Throughout March our theme is Missions: Participating in the Great Commission Right Where We Are. If you’ve joined us, I hope you’ve thought a new thought or considered how you participate in the Great Commission. Given worldwide pandemic precautions, “sheltering in place” and “social distancing” have become part of our corporate lexicon. Meanwhile, digital platforms are being used to create pathways to the Gospel.
With this in mind, I am grateful (along with other Do Not Depart contributors) to be part of Hello Mornings, an international online Christian community where women encourage each other in three key disciplines: spending time in God’s Word, keeping healthy habits, and planning each day with priorities in mind. What a joy it has been to hear stories from fellow group members and group leaders about how God is using the ministry of Hello Mornings to draw women to Him.
My Hello Mornings Story
With a large project looming amidst a busy schedule, I asked myself, “Where am I going to find the time to get it done?” Not just a question of time, I knew my prayer life and spiritual discipline were not equal to the task. I needed more Jesus and less me. Renewed spiritual discipline was key. In Spring 2013, I found Hello Mornings. The Hello Mornings community was a lifeline to my busy life. Creating the habits of “God. Plan. Move.” created more time for the project and brought me closer to Jesus.
For the first time in my life I was involved in an online group. I was nervous, but I kept at it and found it to be a life-giving resource for my spiritual life. Transformation began. I found myself with more time in my day, a regular prayer and devotional life that yielded answered prayers, and an intimacy with Jesus that had been long desired. I was a new woman; the Holy Spirit did the work.
Digital Pathway to the Gospel
As a Hello Mornings’ Group Leader, I encountered women with little to no experience in God’s Word. Women who needed a safe place for their Bible questions, found it in the virtual small group setting. While I facilitated the group, God gave me a front row seat to watch women read His Word for the first time and watch Him work. One woman followed Christ’s obedience in baptism as a result of studying the Book of Acts. Her involvement in Hello Mornings made an impact on her family as well. This is just one story, but I am sure there are more just like it.
More About Hello Mornings
Do your habits need a refresh? You can start building good habits right now. Kat Lee, founder of Hello Mornings, has free, ready-to-use resources ready for you right here. If you would like to know more about Hello Mornings, let me know in the comments. If God is calling you to engage with others over His Word, consider joining Hello Mornings as a group leader. We offer “real life” group and virtual groups. Our Do Not Depart readers tend to be mature Christians who love God’s Word, and we would love to have you leading women at Hello Mornings. Feel free to ask questions in the comments below. Lastly, if Hello Mornings isn’t right for you, please participate in our Do Not Depart Community Facebook Page.
God gave me a front row seat to watch women read His Word for the first time and watch Him work.Click To Tweet
We are moving our “once a month” women’s group to an “every Monday night” group during this season. When we meet physically, we have 30-60 women depending on the season and the busyness of women. Online, last Monday, we had 18. We start with worship and then have a lesson and discussion. (When we were physically together, we also had a meal.) We are looking for something that will engage women and plan on having some content up front (after worship) and then discussion, but we don’t want it to be chaotic. We are using Zoom as our digital meeting platform and have a license so we can accommodate as many women as want to engage. We expect that the audience will grow as word gets out. I should say that we are a local campus women’s group that is affiliated with a Florida mega church. Our groups pastor has emphasized the need for “story” in our teaching. We are seeking resources and I found you today. Any assistance you can provide would be amazing. There are three of us on the planning and execution team. We are all praying and thinking this weekend, but need to get moving as this next Monday is the second of what may be 8 weeks of meetings (we met last Monday as a kind of trial, but want to change the way we are using the 45 min to hour of the meeting). The plan is that all three of us will rotate and speak/teach for 10-15 minutes, but we need resources to make it an engaging 10-15 minutes. Suggestions?