DRAWING STRENGTH BY DRAWING DEEPER
World Mission Sunday on 20 October, 2019 was truly remarkable for 40 ladies who attended the first ever Women’s Conference at the Armada Hotel in Petaling Jaya organized by the Kristus Aman Women’s Ministry, an event which brought together participants from various parishes including Kristus Aman, St Francis of Assisi, Jesus Caritas and Assumption.
From the very start of the conference which was themed Drawing Deeper, there was a reverent sense of Christ’s love and peace amongst us. This feeling of our Lord’s presence was attributed to the faith and fervour that we ladies shared as we joined forces to spend time with our Lord and deepen our faith.
The bible enthronement led by 4 graceful liturgical dancers set the mood for a very energetic, prayerful and yet reflective praise and worship session led by Zareen, Irene and Kristen on this beautiful Sunday morning. Kristen ministered to us with two beautiful songs “Deeper in love” and “Who am I” and led us into a quiet time with the Lord.
This was followed by a welcome address from our much-loved leader, Margaret Lye, who made us smile with her creative opening line. Margaret invited us to sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the day in the company of our three talented speakers and fellow participants.
Our three speakers for the day, Rachael D’ Rozario, Yvonne Teo and Fiona Biggs are walking testimonies of God’s love for us. As they spoke on different topics, they shared their personal experiences on how God is working powerfully in their lives.
Rachael touched on “Opening the Inner Door” within us. By using images of different doors, she helped us to ask ourselves whether the doors of our hearts were open wide, rusty or tightly shut when it came to our relationship with Jesus. She also reminded us of our precious value as women by quoting from Saint Pope John Paul II’s letter to women in 1995 where he referred to us ladies as Feminine Genius.
After Rachael’s session we were very blessed to have Fr Michael Chua celebrate mass for us at 11.30 am. Many were touched by his homily on the righteous judge and widow as he delivered it in his indomitable style, punctuated by his brand of humour.
The highlight of the Conference was the presence of His Grace, Archbishop Julian Leow who took time off from his busy schedule to join us for lunch. During our lively conversation with him, the subject of retirement came up and without blinking an eye, as he continued eating, he calmly replied, “If you are not 94 years old, you can’t retire”. For a second there was this deadly silence, you could hear a pin drop and he continued to encourage us in our service.
After the heavy lunch Jenny and her team got ready with peppermint oil to refresh us and keep us alert for Yvonne’s talk on “Seasons of Life”, inviting us to think about God’s presence in the sunny, stormy and drought-filled days of our lives.
Our exercise was to illustrate on paper with crayons, color pencils and markers how we went through these seasons of our lives with God’s ever presence. It was amazing how creative we were as each expressed their deepest emotions on paper, in spite of some murmuring “I’m no artist”, “I don’t know how to draw”. Sharing on our art work during group dynamics was deep and intense.
The last session by Fiona Biggs, “The name that God calls me” took us on a journey to think who we are to our Heavenly Father, how much he loves us and calls each one by a special name. Fiona got us to do two exercises to enhance intimacy and support for each other. One was to look into each other’s eyes for 2 minutes without batting our eye lids. While others took this seriously, some could not stop giggling throughout.
For the next exercise, we were each given a drop of frankincense oil to rub on each other’s palms as a symbol of appreciation for the work of our hands to serve God, family and all those around us. As we held hands, we affirmed each others’ good works and character. It was an emotional moment of healing as some shed tears of joy to know how much they are appreciated and loved.
Every significant moment of the conference was beautifully and professionally captured by Cynthia Lye. We are so thankful that she has created these wonderful memories to look back on and to appreciate her giftedness.
In the final analysis it was a day that empowered us in a new and refreshing way and we look forward with great enthusiasm to next year’s women’s event.
Empowered speakers – from left Rachael D’Rozario, Yvonne Teo and Fiona Biggs
Participants of the Women’s Conference 2019 with Father Michael Chua
Archbishop Julian Leow with some of the participants of the Women’s Conference