As most of you read this, women from all over the country are on a pilgrimage to Wichita. There are planes, vans, buses, and automobiles full of them all headed for Hartman Arena. They are spending significant money for the transportation, meals, and lodging required to spend two or three nights in our fine city. They will not have time to visit the zoo or Cowtown or any of our other fine tourist attractions; but they are still pumped up and eager to spend the whole time in an indoor football arena. They are coming to experience the 10th annual Women Walking with God Conference. For most of them it will be the spiritual highlight of their year.
Being so involved in hosting the Conference, we Northsiders might forget (or fail to comprehend) what an amazing deal this is. I challenge you to find another “women only” event that draws attendees from over a hundred church of Christ congregations – not to mention another 40+ different denominations. I imagine a marketing expert would conclude that Conference is definitely meeting a need! Actually “needs” would be more accurate. Our feedback from the attendees always mentions lots of things as their “favorite.” The world-class speakers, the humor, the entertainment, the shopping, the worship, the fellowship, and the girlfriend time all get rated as best by someone. It is interesting to note how many put the congregational singing at the top of their list. Statistics show that the average congregation numbers less than 100 – so imagine how thrilling it is to join 15 times that number in praising God in song!
Conference takes a huge amount of womanpower to plan and execute, and by Saturday night we will have a LOT of very tired volunteers. Some might even ask if it is all worth it. If we could hear all the stories of lives changed by this weekend, I think it would be abundantly clear that the benefits are beyond our comprehension. I know one of the volunteers that has gone out to share the story of Conference with other congregations in the state. When she returns from such a visit, she tells astounding stories she has heard about the far-reaching effects of past Conferences. This weekend will do it again – for a record number of pilgrims (over 1500). Pray for their safe travel and for God to work His wonders through wwwG #10!