The Eastern Oklahoma Area Team began planning for their Leadership Training the way that we begin everything we do: with worship and prayer. We have found that doing our work in the Presence of God is the most fruitful way of doing things. We typically begin planning for Leadership Training about six months in advance, but this time, we were starting a bit late due to having held a half-day Training in October, and to the resignation of our VP of Leadership Development in November 2023 due to health concerns.
We began bare-bones planning (date of the event, who would bring what items for breakfast, location, etc.), but put off choosing a topic. By God’s Grace, Gene Ruth Brumback joined our team as VP of Leadership Development in January, and she hit the ground running. She said, “I was surprised when asked to be VP of Leadership on our Eastern Oklahoma Area Board. Older, 76, and not Aglow active in a while, my husband after several dementia years, passed in November 2023. I had been taking care of him 24/7 for several years before his last two years in the nursing home. It was a good time for a new start.” Gene Ruth continues “At my first Board meeting, I learned we had Leadership Training in April. Yikes. A Word the Lord had given me included Fear Not, Worry not, Weary Not. We chose this as our topic. First, we planned for 20, then 30, and then, oops 40. I believe we ended up with about 46 men and women.”
We opened the training with worship and prayer, as we always do, and after some preliminaries, went right into our area team presenting testimonies and teachings on “Fear Not, Worry not, Weary Not.” We also heard from Donna Drake, our SPC, on her activities and how we could connect with her and participate in them. After lunch, we had another worship session and then held a ministry session during which every attendee was prayed for and prophesied over. God moved in a mighty way.
It was a very successful training! New connections were made, and people left blessed. Based on the feedback we received from the attendees, everyone was blessed and ministered to. We were blessed to have several attendees from the Western Oklahoma area. One of those attendees reported that “this is the best Aglow training experience she has ever been to since she started in 1995!! I believe it will be a life-changing experience for me.” Another lady said “I just have to say, ‘Wow!’ for the leadership training. It was an excellent time spent with fellowshipping, fun, food, worship, and being with the Father.” Another younger God-hungry woman was determined to receive all she could. She received several prophecies and one of the Board ministered to her privately. When Laura Nell Hays prayed for her, she had fallen out on the floor. We do believe God filled her up.
Tabitha Monson, Area President, said, “I personally loved how God moved this year. I saw so many more ladies engaging in worship. I also love how God had a word for everyone there and even additional ministry time on a personal level. I was so grateful to meet people from Western Oklahoma and spend some time with them over lunch, and then hear the word God gave them, which was right on with what was going on in their lives.”
One new aspect of this Leadership Training was a fundraiser. In past years, we relied on the funds raised by a silent auction held during our spring retreat to raise the funds needed to attend regional and global conferences. This year, because we had switched the dates of the retreat with the Leadership Training, we would not have the silent auction until October, too late to cover our expenses for the Regional Conference. We made plans to offer Lighthouse-themed jewelry, and at the last minute added some other items, all of which were well received. The fundraiser far exceeded our expectations. Our general offering was also exceedingly abundant.
Of course, an event like this doesn’t happen without the efforts of many people. Members of our local Lighthouses participated in preparing and serving breakfast and lunch and in the set up before and clean up after the conference. They also helped man the registration desk and helped attendees navigate the facilities. A special thanks goes out to Josiah Monson, son of Tabitha Monson, who ran our sound and overheads and executed innumerable odd jobs with graciousness and good humor.
We had known from the beginning of the planning that this training would be special, but we were overwhelmed to see all of the wonderful things that the Holy Spirit did. Everyone’s needs were abundantly met, the training ran very smoothly, and we all went home praising the Lord for having had a special time with Him.
As Aglow began and began to spread like wildfire across the U.S. and then jumped into other nations, one of the early leaders at Headquarters said, “We never thought about needing to train women in the ways of leadership.” That didn’t last long as training for leaders became a yearly event and continues to this day. Let us hear the creative ideas God is giving your team as you train your leaders each year. Tell Us Your Story