From Hesitation to Transformation: My Journey to Building a Faith-Filled Community

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

After I graduated from CVSOM (Central Valley School Of Ministry) in 2012, God put it on my heart to start a leadership group for several reasons:

1. To surround myself with a spiritual family of sisters to learn from, grow with and receive accountability.

2. To share what I had learned in Bible college.

3. To provide a safe place for Christian leaders to open up, share their struggles and receive healing.

As soon as this idea came to mind, the Holy Spirit started downloading a list of names to invite, but not until He said so.

I felt like I was at a stop light waiting for it to turn green, but I sat on yellow (pause) for two years!

In the meantime I was asked to join Womens Ministries, which was my hearts desire. I wasn’t excited about being in charge of prayer because it wasn’t my strength, but it was the only position available and I decided to trust that the Lord knew what He was doing. The woman before me was a prayer warrior so this step was intimidating to say the least!

When the Director told all of us leaders to create a support group to help each one of us in ministry, I saw the light turn green, and I couldn’t wait to start contacting the women on my list!

I invited 11 ladies, that God had put on my heart to be on the prayer team. Most of them had been Christians for a long time and I saw leadership qualities in every single one, if they weren’t in leadership already.

When I took a look at how awesome, mighty and powerful this group was, I had to call it “The Dream Team!”

We met once a month, because of everyone’s busy schedule, and took turns meeting at each others home. Either they provided a meal or we did a pot-luck.

We had a different prayer partner every month and would try to meet in between the meetings which helped us get to know each other better.

At each meeting the hostess would be in charge of sharing the first half and then I would speak during the second half. That way we are all learning from each other!

We always started in prayer and ended in worship/prayer. I let the hostess plan whatever she wanted and so we got to do a lot of different things that brought us closer to the Lord and each other!

One of the ladies planned a paint night, another time we had a worship night, and another evening was focused on words of encouragement and prophecy.

For December, I had everyone bring items to make “Blessing Bags” to carry in our car and give to the poor.

I also got the idea to collect purses and fill them with all kinds of things from makeup to sunglasses to a devotional. We did a Christmas Tea for a homeless shelter and gave those purses away!

One of the ladies had a connection to the Battered Women’s Shelter so we served delicious meals there for Thanksgiving/Christmas.

Our most important job was being the prayer team for all of the womens events at church, which was so rewarding!

We met for seven years straight before I changed churches. They committed to a year at a time and then some would leave and others would come.

One of the biggest things that surprised me about our circle, was the amount of women that didn’t like women! Half the group had been hurt by either their mother, sister, a friend or clergy. Some were actually going through some female difficulties at work!

Those women told me later that they didn’t want to join a “women’s group” for that reason, but did so because they felt led by the Lord. Later they were so happy that they joined and couldn’t imagine life without each other!

This Dream Team not only changed their lives but it drastically changed mine! As the leader I had my share of challenges that made me a better person. Most of the time we got along but there were some hiccups along the way, especially with personality clashes. These were opportunities to level up and grow!

The biggest hurdle was getting over the political debate when Trump became President! Half the group was Republican and the other half was Democrat. We were a diversified group of Caucasian , Hispanic, Black, Asian, Italian and Samoan; so lots of different backgrounds and beliefs were in play!

We took a night to all share our thoughts and because we were covered in prayer, we listened to each other without judgement or arguments. We debated in love and all came to the same conclusion, that we know God is in charge and want HIS WILL, HIS WAY!

We did a “Spiritual Makeover Retreat” every year that brought us closer to God and each other. One year we made vision boards and had a special time of sharing.

Today I am still friends with all of my sisters, and know that if I ever need them, or vise versa, that we are there for each other in a heartbeat!

Here are my blessings from the Dream Team:

1. Learned how to be a disciple.

2. Gained female friendships that will last forever.

3. Learned what my spiritual gifts are.

4. Gained insight into my strengths and weaknesses.

5. Learned to serve in new capacities.

6. Listening, praying for others, and giving of your time is the greatest gift you can give someone.

7. Iron sharpens iron … it removed my pride and taught me humility.