrassed. The thoughts had caused me to become disoriented. I rebuked Satan, dried my tears, and looked up to God. My thoughts turned to Jesus, my Savior, because I knew He was the only one that could pull me through these tumultuous times. ONLY GOD! ONLY GOD!
While sitting here, I am reminded of GOD’S AMAZING GRACE. I see His GRACE working with me everyday. Only God could have pulled me through this illness. I did not have to do anything, but be still and know HE IS GOD. I can get out of bed and a chair by my own volition. ONLY GOD! I can walk better and have more mobility than I have had in the last two months. ONLY GOD! Everyday I am getting stronger and stronger. My face, hands, body, and skin are like new! ONLY GOD! God is still molding this body into a vessel to be used for Him. I am astonished at GOD’S AMAZING GRACE!

Ayanda Monyela

There are many times when we tend to make ourselves the victim. Just because something isn’t exactly how we want it, we have an urge to point the finger at someone else and blame them for what’s happening, or in some cases, what’s not happening.

I used to do this a lot. I would say I wanted a closer family. I would say I wanted that mother-daughter relationship every other girl had. I would say I wanted my parents to watch my games. I would say I wanted to bond with my brother. Point is, I would say a lot of things, but never actually did anything to work for it.

I thought of myself as the victim. Since I am the youngest in my family, I thought ‘Why should I have to put in the effort if they’re not? Shouldn’t they be working towards making this better?’ I made plenty of excuses for why I couldn’t be the one to change things. My age, my dependency on others, my intellectual proneness, etc.

I had been thinking about this situation and how things needed to change for a while already. But I was still stuck on the concept that everyone around me needed the change, not me. Then I came to a sudden realization, it hit me like meteorite. It was I that needed the change. I was so fixed in the idea that I was the one doing good, and they were the ones doing bad. But in fact, we were just alike. I had grudges I never let go of. I had anger inside me that I tried to hide from myself. I had all this extra negativity within me, and I didn’t even see it.

It wasn’t until I let go of all this that I was finally able to open myself completely to God, unlike I had before. I started looking at my wrong-doings, instead of other’s. I’m a work in progress, and I know there are always ways to improve oneself. Things have dramatically changed in my family, and I know they will only continue changing for the better.

Lily Torneros – Pledge from Houston, TX

We had a surprising turnout of 480 ladies to our 2pm meeting and hopefully many of them will embrace this challenge of participating of our Sisterhood Season 2 that will accommodate interviews from as early as 1st of July and our Rush Month from 1st of August.

Watch this space for our next meeting. It is still time for you to learn about Sisterhood and consider your application. Our next meeting will be in June.

God bless you!

Your Big Sister

Marcia

Oh yes, the necklace is travelling among us!

I had the privilege to kick start this tour and from the early hours I felt like special because I was wearing it and kept on remembering about our Pledges who would be next to enjoy the same excitement I was feeling right there and then.

Being a Wednesday,  I dressed up for our 5pm service more to compliment the necklace rather than using it as an accessory to my outfit.  Today was the Lord Supper and it required something exquisite not only physically, moreover in our spiritual life.

It reminded me of Proverbs 3:3 that warns us to pursue loyalty and kindness and to tie them around our neck as a reminder so that we find favour with both God and people.

Therefore my prayer is that each one of the girls wearing a necklace this month of May be reminded of loyalty and kindness as a true spiritual necklace.

Being part of the sisterhood has boosted myself confidence; I used to be someone who is easily discouraged by anything. I couldn’t face up with the negativity that I will hear from other people, looking down upon myself used to be the best thing I could ever do. However the sisterhood changed my inner being and how I should behave, reading all the messages from the V- Woman and how different their testimonies are, I saw that I could be a better person too and it all have to start from within. I did really punish myself because of my low self-esteem but now I know how the beauty of being me is and how to love myself. God has really made me to be self confident in what He has given to me. I managed to change my looks to be beautiful inside and out, I thank God for the Sisterhood it has given me a second chance to appreciate who I am.

After weeks of preparation, Sisterhood South Africa presented its first official pledges to Sisterhood on 11th April.

Twenty young women have been selected to become the first pledges to Sisterhood in South Africa. Dressed in beautiful evening gowns and escorted along a red carpet, they were officially acknowledged at a gala event at the Oppenheimer Gold Room in Gold Reef City on Sunday, 11th April 2010.

The pledges to Sisterhood were presented with certificates recognising the effort they had put in to tasks they were given during Rush Month. The purpose was to honour those who presented themselves as women of God by living as a positive example at home, at work and in the Church, not only accepting corrections but also making changes to their character and their life style.

Mrs Marcia Pires introduced the aims of the Sisterhood and the significance of the occasion during her speech.

“When the Sisterhood was formed in December 2009 by Ms Cristiane Cardoso and Ms Evelyn Higginbotham, they saw how young ladies spoilt their lives and were easily influenced by what they watched on television. The Sisterhood was intended for young women, aged between 15 to 30 years, married or single, to learn how to be women of dignity who were God-fearing. So many things happen in the world today including teenage pregnancy and young women engaging in sex before marriage, resulting in many destroying their lives. This project was introduced in many countries to help young women not only in
their spiritual lives but also to teach them how take care of themselves. This will showcase young women who can be an example of a new and better life for all young women,” said Mrs Pires.

The pledges to Sisterhood were called up individually to be presented with a bracelet of Sisterhood and a certificate testifying to their pledge status. A slide show reflected all they had done which enabled them to qualify for this honour.

“It was a night not to be forgotten by the first 20 pledges to Sisterhood in South Africa. There is however still a chance for the second group to qualify during Rush Month in August. Ladies, prepare yourselves,” said Mrs Pires.

“Meanwhile, God’s ways have not changed and those who have decided to live by them will not suffer the consequences of a Hollywood brain-washed society existent today. That’s when we thought about the Sisterhood came about…

‘What if we start working with a group of young women in the church who have decided to be different? What if we give them all we know about being godly and of God?”

Cristiane Cardoso

And that was the beginning of Sisterhood in Houston, Texas by the end of October 2009 and by the beginning of the New Year, the idea was launched worldwide. In South Africa we felt honored to be one of the countries chosen to host the very same project and we run our first Rush Week and Rush Month during Summer of 2010. Out of 80 applications received, 62 young ladies have embarked in the journey towards Sisterhood participating of the Rush Month and after a very tough process of selection, based exclusively on the results of tasks presented, we manage to separate our 20 First South African Pledges. Last 11^th of April, 2010, at Opperheim Gold Room, Gold Reef City Park, these ladies had pledged to Sisterhood before family and friends.

You will be able to follow our full coverage of this event on our next edition knowing that this post is an invitation for you, or for your sister, daughter, friend to join our next Season having Rush Week taking place at the last week of July.

To our First Pledges…. Congratulations and our blessings for your growth into a Young Woman of God!

We are entering now our Fourth Week of the Rush Month for Season 1 Sisterhood South Africa. It is a total of 62 ladies participating of this project and going through this amazing journey into flourishing to a beautiful young woman of God.

Out of these 62, 20 will make their way to be the first Pledges in South Africa, not because they are better than the others – this is not a competition – but because somehow they showed to be more prepared for the responsibilities that lie ahead.

We still don’t know who they are, the race is still on; what we know is that all had wonderful opportunities and experiences this far that caused them to change in some aspects of their life. Sisterhood Rush Month will soon be finished but hopefully not what they have learnt.

Soon we will be publishing some testimonies so that you can comprehend in so many ways how beneficial Sisterhood has been.

For now, just cheer for our ladies: they are unique, they are special and they are beautiful women of God in the make.

This last Friday, 180 young ladies have gathered together to participate of one more Girls’ Talk held every Friday afternoons in our Cathedral of Faith, at 4pm. They come from several branches to participate of this special meeting with the purpose of learning more on how to become precious women of God and how to cope with peer pressure proper to their age group, be in school or work environment.

Particularly in this last meeting, girls  were surprised by a different activity and had a a beautician teaching how to apply a light and perfect make up. They have enjoyed the opportunity and had a good time together.

They are looking forward for what is the next surporise in store. Girls from Cape Town, do not miss out your last appointment.