First of all I want to give my Lord and Saviour, all the honour, glory and praise, for what he’s done, doing and going to do. For with him “All things are possible”. I thank God for putting his mighty hand of wisdom and guidance upon the leaders and ministry of The Ignite Women’s Outreach Team. Through this ministry, my life has been changed forever. I was hurt, ashamed, lost, broken, fearful and felt worthless. I now truly know that God is a God of Miracles, who restores the lost and broken hearted. He can mend all wounds.
I received my baptism in the Holy Spirit at one retreat, what an encounter with God. I can now sing “I am no longer a slave of fear, I am a child of God”. Psalms 37:4 says; Delight yourself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. My desire is to take back what the enemy has stolen from me. As the book of Joshua says; “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. My two younger children attend church with me, God is doing a miracle in the heart of my loving husband, my eldest son is at Teen Challenge, serving God and in the choir. Look what the Lord hath done! I am continuing to pray for the rest of my family and holding on to the promise of his word. I have learned to be like Job, though he slay me, I will trust in him.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 147:3
I want to thank all the ladies at Ignite Women’s Outreach, for showing the Love and compassion of Christ.
- Kelly
I attended the ignite spring retreat this year after a close friend of mine invited me. She said it will be something that you've never experienced before. I've been a Christian from a young child and I've grown up in the church. I've experienced God's power in my life and I've seen God's presence change people but I was searching for more of God When I arrived at the conference the ladies of the ignite team just oozed the love of Jesus. They were very warm, easy to talk too, and just genuinely cared about the women. There was no hidden agenda.. it was a time set aside to seek God.
When I arrived I said in my heart "Lord I'm just going to sit back and watch but I'll be open to what you have for me". I wasn't broken or hurting I was desperate for more of God's presence and power in my life. When I walked into the first prayer meeting ,the presence of God was so real and powerful.I found myself on the floor weeping and feeling God's presence like never before and( that was usually where I ended up on the floor weeping or in a corner most of the weekend). He spoke to me personally and has challenged me to a deeper walk with Him. He has given me a new excitement about serving God in every area of my life. He has ignited my soul once again.It doesn't take a huge flame to start a fire but a spark.
I want to be that spark that God can use to encourage others in my church as a worship leader and others around me as I live for Him. I thank God for ignite ministries and their commitment to prayer and their yielding to the Holy Spirit. This ministry is lead by hours of seeking and praying and it has made all the difference. I plan on attending the retreat in October and can't wait to see and hear what God does for his children.
I urge you to attend one of these retreats, because I promise you will never be the same again.
-Julynne
On October 13, 2012, I had a massive nervous breakdown, and was slowly recovering over the next couple years. I was on some serious medication for anxiety and depression, and if I forgot to take it my entire body would tingle painfully – even my teeth. Not to mention, my emotional and mental state would swing wildly out of control. I asked my doctor if I would ever get better. She told me that I would most likely have to be on this type of medication for the rest of my life. It helped a lot, but I put on a lot of weight, was emotionally numb, and I hated being dependent on something that I had no idea how it was affecting everything else, health-wise. Last of all, it was very expensive. I began asking the Lord to free me from the need for this medication.
I had heard of Women’s conferences but had never been to one. I’d actually asked the Lord to make it possible for me to attend a women’s conference, because the ladies who went to them always seemed to return so refreshed.
On October 17, 2014 a Christian friend of mine sent me a message asking if I would be willing to take the place of someone whose circumstances had forced her to pull out from going with a planned group. The offer was all expenses paid, including travel. This was last minute, but quickly obtaining my husband agreement, I responded yes.
I’d been attending a quiet traditional church and was really missing out on a truly free worship experience. That weekend I felt so liberated. I was able to dance and sing in tongues, as I had not been free to do in a couple years. It was strangely liberating to be in a large group of women, who understand exactly what my issues are, because we have a common identity, united in our focus on worshipping God, our beloved Father. I felt so close to the Lord. I only wish I’d brought my sneakers, because it was pretty much all worship, all the time with testimonies and words of encouragement and wisdom in between.
There, speaker after speaker spoke of the challenges they faced and I realized that many other women were also having mental and emotional issues. I was not alone. I’d heard some hurtful comments in the past from other Christians who did not understand. “If you really were a woman of faith, you would not have this problem.” But I was confident in my relationship with God. I knew that He would heal me in His time.
On Sunday, October 26, the last speaker spoke of her battle with depression and Linda England marshalled the troops and led us to pray against depression. I believed that this was a sign that my time for deliverance had come. I told the Lord that I would trust him in this moment and stop taking the medication.
Upon my return home, I put away the medication which had about 4 or 5 pills left. To this day, that bottle is still there with the same number of pills.
I’ve had some situations that caused me great pain, and two bad car accidents since then. My doctor gave me some medication for PTSD, but it made no difference for me and I quickly stopped taking them. I have been able to cope with these challenges without resorting to mood-altering medication.
I am so thankful for this ministry. When I come to these conferences It’s like I’m coming home with my sisters to present ourselves together to the Lord Jesus Christ in Heavenly places. It’s truly a spiritual wedding feast and I’m excited to attend again this October.
The sponsorship is so kind and generous. There is no way to tell who is being sponsored and who is paying out of pocket.
I encourage all the Christian ladies I know to attend. Because we live in a rural area, we don’t have a large circle of friends. It was wonderful to meet people there from my area who are Christians, and those new relationships have enriched my life. I was able to get a group of four ladies together in April 2015 and all were blessed, each in individual ways. Some had never experienced this kind of worship before, and they were excited to experience a new connection with God.
Linda and her team are called and passionate about taking women into a higher level. They are richly anointed women of God who function in the Spirit realm. I am looking forward to hearing the prophetic word of the Lord for His daughters this Fall. It is specifically directed to us as women with a Fatherly tenderness for the female identity, perspective, and experience. The prophetic word will liberate you and point you in the direction you should go. Don’t miss out on receiving what the Father has in store for you as a woman.
Blessings,
Lori Kovac
"My first Ignite Retreat was in April of 2015. I had heard about the retreat from a friend who had attended the October 2014 retreat for the first time and from the moment she started telling me about the retreat I wanted to go!
My first experience at Ignite is probably best described as “refreshing”. At the first retreat I felt a wonderful refreshing, a time of just being able to sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit and feel Him refresh my dry, thirsty soul – unhurried, uninhibited, freedom to just weep in the presence of the Lord without having to be aware of the clock!
My second retreat in October 2015 was again a beautiful refreshing, but also a new experience of freedom to just rejoice in the Lord’s presence – again, uninhibited, unhurried, free to worship as I felt the Lord ministering to my spirit. I also experienced a deeper, more intimate experience in the presence of the Lord that I have not felt in many years. I felt the embrace of my Heavenly Father, loving me, His daughter.
Linda and the Ignite team have accepted me and love me, “just as I am”. Their love for our Lord and their passion to see Women grow into a deeper relationship with Him is contagious! They are women full of the Holy Spirit and move and operate in the gifts of the Spirit like I have not seen in a very long time. Ignite brings me back to “old-time Pentecost” when I was just a young girl and saw the moving and operating of the Holy Spirit in mighty ways, changing lives dramatically!
The ongoing ministry of Ignite is moving me into an even deeper walk with the Lord – a place I have been longing for and needed to be for many years, a place of moving freely in the Holy Spirit, freedom to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, uninhibited. I am excited about to see what the Lord will do at the next retreat and in each of our lives as we move into an even deeper walk with Him!
I encourage you to come to the next retreat – you will be blessed, feel loved and accepted, and leave refreshed and IGNITED to be a light in your world!"
- Ina
Hello Ladies.
I was at your Spring Conference with Anne Marie Johnson and her gals (both young and those who "arn't spring chicks"). I just wanted to pass along something God revealed to me when we were together. I have always thought that prayer was something to do: by prayer we let our requests be known to God (Phil. 4:6).
However, one of my greatest take aways from the converence was that prayer opens a gateway. God showed me that where I am frail in my prayer life, the Ladies of Ignite intercessed on my behalf and opened that great big heavy door that Satan is constantly trying to shut upon me. God used all of you to pry that grand and glorious door open for each and every lady that was present. Have you ever tried opening the door of the mall or to a hotel and find the back pressure to be so great that you are challenged by it. Yet when someone from inside opens the door, you simply walk through.
This is the image I recieved from God, whereby you ladies blessed each of us women by your hardwork and ministry, opening the door so that the hurting and broken coould simply pass through and recieve healing. I am eternally grateful to you for being willing to follow Jesus's lead. Be blessed. You are loved and highly favored!!!!
XOXO
- Maygen Dochuk
When I came to my first Ignite retreat, I was completely broken. I was a new Mom living with my then- fiancee who had just lost his job. We were forced to live with his parents and I was finally starting to realize that what we didn't heal in our singleness was beginning to spread like a disease in our togetherness. We both claimed to be Christians, but we made little to no effort to live that out. My past had relentlessly caught up with me and I was drained of all will. I came to my first retreat looking for an answer as to what I should do about my relationship with the father of my child, but I left with so much more.
Growing up in a home where men failed to be men, all I knew was abuse, cheating, lies and over-controlling tactics. I watched my father beat submission and brokenness into my Mother. Every day I came home I'd find another bruise, a broken arm...and each time it left another scar on my heart. I was just a child and I didn't understand how God could let that happen, but even then He found a way to reveal himself to me. I woke up one morning close to Christmas, the lights were on, but the sound of my Mother gasping for breath is what stirred me awake. When my eyes fluttered open I saw that my Father had her lifted off the ground by her throat. My mom locked eyes with mine and I saw the life start to leave her worn out body.
I screamed and ran to my parents' room. There I fell into a fetal position and rocked myself back and forth in perfect rythem to my sobs. I begged God to let my Mommy live. She was all my siblings and I had left, after all.
Suddenly a calm came over my 8 or 9 year old body. It wasn't me, it felt like someone else had taken over me. I got up and walked over to my favourite possession I had- my Cinderella snow globe. I examined it for a moment when the demand came to me in a firm, yet loving voice. "Throw it at the door as hard as you can. NOW!" and before my brain could catch up, my arm was hurling my snow globe at the door. It smashed into hundreds of pieces and that calm spirit left me in an instant. My parents flew through the door to find me in tears and glass everywhere. My dad cursed at my mom and flew out the door.
Later in life I would learn that while in that bedroom, my mom was staring at the demons in my father's eyes as he attempted to take her life. She told me that in a voice that wasn't my father's he said "I'm going to kill you tonight." And her body was starting to go limp. However, the second he heard the glass shatter, he came to his senses and put her down. There's more to this story and life didn't get any easier after that, but this was one of my first encounters with the power of the Holy Spirit. God heard the prayer of a child, He was there and he intervened. My mom is still here because of that defining moment.
As you can imagine, all of the abuse from my dad and later on in life, my step-dad as well left me with a brokenness that led to a strong desire to end my life. If it weren't for my mother drilling into my brain that suicide would lead me only to hell, I wouldn't be alive today to share my story. I was broken when I came to my first Ignite after years and years of carrying the weight of my past around because it was all I knew. Surely God had forgotten about me, what good could I possibly do in this life? I was damaged goods from the start. I didn't have a chance.
As it turns out, though, God had a plan all along because the moment I stepped back into His presence after years of running from it, He began the process of healing my heart. Through the ignite team literally pouring out all of their love, all of their prayers, all of their resources and trust God to meet me where I was... Each retreat I was able to shed a new layer of hurt off of me. I experienced God like I never had before and He literally lavished himself upon me. He showed me that I am not my father's daughter, I am His. He called me for such a time as this and he was with me not only when I was a victim of the sin of others, but also my own sin. The things I allowed into my life that never should have been there in the first place. He had an abundance of grace and patience for it all.
At the last retreat I believe was the finale for me. It was waving goodbye to my past, my sin, my hurt and my old self. As the ignite team members prayed over me, one lady said "God is about to give you your joy back, it's all being restored to you!" And in that moment I couldn't stop laughing. My God, my Daddy, my saviour... He loved me enough to die for me. He loved me enough to save not only my soul from hell, but my brokenness that was getting in the way of my life. He took me out of the pit that I thought was my lot in life and He set my soul on fire for him once again. Now my struggle is against an enemy with limited resources and very limited time, while I serve a limitless God that handed me back everything on a silver platter.
I went from being a victim to a Victor overnight. God undid in a moment the pain that built up over a lifetime. What an awesome God we serve! There is nothing too big or too messy for Him. All he wants is us in return because he loves us so. I'm so thankful for the Ignite team, more than I have the words for. It's because of this retreat that I was given my life for quite honestly the first time. I feel truly free and not only that, I feel like I have a purpose when I used to feel worthless. They've loved me back to life. This retreat brought healing to not only me, but also to my marriage. My daughter has a family that's together because of the work done in my life at this retreat.
These days I try not to fear the future anymore because I know from experience that He will make everything beautiful in it's time. I'm so hopeful and excited for what's to come!! If God did it for me, I KNOW he will do it for you too. We just have to be desperate enough to come to Him. We move an inch, He takes us a mile.
Thank you to the Ignite team for literally changing the course of my life and the destination of my soul. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Praise God! He is faithful to finish the work that he starts in us.
- Jennilee