God at Work Down South
By Hannah Lewandowski
Have you ever been on a trip somewhere and thought to yourself, “I have no business being here”? At the beginning of March, Chelsy Massa and I traveled to Columbia, South Carolina for the “In The Word Conference” with Jen Wilkin and the Lifeway Women’s “You Lead” workshop for women who teach the bible. This event was an idea that Chelsy brought to me in the fall of last year, to which I was excited but uncertain of what to expect. I’ve always wanted to spend time in the south, but other than that, I didn’t know what to think.
After our long travel day of multiple connecting flights and a couple of hours drive from Charlotte to Columbia at midnight, we arrived at our hotel, excited for the events that lay ahead of us, despite the 6 am wake-up call that would be shortly arriving. Following our brief slumber, we woke up to sunshine and 60 degrees, an oddity for us Washingtonians to experience at the beginning of March. At that moment, feeling the sun on my face and the cold morning breeze, I knew this weekend would be special.
To our surprise, the church that was hosting the event we were attending was massive. And when I say massive, I mean the space in which we hold Resonate Sunday gatherings could fit inside this building multiple times over. As we entered this church, we were greeted by joy-filled women, excited to serve us. Struggling to find somewhere to sit, to our surprise, the morning speaker, Rachel, saw us, introduced herself, and found us seats in the front row. Sitting down in a sea of mostly older women, I recall looking at Chelsy, asking “Where are we…”, amazed at what God was doing and awaiting in hopeful expectation for what was to come. You may be thinking, “Hannah, that’s not that crazy…”, but when you come from a predominantly college-age church with a small but mighty women’s ministry, you too would be in awe glancing at generations of faithful women.
Speaker and author, Jen Wilkin, at the “In The Word” Conference
Throughout the morning and afternoon, Chelsy and I took in incredible content, being equipped to reach women and learning how to innovate for the annual Resonate Conference we plan. After introducing ourselves countless times, and sharing that we were from Washington and Idaho, we were met with both surprise and shock, and a repeated response that stuck with me, “You’re from Washington state, it’s very spiritually dark there, isn’t it?”. People in the south perceive the Northwest as generally faithless, and a playground for satan. From gender dysphoria to confusion in sexuality, disdain for the gospel, the Northwest is full of people with wandering hearts, a lost people. For those of you who are actively sharing Jesus with your peers, co-workers, family, and friends in the Northwest, you are rare, you are a common person doing a regionally uncommon thing, and most importantly, you’re doing something incredibly worthwhile and deeply necessary. If not now, then eventually, there will be a harvest of fruitful followers of Christ that is reaped, but for now, keep fighting the good fight, for we have victory in Jesus' name.
“For those of you who are actively sharing Jesus with your peers, co-workers, family, and friends in the Northwest, you are rare, you are a common person doing a regionally uncommon thing, and most importantly, you’re doing something incredibly worthwhile and deeply necessary.”
The ministry landscape in Washington that I had grown accustomed to became clearer and immensely valuable as I engaged with more men and women in North and South Carolina throughout the weekend. The Lord used this time to refresh my heart by reminding me of the true honor it is to be used for His glory and to be a part of His mission to reconcile Himself to His people. Walking into the larger gathering in the same church building where Chelsy and I were earlier that Friday for the “You Lead” portion of the conference, we were surprised to find a packed worship center, full of likely over a thousand women from high school age to grandmothers in their 80s. Looking down into the sanctuary from the second floor of pews, I felt a knot form in my throat, and tears began to well in my eyes. We sang hymn after hymn, and the melodious sound of women fixing their gaze and their song on Jesus did something to my soul. From left to right, I saw daughters with their mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers, all with hands raised in surrender to Jesus and voices joyfully admonishing His name. The air of comparison deeply embedded amongst women by the enemy fell, dissipating completely as each of us took our eyes off one another and placed them vertically, on the only One worthy of our praise, our affection. As we forget ourselves and let go of the urge to compare our appearances, households, and accolades to the women next to us, we are freed to bring Him entirely uninhibited praise.
As I stood there, taking it all in, I thought to myself, “Now this is what Heaven will look like”, and almost simultaneously, I felt the Lord whispering to me, “And you get to be a part of building this”. The generations of faithful women found in states where Christianity is historically woven into their culture can and will be the story of the Northwest, our God can do that! Will you let God use you to make a generational impact for His namesake? What is worth more than that? Who or what else deserves the glory?
