Ministry to Women
Sellers of Purple is a Christian, nondenominational initiative, whose main objective are to motivate, equip and encourage Christian business women to excellence in their business and Christian faith. These objectives are realized through bi-annual conferences (which bring together Christian women and experts from the world of business) networking and newsletters.
The name Sellers of Purple is based on a businesswoman in the bible called Lydia (acts 12:16), she was a dealer in purple cloth/dye. The purple dye for the cloth came from a particular type of shellfish, but only a small amount of dye could be extracted from each creature. The shellfish could only be found in certain places and so they were highly valued. Only the rich could afford to be dressed in purple. We assume then that Lydia must have been a successful businesswoman because of the clientele she would have attracted. The bible tells us that as well as being a dealer in purple cloth, she was worshiper of Jehovah God.
The world and therefore business belongs ultimately to God. It is only when Christian businesswomen believe, internalize, live and word with these at the forefront of all their dealings will they come to a place of greater enlightenment and understanding of how to prosper and fulfill the true purposes and role of business.
Call her woman is a conference where women learn how to become better career workers, mothers, wives, servants, and leaders!
On a recent trip to one of the poorest regions in Ghana I was challenged by women who smiled, sang, danced, laughed, chatted, questioned but who by Western standards had so little. Their clothes weren’t coordinated or fashionable but clean none the less. They walked everywhere unless they were rich enough to own a bicycle. I questioned myself as to what I could say to these women that would make a real difference. God Spirit let me know that like many women all over the world they were glad for the time out, for something out of the ordinary to happen, that someone had taken time (12 hours drive) and money to speak to them.
I was reminded of the circumstances that brought ‘Call her Woman’ into being. It was space for women to be served and encouraged. Because life can be like a game of basketball where you go up and down a relatively small court getting more and more tired, playing for all your worth but not actually getting the ball, and even when you do manage to get it you try to score and keep missing because someone blocks you. Then the coach calls a time out – not much time but enough time to get your breath back and the benefit of seeing the game from a different perspective – and being encouraged that you can still win. Call her Woman seeks to be that time out – a short time that allows you to see the ‘game’ from another perspective and to be given strategies to ‘play’ more effectively.
