NZBC 3rd Annual Women’s Conference
“And Blessed Is She….” Luke 1:45
The New Zion Baptist Church Daughter’s of Zion (DOZ) held their 3rd annual women’s conference on Saturday, August 24, 2019, from 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon at the North Sherwood Forest Community Center here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The attendees were asked to purchase a hat to partake in a hat contest for the conference. As the ladies entered, there was a jovial atmosphere along with gorgeous hats, some small and large, some matched suits and others rocked cowboy boots. Even a baby girl styled a cute, chiffon flower cap.
Sister Tynette Hawkins kicked off the conference with a warm welcome thanking everyone for showing up. She stated, “If you look around, you will see that we are all truly blessed” and urged us to “Count on God instead of yourself.” And with comforting words, she suggested for us to “Sit back and relax to prepare your minds for our conference.”
Prayer was lead by Sister Cordell Meads while quoting scripture, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24 KJV). In prayer Sister Meads gave reverence to God and thanked the Lord for doing for us and allowing us to be in our right mind. During that time she took the opportunity to bless the prepared food as well.
Our first guest presenter, Sister Mechelle Marchand-Travel Specialist, of 5 Star Cruise and Travel blessed us with beneficial travel tips- you should know before you go.
Some helpful tips are as follows:
Make copies of all your travel documents
Allow 6-8 weeks for passport renewal
Passport book encompasses air, land, and sea travel
Passport card encompasses land and sea travel, not air
Always carry your important items such as medications on you
Take pictures of your luggage beforehand just in case it gets loss
Did you know that if you ask nicely for a hotel upgrade, you may just get one?
She also stated that since the church is a non-profit organization, the church will collect a percentage of the proceeds from booking a church-group cruise with Carnival.
During the first intermission, brunch was served consisting of shrimp and grits, fried chicken, egg casserole, assorted fruit, biscuits, yogurt, juices and bottled water. As door prizes were given away, the winners got excited and curious as to what was in their prized selection.
The second guest presenter, Sister Sagan Williams-a mental health professional, asked us, “How are you serving God?” Sister Williams then stated, “Will you be peaceful, selfish, or even disruptive?” She voiced that our oddities are what God will use. “Are you trusting or are you thrusting?” This was a question asked by Sister Williams.
Door prizes were chosen by a drawing. Almost everyone left with a gift. The ladies facial expressions when they contemplated on which bags to choose, was a kodak moment. Once all of the gifts had been drawn, we moved to the best hat contest.
We had three different categories- smallest, largest, and diva hats. The ladies strutted their hats with attitude upon an imagery runway. The most popular in each category was selected based on the loudness from the audience for their favorite. Once the roars diminished, we moved to the long awaited liturgical dancers.
The liturgical dancers swayed in unison to upbeat gospel music. Their black and white outfits accentuated with lacy gloves and fans just went over the top with the mood in the room. The movements appeared angelic-like as we clapped and did praised worship.
Sister Mary Sutton of Ebenezer Baptist Church shared the preached word with us while reminding us that the Lord is good all the time. She explained scripture of the Woman with the alabaster box in Matthew 26:7 which she used expensive perfume to bless Jesus. It was so expensive, scholars stated that it amounted to a year’s wages. We had just heard this same message in Bible Study on Wednesday night.
She also mentioned other godly women within the Bible as stated below:
Mary- Mother of Jesus was know for faith, submission, and obedience
Abigail- Wife of Nabal was known for her wisdom and giving good advice to King David
Esther- Jewish Queen was known for her courage while risking her life for God’s people and did not put her position above them
Samaritan Woman- Figure at the well and told others that Jesus was living water
She reminded us that as a blessed woman our deeds will be remembered. Then she asked, “How do you want to be remembered?” This is something that we should ponder on to determine what we want to leave as a legacy. It is also something that you must build brick-by-brick. Sister Sutton stated, “We want to be a light walking in a dark place.” She reminded of our duty as Christian women. She iterated, “May the work I have done speak for me.” And repeated so that the woman could dwell upon this statement with a key takeaway. She also said that we must strive to lead a godly heritage.
As the conference closed the DOZ came up to present themselves. Folks were amazed as to how such a small group of women came together and made great things happen. This was through the will of God and Blessed is She…”