On Thursdays we want to give you an insight into the lives of some of the women involved in the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention.  Some of these women are involved in full time ministry in the local Church, while others balance serving in the church with a secular job.

Meet Maud, one of our seminar speakers from Cookstown, Northern Ireland.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I was brought up to go to church and Sunday School as a child, but did not become a Christian until I was doing my nursing training in Belfast. While doing midwifery training in Edinburgh, God called me into full-time work. Then I went to the WEC Missionary Training College in Glasgow where God called me to me serve in the DRCongo. I arrived there in October 1968.

What area of ministry do you work in?
I have been a full-time missionary since then – working mostly in medical work, Bible School teaching and construction work (supervision). I worked mostly in Dem. Rep. Congo but also in S. Sudan for about 2 years.

How did you come to work in this particular area of ministry?
As mentioned above, I received God’s call into missionary work in D.R.Congo while seeking His will for my life on completion of my midwifery training. The church leaders asked me to train midwives which led to the building of a maternity unit and eventually a little hospital.

What are some challenge and some joys of working in gospel ministry?
Working in a ‘Third World Country’ where the economy has depreciated in value year by year, has been a real challenge to the church in Congo. People in D.R.Congo are very open and responsive to the gospel, so it has been a great joy to lead many of them to the Lord.

What one thing has the Lord been teaching you about yourself and himself in recent times?
The Lord has taught me much over the years – and to quote from John the Baptist, “He must increase and I must decrease”. My desire to glorify Him in all aspects of my life has increase with the years. It is so encouraging to know that He is sovereign in all situations of life and in our world today.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

On Thursdays we want to give you an insight into the lives of some of the women involved in the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention.  Some of these women are involved in full time ministry in the local Church, while others balance serving in the church with a secular job.

Meet Jean, one of our seminar speakers from Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am married to Brian, a retired Presbyterian minister, and have two children and four grandchildren aged between 3 and 12. Three of our grandchildren live in Scotland so we come across from Ireland regularly. I love reading, writing, walking and travel.

What area of ministry do you work in?
I am an author and speaker. The two roles fit together well, as people like to meet the author, hear the background to the books and how they came to be written.

How did you come to work in this particular area of ministry?
God called me as a teenager through Romans 10:14 – 15, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Over the years this has meant teaching in a theological college in Kenya, working with the Presbyterian church in Ireland, heading up the organisation Care for the Family in Northern Ireland and now full time writing and speaking. I see my writing as a way of spreading the good news of the gospel in a wider sphere.

What are some challenge and some joys of working in gospel ministry?
Continuing to put God’s word out there, whether spoken or written, can be a challenge when we don’t always know how God is using or blessing what we are doing. We go forward trusting him to look after the outcome. The joys come when we hear from those who have been blessed, maybe months or years after the word spoken or the book written.

What one thing has the Lord been teaching you about yourself and himself in recent times?
He has been teaching me the value of carving out oases of stillness so that I can hear him speak. This is a lesson I constantly need to relearn in various seasons of my life, as commitments change and the pace of life varies. No matter what else changes in our life, our quiet times with God are paramount.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

On Mondays we like to draw your attention to certain aspects of the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention. For the next few weeks, we’ll be telling you a bit more about the range of Seminars that are on offer.

Shona Hannant, from London, will be leading a seminar called “A Way With Words”.

What is the seminar about?
Speech and how our words can do great good or cause great harm and what difference the gospel makes to our words.

Who is the seminar for?
Anyone! We probably all need to think more about the effect our words have and how in our speech we can honour the Lord Jesus

Why is this area important?
Women have a reputation for speaking more than we listen…and most of us know the awful shame of having spoken badly, but the gospel brings hope and transformation.

Besides your seminar, what one thing about the Scottish Women’s Convention are you looking forward to and why?
A trip to Edinburgh (a real treat for a Londoner), catching up with old friends.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

On Mondays we like to draw your attention to certain aspects of the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention. For the next few weeks, we’ll be telling you a bit more about the range of Seminars that are on offer.

Laura Porteous, from Glasgow, will be leading the seminar for teenage girls again this year and has taken time to tell us more. If you are signing up for this stream, please indicate that you are under 18 when purchasing your ticket.

What is the title of your seminar at the Scottish Women’s Convention?

20,000 words a day – what are you saying?

What is the seminar about?

It is about our speech and all those moment when we have that sinking feeling when you think to yourself, ‘I shouldn’t have said that!’ or that equally well known feeling when you think to yourself, ‘Why didn’t I say that?’ We’ll have an honest look at our bad speech habits and let the bible shine a light on how our words really do make a world of difference. 

Who is the seminar for?

Any teenage girls who come to the convention! The seminar will be aimed at S3-S6. For girls prepared to get their noses stuck into their bibles and brains in gear about glorifying God and loving others with our words.

Why is this area important?

As girls, we’ve got so much to say but is it all helpful? Are we known for our words of encouragement or for our grumbling and groaning? We need the Bible to teach us how to use our words for good and the encouragement of one other to do this well.

Besides your seminar, what one thing about the Scottish Women’s Convention are you looking forward to and why?

The mutual encouragement – joining together with so many friends from around Scotland and learning from their wisdom. I also love the music and the singing!

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

On Mondays we like to draw your attention to certain aspects of the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention. We asked our speaker Lizzy Smallwood to share more about what she will be speaking on.

What are you speaking about at the Scottish Women’s Convention and why?
We are going to do an overview of the book of James. It is such a challenging book for us Christian women as James gets right under our skin and exposes what Jerry Bridges called our “respectable sins.” So it won’t be comfortable but it will potentially be life changing as we allow the Spirit of God through the Word of God do some serious heart surgery on us.

Besides speaking, what one thing about the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention are you looking forward to and why?
Seeing Agnes Brough – because she is a one of my heroes and I’m overdue for a sighting of her.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

On Thursdays we want to give you an insight into the lives of some of the women involved in the Scottish Women’s Bible Convention.  Some of these women are involved in full time ministry in the local Church, while others balance serving in the church with a secular job.

Meet Lizzy, our speaker…currently in Dagenham, Essex. Very soon – somewhere in Cornwall

Can you tell us a little about yourself including your family, what you do etc?
So, I have been married to Simon for 25 years. We have three children Sam [22], Ailie [pronounced Eilidh] [18] and Beatrice [9]. For 23 years we have been doing Gospel ministry in a Church on a housing estate on the outskirts of East London in Dagenham. But that is all about to change as Simon becomes the Pastor of a tiny Christian Community Church in Bodmin, Cornwall. At the moment I spend my time being a Vicar’s wife, mum, & part time teacher and Bible teacher at Women’s events.

What are some of the challenges and joys of being a Pastors wife and being involved in gospel ministry?
We try and run an open house policy so there is usually someone to feed or chat to in the kitchen. We usually have lodgers who come and live with us as part of the family and muck in at church. So life is always full of interesting people: Lots of laughing; Lots of mess; lots of heartbreak when people drift off, or give in again to that temptation or give up.
I think one of the challenges is seeing so little obvious fruit of the Spirit in some people’s lives when Simon faithfully teaches the bible week in and week out. One of the encouragements is when you see cart loads of fruit in others lives; those who listen, hear and visibly grow in their relationship with Christ are such a joy.

What one thing has the Lord been teaching you about yourself and himself in recent times?
The big lesson I am learning at the moment is to step out in faith and trust God with the big stuff. The new church we are going to has no house for the Pastor, no church building and only enough money to pay Simon for two years. So I am having to curb my natural tendency to tell God his business and trust that in some miraculous way, he is going to provide what we need [not necessarily what we want] to do this ministry in Bodmin. So watch this space. Hopefully by October I will be able to tell you what happened.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here – Tickets

Tickets for the 2019 Scottish Women’s Bible Convention are now on sale for the early bird price of £8. This price will be available for June and July and then from August until on the day, tickets will be £10.

Get your tickets from here now. Don’t miss out. Each year we have sold out!

We are really excited to announce that tickets for the 2019 Scottish Women’s Bible Convention will be on sale from 1st June. You can purchase them from https://swbc2019.eventbrite.co.uk The early bird price of £8 is available until the end of July. Don’t miss out!

Our speaker this year is Lizzy Smallwood.  She will be teaching us from James.  We will be profiling her on the blog soon.  There will seminars on a variety topics which we will share information about in the upcoming months.

Scottish Women’s Bible Convention 2018

Programme

9am Doors Open

10am Session 1: Amy Wicks

11.15am Tea and coffee served. Bookstall open.

12noon Seminar Session 1

1pm Lunch

2pm Seminar Session 2

3.30pm Session 2: Amy Wicks

4.30pm Finish. The bookstall will remind open.

If you do have any questions about the day, please do get in touch at scottishwomensbibleconvention@gmail.com