Is your God too small?
It’s a surprising question, loaded with nuance and angles that could lead to deep introspection. Or perhaps, more importantly, should lead to deep introspection. For, as over 800 women learned on Saturday 17 November 2012, it is a question that reveals not only how big God really is, but how important it is for humankind to recognise that.
When Jim and Lesley Ramsay indicated that they would be in South Africa this November, the Cape Town Women’s Convention organising committee snapped up the opportunity to have Lesley back as the speaker for this year’s Convention. Once again, Lesley blessed us with deeply insightful teaching that moved a vast crowd of women to reconsider just how big their God is.
Lesley took us through the book of Joshua, showing how faithful, powerful and gracious our God is, ending with a powerful exposition of Achan’s sin. Once again, we realised how easily we minimalize sin. Yet, God’s judgement of Achan proves how serious sin is, and how desperately we need a Saviour.
Despite the serious content of our studies, the Convention this year was a celebrated event. It was a great delight to see women, from all over the Cape and farther afield, chatting, laughing, eating, singing, learning and rejoicing together. Thanks to the very able music team, we enjoyed singing God’s praises together and listening to a beautiful song item from Michelle Botha, and another, a capella, from the St James singers. We also got to hear a little about various ministries in which we can take part, such as the Equip Book club, Hands with Words deaf ministry, and Arise, a social action ministry that focuses on finding homes for children who cannot live with their birth families.
It was not surprising that tears were shed again this year, as in past years. Deborah Stein shared how she and her pastor husband, Grant Stein, have recently welcomed home their daughter, Rebekah, with
the hope of finalising adoption soon. The tears really started flowing, however, when Deborah shared how, just a little over a decade before, she had been a lost sinner sucked into a world of drug addiction and self-destruction. The story of God’s incredible grace in her life was deeply moving. The theme of adoption continued in Velma Bedderson’s testimony as she shared how God’s prompting in her and her husband, Gary’s hearts led them to adopt their young son, Joshua. Both the great difficulties and the great joys of such decisions mirror so beautifully the glorious adoption of us into God’s family.
Once again, the CTWC has proved to be a wonderful soul-feeding opportunity for the women of Cape Town. It was with a glad heart that I returned home that afternoon, renewed in my awe of God and in my desire to serve Him more.
Many thanks are due to the people who helped make this CTWC another fantastic event, particularly the organising committee, Jenny Inglesby, Alison Eloff, Berenice Brown, Karrie Botha and Velma Bedderson and our gracious speaker, Lesley Ramsay.
Written by Taryn Hayes