Two weekends ago we had our first Women’s Equipping Weekend here in Pawleys Island, SC for women across the United States (even some in Europe as well). It is our belief that if we want to see a global movement of mission and discipleship, we’ve got to train and equip women. This isn’t a movement of men!

Sally (my wife) and Jo Saxton led the weekend and I’ve asked Sally to reflect a little on the weekend and her thoughts on investing in women in general.

Lastly, if you’re interested in going to the next Women’s Equipper Weekend, it’s happening in March and you can get the details here.

Why did you feel such a strong pull to have an equipping weekend for women?

To be able to give them an access point so that they could connect with what we are doing. I think the Learning Communities that 3DM does is great, but in some ways it’s not easily accessible to women who aren’t on staff at a church, but are really wanting training and investment. For women, it’s a lot harder to get away. Less budgets. Not usually funded by churches. So we had to make it extremely accessible. Mike and I believe that women are the foot soldiers of any missional movement. They overcome many of the boundaries that men find difficult. They are naturally able to do things like discipling relationships. They get this stuff intuitively, so with just a little investment, they can take it a long way.

What were the highlights of the weekend for you?

A woman saying, “I’m so pleased I came. My husband really made it possible for me to come and believed this was essential. He wanted us to function in this movement of discipleship and mission together…not just him and me lagging behind hoping I get in on the adventure.”

From a team standpoint, we had 14 women from 3DM as part of the team which represent any number of different kinds of women. Single. Married. Married with 4 kids. Empty nesters. Retired. What I love about what we modeled is that there isn’t any one specific way a woman needs to look in order to be used by God in this thing.

What surprised you about the weekend?

How ready the women were for the challenge that Jo Saxton and I brought. They were just so open and ready to receive any kind of investment. You never know with these things. When Jo and I talked about what content we wanted to bring and the training exercises we had…we just sensed the Lord was bringing a word of challenge. Often times that’s not what you see from women’s conferences or retreats. But there were some words of challenge and these women really went for it, they really did. It was amazing to see. So I’m not sure it was a surprise so much as something I was curious about heading into the weekend.

In the next year, what are you hoping happens in equipping women in the missional movement?

I hope that more women take up the next two events that we have: Minneapolis in March, 2013 and Pawleys Island, SC next October (details and registration here for the March weekend). Obviously we’ve got coaching huddles for women, etc. But honestly, want them to feel like they have a part to play in this. And not just a small part. A part that, without it, would stall the whole movement.

If you could say one thing to women in the missional movement, what would it be?

I’ll keep it short and sweet. We’ve got to stop obsessing about what we expected life to be like and get on with the life that God has given us. He has surrounded us with people for you to invest in…disciple them! We can honestly change the world.