Kingdom ministry teach young women leadership skills

EMERLINE GORDON

Queens of the Kingdom Ministry, led by Minister Barbara Brebnor of the Maranatha Christian Assembly of Sou Sou Lands, hosted its 2nd annual Women’s Conference, “Who Will Rise?” at the conference room of the Division of Community Development in Scarborough on May 5.

Young women from across Tobago wearing crowns on their heads, representing their queenship as a woman, attended the conference which was especially designed for those between the ages of 10 to 35. The main objective of the conference was to teach as well as equip them with tools, resources and wisdom to encourage them to rise and become effective leaders.

Prayers, a time of worship and a special performance by the dancers of “United Dancers” were part of the proceedings at which Brebnor said her inspiration was a desire to see young women live out their God given potential. She said when people do not know their capabilities, others define for them who they are supposed to be.

“I believe that God has deposited within all of us special gifts and abilities. However, some persons are unaware of this fact and as a result they live below the standard that was intended for them to live, allowing others to dictate for them what their real purpose is, in other words they have seemingly lost sight of the real intent of God for their lives. In this case they need to be redirected.

“As young ladies they need to know that they are royalty, they have a royal heritage. God is their father and he also is a King. They are queens! They are special and there are possibilities inside them.

“God wants us to be people of distinction. It is not about what position you hold in your life or your status in society, but it is about your personality – who you really are.

“I strongly believe that by them coming together in a fashion like this, apart from being educated, it will also give them the opportunity to express themselves by sharing and interacting with other women as well as raise their consciousness as to who they really are, and this can cause them to become more effective in the way they handle their day to day lives.”

Pastor Jenny Ann Baynes, in her exhortation to the young women, encouraged them to always pray and seek God’s help and guidance even when it appears nothing is working out as they want it to.

“I know that there may be times in your lives when it seems as though God has forgotten you. Sometimes everything appears to be going wrong. But these are the times when you need to focus your minds directly on him and ask him for his help and guidance. There will also be times when you might feel left out in school because you do not belong to the popular crowd and because of that, you might be tempted to compromise just so that you can fit in.

“But these popular crowds can get you into trouble because in most cases, they are doing the wrong thing. What you need to realise is that as a queen, a child of God, you do not have to fit in with the crowd to be considered a person of importance. You are unique, because God made you and he has a special plan and purpose for your lives,” said Pastor Baynes.

Also speaking at the conference were author, lecturer, motivational coach and behavior change therapist, Dr Joanne Spence, and 98.1 F.M radio talk show host, Pastor Jenelle Brathwaite-Israel, both from Trinidad.