Mercy Sisterhood Deepens at Designed For Life Conference
October 26, 2017
Residents from three Mercy homes attended the Designed For Life Conference.
Last week, residents from three Mercy Multiplied homes traveled to James River Church in Missouri, led by Pastors John and Debbie Lindell, to attend the three-day women’s conference Designed For Life (DFL). DFL was created fifteen years ago to gather and unite women of all ages, cultures, and ethnicities to encourage and strengthen one another. The conference was packed with eager women and a lineup of world-class speakers.
The conference began Thursday evening with Lisa Harper, author and speaker. She ushered in the theme of the conference, “You Belong in the Mystery.” Harper spoke about Jesus’ compassion and loving kindness as a part of His mystery. She shared her story of adopting her daughter and described how the Lord showed her His loving kindness through the process. She reminded the women that God sees their needs and hearts, and He is moved with deep compassion for them.
Harper and other speakers did an altar call, and throughout the weekend, eleven residents from the Nashville Mercy home committed their lives to Christ.
Mercy staff
“My favorite part was when I discovered that God’s perfect peace will sustain me and I have all the resources I need in order to move forward in my journey. It was an awesome time, and it confirmed that I will be successful when I walk out the doors of Mercy,” said a Mercy resident.
Friday, Priscilla Shirer, author and speaker, started the day. She spoke about the God-given treasures that all women have but do not recognize. She used a Bible story from Luke to explain that Jesus fed five thousand people. Jesus challenged his disciples to give all that they had to unlock the treasure that was inside of them to bless and feed the people. In the same way, Jesus says to give what we have and He will take it and multiply it!
“What I learned at the conference was that I need to praise God during the struggles of life. Even though it is difficult, that is where God can grow me the most. I also just really loved the worship!” said another Mercy resident.
DawnChere Wilkerson, songwriter, speaker, and pastor, discussed how every woman uniquely reflects the character of God. She explained that God is in the hearts and lives of people and compared each person’s life to be like letters that the world reads. She noted the context of the letters are always changing and encouraged the audience not to waste time on useless works. She dove further to explain that circumstances are not the context of our lives and encouraged the audience not to confuse temporary situations of life with God’s plan.
Mercy staff and residents enjoying the conference
“DawnChere was amazing. I loved her message about how our life is like a letter and while I am just a letter, I am still significant. Overall, the conference was extremely empowering, and I believe that it impacted our entire house,” said another Mercy resident.
Conference host, Pastor Debbie Lindell, led the “Sisterhood Session” and focused on the mystery of praise. She explained how God is victorious despite the enemy’s design to destroy us. Lindell encouraged those in attendance to praise God even when they feel they are at the end of their rope. She finished with a time of worship and prayer.
Bianca Olthoff, author and Bible teacher, closed out Friday night with her message about being second. She used scripture and Bible stories to illustrate her point that a person is not cursed because another person is blessed. She encouraged the audience to let go of the yoke of jealousy and resentment and challenged them to be happy for one another.
Saturday, the final day of the conference, began with Bobbie Houston. Houston, the Co-Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church shared a message titled, “The World Needs a Savior”. She explained that we live in a lost and hurting world, but part of the mystery is that God has not abandoned us. Christians need to find their place and flourish in God. Houston ended by encouraging everyone to pray for our country’s leaders and to remember Jesus is the Savior of the World.
“I came to the Designed For Life Conference expecting to experience God, and that is exactly what happened. A constant theme that was playing in my life was fear, and God just revealed to me that His perfect love casts out all fear. I had an overwhelming amount of peace that fell over me,” said another Mercy resident.
DawnChere Wilkerson spoke again on Saturday with a message, “Say it Again.” She explained, God wants to know, “Are you listening?” He calls each person by name and wants them to surrender their lives to Him. She encouraged the audience to position themselves to hear God speak and reminded the women that they will not know who they are until they know who God is.
Priscilla Shirer closed out the conference with an enthusiastic end to the weekend. She shared a story that illustrated the power of prayer, inspiring the audience to live from their supernatural abilities, authority, and priorities. She explained that if God calls you to a task or position, He has equipped you for it. It’s not by might or power, but by God’s spirit. She encouraged the audience to be women who stir up revival in their families, workplace, schools, and everywhere they go.
The St. Louis, Monroe, and Nashville Mercy residents had an inspiring and transformational weekend at the Designed For Life Conference. Mercy Multiplied is grateful for the support of James River Church and honored to be the November featured ministry in their Project 12 campaign. If you would like to partner with Mercy, click here to learn more.