Come and belong

I'm Sarah - I'm 17 years old, attend The Salvation Army Johnsonville, and I attended The Marketplace - the Women's Ministries session as part of The Salvation Army Congress 2016's Mission Now Conference.

And I knew as soon as I walked into the room that this was a community I wanted to belong to.

Brightly decorated with lights, papier-mâché flowers, Fijian and Tongan treasures - all permeated with an atmosphere of expectation and the Holy Spirit... this was a marketplace like no other. The Marketplace was set up as various stalls where Divisional Directors of Women's Ministries and key WM partners contributed to this idea of unity, togetherness and being one.

No matter where I went or what stall I happened to come across, each and every person in The Marketplace shared one thing in common: passion. 

• Passion for justice
• Passion for women
• Passion for hope
• Passion for a revolution
• Passion for a new future

This passion has resulted in powerful community. A community that said 'Come and belong.' So, I gave it a try - and here was what I saw at The Marketplace 2016.

Check The Marketplace photos out here!

UNITY IN PRAYER

As you walked in, Commissioner Janine Donaldson and beautifully illustrated prayer cards greeted you. You were invited to write a prayer request on one of the rad designs, and the women of WM committed to praying for each other. You can download your very own copies of the prayer cards here!

FOCUSED REVOLUTION

The Connect: From Here To There stall provided resources for parents and other interested parties to strengthen the relationships preschool-aged children and young families have with church and within the Christian community. Check out the Connect: From Here to there resources and use in your setting!

Next up was Her Freedom Song - a New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Justice Conference partnered with WM in 2017 - focusing on bringing justice and passionately fighting for what women all around the world deserve. “She is beautiful. She is strong. She is courageous. She is able. She is gifted. She is valuable. She is a woman.” If this 2017 women's justice conference is something you are interested in, then check out Her Freedom Song's Facebook page!

At One Walk NZ's stall, you heard the passion that young Salvationist Victoria Harding harbours in fighting against the injustice of children being trafficked and exploited in the sex industry. WM partnered with Victoria as she is intending to walk the Te Araroa trail to raise money for Courage House and help make a revolution in our world against human trafficking. You can read more about One Walk NZ and Victoria's journey here!

ECONOMIC FREEDOM

Bangladesh is a country plagued by poverty and injustice - but The Salvation Army's Others initiative is building the economy by helping locals create and sell bags. How cool is that? We build livelihoods with hope, and every woman got an Others bag at The Marketplace for free.

The Sparrow Project is a Salvation Army "Women of Worth" initiative, supporting Sri Lankan women by teaching them to sew and sell their wares to support themselves and their families. The Marketplace had sparrows made by WOW and each had the creator's name attached to it - a powerful way to make the creation more than a pretty object but a point of evangelism and hope. We see transformation through projects. 

One of the most captivating experiences at The Marketplace was the stall held by Fiji and Tonga. The women and men of these two countries worked together to create cultural products that astounded everyone! Every creation was hand-made - mud and clay pottery (the creators had to go into caves to retrieve the mud, and let it dry in the sunshine, before glazing it), flowers crafted out of newspaper, beautiful wood carvings and fans each showed new and amazing talents that the women of our territory possess.

HOLISTIC EVANGELISM

There was a resource stall with a variety of free and excellent resources on a wide range of topics within the church and community. There were DVD's, surveys and theological texts that were available for purchase through Manna also. Make sure to check out our WM Resources freely available to you here and on our Facebook page!

At Central Division's stall, you could make cards and show your talents through creating a small gift for someone. This was beside a 'chill out' area, where you could colour in alongside other women - we connect through creativity.

A young Salvationist from Johnsonville Corps called Katie Roche has partnered with WM to create Knitting Our Community Together. Katie energetically shared her passions for knitting and how she strives to help the homeless of Wellington (and hopefully your community too!) through knitting scarves and sharing the love of God to them.

A local member of The Upper Hutt Corps Caroline Wardle utilised up-cycled blanket scraps to make lavender-scented evangelism conversation starters! We use passions to join communities.

Days for Girls is an awesome initiative that was showcased and then provided to each of the Divisional Director's of Women's Ministries after The Marketplace. DFG provides templates for sewing reusable sanitary products for young women in countries who cannot afford menstrual items and preventing them from receiving educations and losing days at school. Get a group together and lets get young women back in school!

ONE SISTERHOOD

One reflective station was the 'Wall of Sisters' - where each woman individualised a flower and added to an ever-brightening wall to represent the authority we have in diversity. I chose bright pink and orange; I’m a crazy, bright, and lively girl and I do think those two colors described me very well! While individually we may be something unique and creative, the Wall of Sisters showed that all together we are something powerful and unstoppable!

Women’s Ministries has come such a long way in quite a short amount of time. It continues to evolve and respond. It is driven by the desire to see Jesus in every aspect of life - and releasing women into the fullness of the Gospel.

The Marketplace was a truly captivating and awe inspiring experience that gave many individuals a sneak peek into this love; this passion; this revolution. I hope after reading this, you’ll have captured some of this for yourself too. The community is ready and growing...

WM. Come and belong.