Thank you for your interest in possibly having me speak at your women’s event! These are some commonly asked questions I get about my speaking ministry.
How did you get started speaking to women?
I wanted to give you a little background on how the Lord led me to minister to women
A woman named Janie approached me in the fall of 2002 to take over our church’s women’s Bible study group in Trenton, Michigan. She asked me if I had heard of a Bible teacher named Beth Moore. I was happy to tell her that my first in depth Bible study had been hers. Janie was moving out of state and told me that she thought I should lead the women that fall in a new Beth Moore study. I had zero experience leading a group, but I loved the women of our church and God’s Word. I gave a ten minute devotional each week before we started the teaching video sharing what God was teaching me in His Word in that season of my life. Little did I realize that God was preparing me for a speaking and teaching ministry that would also lead to writing Bible studies.
After moving to our present home in Nashville in 2005, my first speaking engagement happened in the same church where it had all began. Since that time, God has blessed me with many opportunities to minister to women in different parts of the country. I would love to be a part of what God is doing in your ministry to women.
What is your speaking style?
I am impacted most when a speaker shares her own struggles while making Jesus famous as she points women to Him. If you asked me what my speaking style was like, I would tell you that I am real in my struggles and passionate about giving women hope through the Word of God. Jesus has transformed my life. I love to tell a great story and have a plethora of real-life experiences to draw from my growing up on the mission field in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That experience flavors and gives a unique perspective on any topic of which I am speaking. My gifting is applying God’s Word to real life problems and giving women the opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit in their own lives.
Topics
The topics that I speak about can be a one session event or a two session or three session retreat. I would also love to write new material for your event centered on the theme verse(s) your team has chosen.
Living With Unmet Desires
I write out of what I struggle with personally. The Lord led me to write a Bible study on this topic as part of my own healing process. We will uncover the four core issues of the jealous heart and discover that we can be both jealousy’s victim and perpetrator at the same time. We will explore why God does not answer every want we have. We will walk away understanding that unmet desires are a way to keep us close and dependent on a God who promises to supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. If your women are struggling with anger, bitterness, and feeling less than because of social media’s lies, this topic will give them a fresh perspective.
Encountering the Healing Power of Forgiveness
What does Biblical forgiveness really mean? Do I have to be in an intimate relationship with a relative, co-worker, or friend who has wounded me deeply? What is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation? These were the questions my hurting heart had to know that led me to write my Bible study on the life of Joseph. From talking with women, these are their questions, too. Not knowing the answers produces devastation and destruction in women’s lives. We will discover that the greatest benefit of forgiveness is for the forgiver.
Knowing a Powerful God: Reflections of a Missionary Kid
I grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the child and grandchild of missionaries. My paternal grandparents are both buried in the DRC. My parents felt the call of God on their lives in 1978 to continue the work begun by my grandparents. I was ten years old and fully understood what running water, electricity, and McDonald’s were. Arriving at our bush station (think Little House on the Prairie living conditions) was a total shock for me. I did not want to live there, but slowly over the next three and a half years until our first leave to go back to the States, I fell in love with my adopted country. More than that, my world view was forever changed. Jesus showed Himself powerfully to our family through experiences that were undeniably life altering. My book, Congo Vignettes, is what this talk(s) is based on. If your women are needing a fresh reminder of how big our God is, please consider this topic.
Wonderfully Made: The Antidote to Insecurity
A church in Washington asked me to develop this material based on their event topic. I tell my two daughters that insecurity knows no age. Each time we think we have conquered our insecurities, a new trap is set for us by the enemy of our soul to keep us from the abundant life that Jesus promised us in John 10:10. We will begin our time together by seeing how the first woman in Scripture fell for the lies of insecurity and the unique reasons women fall for them. We will discuss the six “R’s”of a secure woman as we discover that a secure woman is a weak woman who shows off God’s strength.
Disappointment’s Rewards
Based on the life of John the Baptist, many of us are bewildered and incredulous at the place God has led us to in our lives. John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus, the “voice crying in the wilderness” foretold by the prophet Isaiah and spent his life radically committed to proclaiming repentance, yet he spent the last weeks of his life in a prison. He ultimately asked Jesus if He was the One they had been looking for or should they look for someone else. This topic has powerfully touched women as we all deal with disappointments in our lives, even while we are seeking God’s will. I weave my own story of disappointments and what Jesus has taught me through them. Women will leave encouraged that God has the power to turn disappointing experiences in our lives into places of hope and comfort.
She Loved Much
The woman who cried tears over Jesus’ feet and wiped the precious perfume she had spilled on Him with her hair was looked down on by others. Yet Jesus said that wherever the gospel was preached, her act would be spoken of as a memorial. What do we do when we are mocked and judged for our worship of Christ? Using my mother’s act of obedience to the Lord in becoming a missionary against her family’s wishes as a backdrop, women will be encouraged for making radical choices for loving Jesus in their own lives.
There are many other topics I have developed, but this is a sampling. If you would like more information, I would love to connect with you. You can fill out my contact form here and read testimonials from those who have either done my studies or had me at their event here.
Thanks again for your interest and may the Lord bless your ministry to women!
Shawn
