Women Alive will host tandem conferences in October. While Ontario’s Imagine Women’s Conference and Expo takes place at Toronto’s Crowne Plaza Hotel from Oct. 19-21, Alberta will host its conference Oct. 19-20 in Edmonton’s Mayfield Inn and Suites.
“Imagine is designed to be a dynamic weekend experience for the spiritually hungry and those desiring to grow, be encouraged and inspired in their faith,” says Margaret Gibb, president of Women Alive.
Women Alive is a national, Canadian organization that inspires and equips women in their personal, professional and spiritual lives. The organization’s mission statement is a passionate commitment to support women to become Women of Excellence and to “reach their God-given potential.” Imagine Women’s Conference and Expo Toronto will be hosted by Christine Williams, producer and host of the award-winning CTS daily current affairs program On the Line With Christine Williams. Speakers include president of Media Voice Generation and ListenUp TV, Lorna Dueck; associate producer and reporter for ListenUp TV, and regular panelist on Friday’s Full Circle, Melinda Estabrooks-Williams; and vice-president of World Vision Canada, Relief and Development, Linda Tripp.
Comedian Leland Klassen will present his own brand of medicine. Musical performances for the weekend will include His Season, a dynamic trio from Guelph, Ont.; varied selections by the First Baptist Toronto Gospel Choir and a mini-concert by multiple award-winning and recording artist Ali Matthews.
Sessions are arranged under the headings Dream, Believe and Live Fully. Women Alive is hosting 13 breakout sessions: Live Your dreams, Find Your Potential, Sue Augustine; the Confessions of a Sex Therapist: What Really Goes on in a Man’s Head About Sex; and Your Man’s Brain: What You Should Know About Respect, Communication and Sex, Dr. Mitch Whitman; Heart of the Matter: Creative Organizing Solutions, Donna Schmidt and Rhonda Erb; Help! I Have Teenagers! Elaine Olsen; Leading From the Ledge (Risks, Slippery Slopes and Casualties), Ruth Coghill; “Imagine” Losing Weight Without the Diet and Getting in Shape Without the Gym! Susan Arnold, CPT and Gloria Clubb, RNCP; Get Fit While You Sit, Dr. Peter Williams, DC; Bloom Where You’re Planted: Mentoring for Fragrance and Living Life to the Full – But Full of What? Elaine Pountney; From Lies to Liberty: Breaking Free of Co-dependence, Wendy Gritter; Dress Your Best – Fashion Advice for ‘Real-Life’ Women, Janeen Joyce; and Women, Faith and Finances – Bringing it All Together, Janet Johnson.
Five hundred women will gather at Mayfield Inn and Suites in Edmonton on Oct. 19-20 for their “perfect, girlfriends’ weekend away” with Women Alive.
Imagine Western Conference and Expo includes a tradeshow, workshops, seminars and presentations by keynote speakers. The theme: “Believe All Things Are Possible.”
“My dream and vision has been to host an event where Christian women can invite and bring their non-churched friends. Christian women have great talent, skill, abilities and amazing hearts that need to be shared,” says Marilyn Bussey, director of Western conferences for Women Alive.
Imagine combines Christian evangelism with activities that appeal to women, whether their background is charismatic, evangelical, Catholic, mainline Protestant or non-Christian.
Jazz recording artist Sandy Foster is booked to perform. The event also features three keynote speakers: Dr. Stephen Genuis, associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta; Judy Rushfeldt, publisher of Life Tools for Women and author of Making Your Dreams Your Destiny; and Alberta author and comedian Phil Callaway.
Callaway will put his outstanding speaking style to good use as he tells participants about the work of World Vision, one of two sponsored charities at Imagine. The other sponsored charity, Zebra Child Protection Society Centre, works with abused and exploited Edmonton children.
Workshop speakers, including singer, actress and mother of five, Junetta Jameson, host Saturday workshops. Their topics include finances, facing fears, family life, fitness, spa treatments and even bread-making.
“I want women to have fun,” says Bussey. She won’t be disappointed. The organizing team has made fun a priority. But it’s fun with a deeper purpose: helping Canadian women find Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
“The heart of Women Alive is to equip and nurture women to dream, believe and live fully,” says Gibb. “We believe that each Imagine Conference and Expo will be a catalyst to encourage women to deepen their faith and live out their dreams!”
Besides conferences, Women Alive also offers a dynamic mentoring program for teen girls called “i.e. – inspire excellence by example.” With a passion to develop the leaders of the next generation, the program organizers have held Ontario “i.e.” teen retreats in Barrie, Hamilton and Peterborough. Mentoring the younger generation has spread to Edmonton, and Dawson Creek, B.C. and is growing.
For more information, or to register for any of these conferences, call 1-800-387-4753, or visit www.womenalive.org.
