5 things I learnt from hosting a women's conference (BRCC with Bibi)

5 Things I learnt from convening a women's conference (BRCC with Bibi)

Hello, I know it has been a while since you've heard from me. Between planning the second edition of the Beautifully Rooted in Christ conference and executing it to the glory of God, I was unable to deliver content as I usually would. Also, my writer (Toyosi) was away for a while so that explains our 2 weeks silence. I'm happy to say we're both back and ready to serve you the content you love, I hope you are ready for us.

Today, I am led to share a few things I learned from this amazing women's event and I hope it will bless you richly.

The term Women's conference is different for our generation

When I was younger, I dreaded going to women's conferences. It was often full of admonishment for women to get married, take care of their husbands and their children. To me, it was a waste of time at that age. As a teenager, a man and children were the least of my concern. Am I saying events that help women be better homemakers and parents are wrong? Not at all, there is biblical precedent for that in Titus chapter 2.  However, when the whole essence of a woman is limited to these things is where there is an issue. After all, we see women in the bible that did great exploits for God.

On the last day, God will not judge us on the way we fed and catered to our families. Our rewards will not be based on how many children we raised and how well we made the home. We will be judged solely on our faithfulness to what He purposed us for.

The Lord told me that this is one of the things He will change for our generation! When women gather, it will be about His gospel and the role women will play in it. It will be for edification, instruction in righteousness and living a life sold out to God's purpose. That women's conference will only be so in the title, but even men will be edified by the content of the event.

If the lord has laid it upon your heart to do something for women, I hope this inspires you as you develop the content. That even when we talk about homemaking and familial relationships, it will come from the standpoint of the new man in Christ.

Physical fellowship is so beautiful

I've always been an active part of a fellowship for as long as I can remember and I'm so thankful for the sweetness of this God-made affair. One thing God opened my eyes to see in this event is the likelihood to take a fellowship for granted because I consistently have it with people.

A lot of the event attendees were so happy to have shared in this fellowship that day. These were people that did not have any form of consistent fellowship with God's people. And it warmed my heart to see that God's word is indeed true when He instructs us not to neglect the gathering together with saints. Online gathering is good but it can never be a replacement for the consistent physical gathering of saints. In this physical gathering, love and warmth are felt in a greater dimension. There are so many opportunities to put into practice what is instructed on the pulpit.

If you're reading this and you've chosen to do online church forever, reconsider, please. There's nothing like intimate fellowship with God's people that does not have a physical component to it. I understand that church hurt may have played a role in this decision, but you must know that there's healing for your heart and you can go back to fellowship with a healed heart. 

God does not cut off a branch that isn't bearing fruit

Growing up, it was a big fear of mine that I will be cut off for not bearing fruit. The ministration by the keynote speaker (Ezimma Scott-Umunna) of the event was so instructional. It showed me that bearing fruit is a function of being part and parcel of the vine. Christ lives in me forever and in this union with Him, I bear fruit. Whenever I find myself lacking in fruit-bearing, the solution is to behold God's love for me. It inspires me to bear fruit. God's role in my fruit-bearing is to raise me up like a vinedresser in a vineyard does for branches that are not bearing fruit. You can read more about the vine dressing to understand the concept used in John 15.

You can't receive spiritually from a person you don't honour 

One thing about the second edition of the Beautifully Rooted in Christ conference is that I leveraged my fellowship sisters. These are wonderful women, filled with the Holy Ghost and wisdom from above. They have been blessing me for years in our fellowship so it made sense for me to give them the platform to share at this event.

But one thing the enemy does in the minds of people is to inspire you to dishonour those in your fellowship by not seeing them as able ministers. Perhaps you're close to them, you've seen them crying or acting in the flesh. We must resist the devil by seeing fellow believers the way God sees them. The minute you begin to see your pastor or fellow brethren as "common", you can never be blessed by them. Other people will receive prophetic words from them and it shall come to pass but because of your mindset towards them, these things will not come to pass for you. 

You don't always have to invite external people to minister at your event, the ones in your circle have God's word on their lips. The moment you begin to see them as God's vessel, the sooner you can receive and be blessed from them.

Who is a convener?

One of the questions I got during the planning and execution of this event is "Bibi, why are you not ministering"? At some point, I began to worry about the fact that it was my conference and I'm not "ministering" at the event in the traditional sense. 

But thank God for the Holy Spirit, He took me back to the drawing board and asked me  "Who is a convener?" If you don't know, a convener is a person that brings people together for a meeting. I was reminded that the essence of this event is not to centre myself but to put Jesus in the center. So whether I minister or not, it doesn't matter. All that matter is that I am following the Holy Spirit closely. Maybe it will be in year 3, 4 or 5 before the Holy Spirit will instruct me to minister at BRCCwithBibi. I find solace in following His voice and not the voice of others.

If you're reading this and God has called you to do something that centres Him, be rest assured that He is leading you. You're not alone. You're consistently led by the Spirit of God. 

If you loved learning these things, then I must implore you to watch the event on YouTube.

With love,

Bibi Babatunde-Ikotun