Hey girls,I thought it was time to get this party started. :)
Six years ago, I became acutely aware of a shift in my spirit regarding the call of God on my life.
In 1993, at 19, I felt God calling me to be an evangelist. Throughout my twenties, I spent a large amount of my energy trying to connect with people who didn't know of Christ or knew of Him but didn't love Him and live for Him. But God kept opening doors for me to sing and speak in churches. This didn't make a lot of sense to me because churches aren't typically where you find people who don't follow Jesus.
Over the years, as I've come to understand more about the role of an evangelist, I've realised that a large part of my calling is to help equip and inspire Christians to share their faith with people who aren't following Christ. This hasn't meant that I've stopped personally sharing the message of Jesus with others. But is has meant acknowledging that God has also called me to be a "Body Builder".
FYI is primarily about Body Building. It is a project that is unashamedly directed at Christian girls and young women. If we impact older women, boys and men along the way, Praise God. If an unbeliever stumbles across something we do or say and inadvertantly meets Christ and starts to live for Him, that will be a bonus. But FYI is fundamentally about building up girls and young women who do know and love Christ, and encouraging them to take the Gospel to others in their circles of influence. FYI will provide events and resources to fuel Christian girls to fulfill their mission.
We'll be like the mess tent at an army barracks. We'll feed the troops but they'll be the ones on the frontlines. This doesn't mean that anyone on the FYI team will be exempt from personal evangelism. But the organisation as a whole will be focussing on equipping and empowering believers (Body Building), rather than on direct evangelism.
Why girls and young women? Because across the board, I don't believe we're acknowledging, resourcing and training this group as much as we could. We're not hearing the voices of young women enough within the Body of Christ. Within youth circles, we tend to hear predominantly from men - male youth leaders and youth pastors. Within women's ministry circles, we've been mainly hearing from older women. I know I'm making some sweeping statements here. There are exceptions to the rule in different pockets of the Body of Christ, but I think we've got a fair way to go generally.
This doesn't mean that the voices of men and older women don't need to be heard. However it does mean that there is an imbalance. And I believe that God wants to correct that. Young women have so much to offer and it's time to get alongside them and help them realise their potential.
For now, to kick us off, I have a couple of things on the go. The first thing is the FYI podcast. You can check it out at http://www.femaleyounginfluential.mypodcast.com/ . I've talked to four girls so far. The first pod is up and I'm hoping to add one a week. The easiest way to know when a new one is up is to subscribe on the right-hand side of the homepage. Each week I'll be talking to a Jesus-loving girl about her world and how she's attempting to share Christ with those in her circles of influence.
The second thing is our first ever FYI conference which will be held in Toowoomba, Qld, Australia on September 5 & 6 this year. It's going to be UN-B-LIEVABLE. Save the date. It will be two days that will change your life. We're also negotiating a venue for a North American FYI conference in October this year.
More details on all of this soon. For now, I'm going to hit the hay. My three-year-old will be up in 7 hours and I'll be crawling out of bed to make her breakfast.
Talk soon. Jesus LOVES you!
Tanya
