By Staff, Baptist Message
[img_assist|nid=6085|title=A crowd of 300 women gathered at First Baptist Pineville for the annual Kaleidoscope women s conference Feb. 6|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]PINEVILLE – About 300 women gathered Feb. 6 for the annual Kaleidoscope women’s conference at First Baptist Church of Pineville.
Theme for the event was Transitions: A Journey into Oneness with Christ.
“I loved it; it was so informative,” said Violet Adams, member at the Pentecostals of Alexandria. “The speaker made it so funny; she was wonderful, and the singer was awesome.”
Adams was speaking of Leighann McCoy of Nashville, Tenn., and Kelly Garner of Franklin, Tenn.
“Kaleidoscope is for all Louisiana women,” said Janie Wise, director of women’s missions and ministries for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “The goal is to encourage, inspire, teach and motivate women to grow deeper in their faith and use that growth to share with others.”
McCoy illustrated her “step out of your comfort zone” point by telling of going skiing with her family. Everyone did great on the bunny trail, she said. Then they moved to an intermediate trail. She got scared about half-way down, looked for a tree she could run into to stop without hurting herself, and when she got there, hugged that tree “for dear life” until her husband came and guided her the rest of the way.
“We feel comfortable on the bunny trail, but we have to go and step up a little further so we can go into new avenues, new experiences, new challenges,” McCoy said. “We have to go forth with determination, but when you find you’re going too fast, hug a tree.
“We feel comfortable going to church,” McCoy continued. “We say, ‘I love Jesus and pay my tithe.’ But when we step out and say ‘let’s go walk with God’ and put doorhangers on houses, that opens up avenues we never saw before.”
The worship sessions and 13 breakout seminars were designed to lead to one conclusion, Wise said. “Along with our individual journeys, we have one focus: to make a difference in our world for Christ, touching the lives of those we work with, live near, fellowship with and yes, worship with.”
Kaleidoscope is not a WMU event, although there is a strong missions component, Wise said. It’s not a Women’s Enrichment Ministry event, although the content was straight from the Bible and the conferences helped equip women to deal with issues of daily living.
Instead, it’s an opportunity for women to draw closer to God and each other, to be strengthened to reach others for Christ.
“I vascillated between tears and laughter the entire time,” said Debbie Savoie of First Baptist Lafayette. “This event was such an encouragement and motivator for me. It will keep me going a long long time.”
The next statewide women’s event is to be the annual WMU mission celebration and annual meeting, set for March 26-27 at First Baptist Covington.
Speakers are to include Wanda Lee, WMU SBC executive director; a family on stateside assignment with the International Mission Board; Kay Bennett, NAMB missionary on assignment in New Orleans; and David Brown, director of missions in Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association.
Other features of the missions celebration include a prayerwalk on the Northshore Friday afternoon, March 26; banquet Friday evening – tickets are $15/per person and must be purchased from Janie Wise’s office by March 18; and the collection of ministry items for the New Orleans ministry centers – list of needed items is atwww.lbc.org/women, or call 800.622.6549 for more info.