WOW Celebration is Sold Out!

WOW! Not one ticket left for this Saturday, June 9, 2007 event! We expanded to 1100 from 1000 and we are full to over flowing. Now, count down the days with us as we daily pray for God's special blessings to over flow on this day. We are working on last minute details to be sure everything is covered and the "surprises" are the ones we planned and know about.

If you are not able to be with us we will have coverage for this event in the New Frontier and in the War Cry. Please pray for all who will be attending. Ask God to give us eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts that will respond to His Holy Spirit.

If you will be one of those 1100 who will attend, pray that all goes well with the facility, the sound system, the video, the food, those leading, and all the participants. Pray for health and safety of all involved.

Pray for Barry Frost, Guy Noland, Josh Cowing, Richard Brown, Bud Horowitz, Ivor Bosanko, Neil Smith, their families, the wonderful support staff of the Anaheim Grove, and the florist. Pray for the Hallelujah Lassies, the Cadets, Major Rose-Marie Leslie, Anne Calvo, Major Ivy Hood, Major Pam Strickland, Major Joan Doughty, Commissioner Pat Swyers, and Commissioner Heather Lang. Pray for Major Dawn Rocheleau, and Lt. Colonel Diane O'Brien. Pray for the THQ Women Officers, the officers and soldiers who will be our musicians, and for those moving the items to and from the Anaheim Grove. Pray for those who will travel any distance to get there. You see there is a lot to pray for in preparing for this event.

We want those who attend this WOW Celebration to "Sell Out" to Jesus - give their all to God and live for Him. We want those who attend the WOW Celebration to be full and overflowing with the Spirit of God. We want them to come with a happy and positive spirit that will allow God to bless us.

Women of the Word, remember to Win Other Women for Jesus sake!

Thank you for your prayers.

Debi Bell

Don't you wish you were there?

Hawaii - a dream place to be.

Women's Ministries camp in Hawaii? Here is what Major Jonnette Mulch said about it:

To Live

2007 women’s Ministry Camp

To live… what do we think of when we think of living? April 20-22^nd the women of Hawaii had lessons in living, lessons that have changed lives for many.

To live - At the Feet of God- Our base camp experience. We were challenged by Major Jean Harris to consider having the courage to begin our accent into the mountains. Using references from “Hinds Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard Major Jean allowed us to think of Much Afraid and how she had to leave her family and life in the valley to begin her accent to the High Places with the Shepherd. We also heard from the Book of John chapter 12 where Mary sits at Jesus’ feet anointing them with expensive perfume, while Martha served them. We were challenged to decide if we are more like Mary or Martha, are we willing to sit at the feet of Jesus? We were invited to pour out perfumed oil into a bowl as a symbol that we were ready for the weekend. Can you think of a better place to begin than at the feet of Jesus? This was followed by a time of getting to know your hiking buddies! A fun game time where the ladies were served specialty coffee latte drinks, Italian sodas, and their choice of brownies, warm apple pie, or sugar cookies! Yummy!

To Live - in the Palm of His Hand! This time segment gave us prayer opportunities and was offered both Saturday and Sunday mornings! We had everything from beach walk and foot washing to small group prayer, sealed orders, praying the scriptures, meditation through praise music, and prayers of healing.

To live - in His shadow! This was an eye opening time of getting a better picture of the Territorial Project of Human Trafficking. A short video was put together by Janniese Mulch using pictures and testimonials of this issue. It was placed to the song by Chris Rice, “Come to Jesus” What a moving video with encouraged many to give even more for this project through the sales of the baskets.

To live - in His strength! We were inspired by different leaders in workshops of our choosing to find our strength in God and God alone!

To live in - His Joy! A time to sell our wares, learn a new craft and enjoy the old-time music of the jamboree band. Many of us raised money from our sales to benefit the territorial project.

To live - in celebration! What a fun time to listen and celebrate our women from watching past photos and hearing about all the different events happening in our corps across Hawaii and Pacific Islands. How exciting to know that one of the newest countries added to our number is in our own Division and we can help them through our divisional project to buy supplies for them in Saipan! We followed this with a time of birthday celebration and picture taking! Cake and ice cream sundaes and specials from different wm groups.

To live - in His Glory! Again we were challenged by Major Jean Harris to live with courage and faith as she gave reference again to Much Afraid and how her name was changed to “Grace and Glory” once she reached the top of the mountain. 2 Corinthians 4 speaks of having our purpose be for Him alone, God is the one Who makes us who we are and we have a job to do as Christians – for His glory!

To live - with a new purpose is what was received by many from this wonderful weekend. We so enjoyed the Visiting Leaders, Majors Ian and Jean Harris, as well as all the extras that were provided, entertainment and workshops, prayer walks, and encouragement between friends – the whole weekend has taught us how to live again!

WOW Holy Spirit Blow on US!

Just recently a copy of the Words of Life, a Salvation Army devotional book, has crossed my path again. Starting in the May to August book, retired General John Gowans is the new author. May’s subject is the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. I am starting off a bit late with the daily readings so will attempt to catch up, however the thoughts are provoking and I feel I must linger to catch what the Spirit is saying to me.

Today, I read two pages and they were titled, the Gifting of the Spirit and the Unchanging Spirit. Taking a few moments to ponder each, I thought of how all the different people involved in planning for and shaping the WOW Celebration have each brought their own unique gifts into this project. The devotional thought calls us to celebrate the unique gifting of others. I am thankful for the gifts that Major Rose-Marie Leslie brings to this project. She is a woman of detail and logic. So she is perfectly fit for the logistics part of this event. She has worked with registration and even as I write this today is making the table assignments. We have a full house and a waiting list. She will attempt to seat divisions together, make those with wheel chairs and walkers comfortable by seating them with a friend, alert honorees and guests about their special seating, and get everyone in without crowding them. God bless Rose-Marie!

Then there is the special gifting of Major Dawn Rocheleau who will sing the part of Clair, a lonely woman who is invited to Home League, receives the gift of Christ, and has her life transformed. In the olden days we used to do open airs together and I witnessed the gift she has been entrusted with. Dawn would start to sing and the crowds would gather to hear her. We just finished a film shoot that will be part of the on screen video; I notice she is also a great actress with a beautiful smile.

On Friday we filmed a couple of sections and our artist, Guy Noland is bringing his gifts of cinema and production to the WOW Celebration. Spending the day with him gave me a new appreciation for his work and I know he will do a wonderful, God honoring job.

I think of the gifts of Josh Cowing and Richard Brown who will make sure all the video works on the day. Barry Frost is the director and we are beginning to set up rehearsal times. Neil Smith and Ivor Bosanko are helping get the music pulled together. Major Ivy Hood and crew are pulling the flowers together and will add those special decorative touches. Commissioner Heather Lang is preparing a devotional message. Commissioner Pat Swyers and Lt. Colonel Diane O’Brien will portray past and present leadership. (I won’t spoil the surprise here.) Artists have created banners for their divisions and commands. Individuals, groups and corps will be featured as women who dared to do something new. The staff of the Anaheim Grove, including those who are working with us to take care of details, create and cook our meal, and make sure our day is more than wonderful.

Programs are being designed and going to the printer this week. Tickets are going in the mail. Last minute touches on the script are being made. The video is in production. Rehearsals will begin. Praise God for the Holy Spirit, who is working in each of us to make this day happen.

Now as I was contemplating this, the wind blew stronger than the still small breeze and the trees were disturbed. Leaves began to fall and I startled at the noise. Ah ha! Words of Jesus came to mind. He was describing how the Holy Spirit works in people. “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) The wind caught my attention and it was a God moment for me.

Let me explain. As I thought of these words of Jesus, I began to ponder them. The wind blows and we can see its effects and hear it pass, but we don’t control it. Sometimes the wind blows and is destructive like a hurricane or tornado its power is overwhelming to us. Other time the wind is gentle and sooths us during a hot day. The wind blows and stirs up things. The wind blows and fills the sails of a ship helping it on its journey. The wind blows and turns the blades of a windmill to produce water or energy. We cannot make the wind blow. We can counterfeit it by using fans, but there is nothing like a real wind blowing. We can make all the preparations for the wind to blow at the WOW Event, but only God can send the Holy Spirit to blow on us. My prayer is that God will send the Holy Spirit to come and blow to stir up our hearts, to fill our sails and help us on our journey. I am praying that the Holy Spirit will blow and help us be productive for the Kingdom of God. Dear God let you Holy Spirit blow on us as we meet together for the WOW Celebration in a way that will sooth us, fill us and help us on our journey.

If you are going to be there, join me in praying. If you are not able to be there, join me in praying. We want this time together to honor God and make a difference for Him.

Thank you!