Episode 0016 Season 2 - Cathie Ostapchuk on Gather Women, A Seat At the Table Event and finding your gifts

Welcome to Episode 0016 of the FOUR12 Canada Podcast!

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I was so excited to chat with Cathie Ostapchuk from "Gather Women" for this episode. I can't wait for you to hear how she began that ministry and the "A Seat at the Table" event they are hosting this Friday (November 6). Cathie is a prairie girl, born and raised in Edmonton Alberta, and moved to Ontario after she was married. She grew up in music and performance arts and lately has been enjoying listening to orchestral works on her walks.

Connect with Cathie

FACEBOOK | EMAIL | INSTAGRAM

Links from the Podcast

CathyOstapchuk.com

Gather Women

A Seat At The Table

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

  

PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS

Gather Women

• "Gather Women" is a ministry connecting Canadian women
• The ministry was born out of a season during which Cathie kept going to the women's conferences in the United States and wondered, "where are the women in Canada and what is going on in our own Country?"
• She heard a speaker say, "go home and water your own grass". This inspired her to go home to Canada and get started.
• Cathie asked, "what if we could start something that would be national?"
• This ministry is unique and not modelled after anything that has gone before.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

 

What is Possible in Our Soil

• God has already been at work and we were just not aware of it.
• Gather is a network and connects us.
• God is at work from coast to coast, and from north to south.
• There is not only a divide east and west, but also one between Quebec and us.
• Speaker gave message in French from Quebec and people were amazed at the talent in our country.
• Showing up and creating an environment where we can flourish alongside "the guys".

Gather Rise Event

• It's so hard in our country to get together. We are so spread out and it's expensive.
• We wanted to create a way for us all to connect and be together.
• In January, felt we needed to go online in May.
• Our word for the year was "True".
• True conference ran in May online and we learned at lot of things .
• The theme was "Whatever is true, place your mind there" from Philippians 4:8.

A Seat At The Table

• We need to be bold to help shape the future at the Church
• Champion truth, always keep the gospel central
• Challenge inequity, race, gender, and class and as a church address this
• How could the church erase poverty?
• What will it take for us as a church to change?
• Use it to have conversations at your church and with your family.

Where Are the People

• 50% are not watching online or attending so what will the future look like and who are we reaching.
• Let's sit at the table and talk about it and act on how we will find solutions together.

Use at the Table to Help Make decisions for the Future

• If nothing is ever going to be the same, what will the future look like?
• The voices that will be speaking will be great to listen to.
• Leaders are trying to see what is next assuming that nothing will ever be the same.

Connecting Across Canada and Calling Out Gifts

• Try to have clear bible teaching from scripture to remind woman of their calling and giving them direction.
• At all their events look for ways to do that.
• There is something God has placed in you.
• There is not a silver platter that someone shows up with and gives you everything all laid out.
• Internship program is used to invest in woman across the country and help them understand and how to use what they are good at.
• Growth mindset, "you will never grow unless you take a risk".
• Reshaping what Canadian women think about themselves.
• Letting them know they have inherent value because they are a child of God and created in God's image.
• Search the scripture and see what it says.
• Jesus calling up woman and inviting them to more fullness in the kingdom may be more the model.

Unique Opportunities

• Internship
• Collaborate across the board, bringing leaders together
• Investing in woman who are leading
• Influence the influencers
• Pursuing technology and innovation as the way forward
• The one, the few, the many

Moving Forward

• Churches coming together and not existing in their own silos.
• Working in unison, women and men, women and women, intergenerational.

Favourite verse

"What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem." Psalm 84:5-7 NLT

• A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
• Because of the valley we come out stronger and we increase our faith in God.
• Keep our mind set there or it seems like the opposite is happening.

 One Thing to Remember!

• Even though you might be experiencing some fear, God's kingdom is being advanced through the Church.
• He has set it up for us to be together in community and move the gospel forward.
• Stay tethered to the local church and ask "what can i give?"
• Ask "how can I help strengthen the church?"
• Find the opportunities in the challenges.
• Find out who is doing what or who is doing something you love to do and ask if you can do that at your church.
• In the hardest moments stay as close as you can to your local church.
• The local church is the living breath and the Holy Spirit is still in it.

"When half the church holds back, whether by choice or because we have no choice, everybody loses and our mission suffers setbacks. Tragically, we are squandering the opportunity to display to an embattled world a gospel that causes both men and women to flourish and unites us in a blessed alliance that only the presence of Jesus can explain."

 

Thanks for listening! We hope this episode has equipped you for greater influence through serving. We don’t want you to miss a single episode, so if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Help us reach more people by writing a review on the Apple podcast app and other podcast apps that you use. The FOUR12 Canada podcast is a ministry of Faith Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ontario. Explore everything FOUR12 Canada at four12.ca. Thanks for spending some time with us. See you next time!

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Up Next Season 2 Episode 0017 : Brett Ullman

Parenting Navigating Everything