GATher INFLUENCE PODCAST: Changing The Nation And The World One Catalytic Conversation At A Time

This episode features an inspiring conversation with Rebecca Doner and Shireen Spencer asking how do we figure out how to do “all the things” When God is calling us to something He is often calling us to say no to something else and we are not always good at that. They talk about letting go and how we do not have to everything, we just need to be doing the things that God is calling us to do.

Shireen on the danger of comparison and how it can stop us from stepping into what God has for us:

“We compare ourselves to what other people are doing. Failure is a big piece because I already don’t feel good about myself, I already can not be that woman, I could never be as good as…and we fall into this whole comparison thing which then leads us into negativity talk which then leads us to believe that it is just not for us.”

Shireen in her words is FIRST the daughter of the most High God. She is also an author, speaker, podcast host, a Christian recording artist as well as a Church of the Nazarene credentialed minister who has served since 2005.  She is working to connect people to God through the Word, Worship and Working Relationships. Shireen has pastored in two different churches working with youth, families and couples; leading worship, choirs and preaching.  She is expanding her ministry to work with churches and Christian organizations in the areas of speaking, worship leading, and working with couples. Shireen is also a Gather Women Internship Alumni and one of our brilliant and faithful Gather Blog contributors.

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This episode features an inspiring conversation with Cathie Ostapchuk and Ligia Andrade all about knowing your value from God while feeling pressure to prove yourself amidst culture expectations and injustice.

“Sometimes I still feel that I need to prove myself not from a place of worth. But just because of who I am - a woman and a Latina. Because I can not change those things. So, what I often do is surrender that all at the feet of Jesus and not have those two things bear weight as me as a person.”

Ligia is a wife, mother, ministry leader, but most importantly, she is a daughter of God. She and her husband, Alan Andrade, are the proud parents of three beautiful children and a pup.

This week we wrap up our special four-part advent series on Advent by diving into the topic of peace. Rebecca sits down with her great friend and sister-in-law Lori Doner Jones to start a conversation with all of you about how we can all find Peace this Christmas season.

Lori Doner Jones on Finding Peace:

“I think that peace is pretty elusive in our culture right now, I think that there is a real problem with people feeling any sense of peace, and think it is because we are all striving and we are all constantly seeking some kind of contentment that just seems out of our reach”

“I think most women have that nature to want to fix everything and to want to control it and think part of having peace is about accepting that we do not control everything, that God is sovereign and that there are going to be moments in life, a lot of moments in life where we have to accept that it is not going to look perfect.”

Lori Doner Jones leads the Women’s Ministry at Springvale Church, and is the founder of a ministry called REVIVE. REVIVE challenges women to seek God with determined purpose by being a space of opportunity and encouragement for women who are called to teach and speak. Lori is a wife of almost 22 years and mother to two sweet daughters. Lori is a gifted Bible teacher and writer has recently helped write and teach the curriculum for Springvale’s most recent Bible Study in Ephesians and is working on helping write a new study coming in the spring.

Learn more about REVIVE, access its devotionals, or view its current video series here: www.readyforrevival.ca.

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Episode 83 Guest:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

Continuing in our break from our incredible conversation with ordinary, yet extraordinary women all across Canada in our ALL THE THINGS series we move to the next week of our special Four-Part Advent Series. This week Cathie and Shelley from Operation Christmas Child sit down and talk about what it means to truly seek JOY this Christmas season.

Shelley on why having joy as the focus is so important:

"Galations 5 talks about joy being a fruit of the sprit. So, being spirit-filled is more the goal than being joy-filled. Joy comes from gratitude in who God is and how He is working through us. We have strength to choose gratitude over our circumstances."

Shelley Bechtold is the Partnerships and Promotions Manager for Operation Christmas Child.  She lives in Strathmore, Alberta with her husband Warren and their cat, Keelan, who is an only child.  Her work allows her to share with people the wondrous things that God is doing through the gift filled shoeboxes distributed around the world.   Shelley greatly values the power of prayer so often find her in the warehouse walking and praying.   You can follow her on Instagram @Shoebox_Shelley or Facebook  @Shelley Bechtold OCC where she posts regularly all things shoebox and her passion for the ministry.  You can follow Operation Christmas Child Canada both on Instagram @OCC_Canada and Facebook @Operation Christmas Child Canada.

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Episode 82 Guest:

Shelley Bechtold

Gather Women @gatherwomen

Continuing in our break from our incredible conversation with ordinary, yet extraordinary women all across Canada in our ALL THE THINGS series we move to the next week of our special Four-Part Advent Series. This week Rebecca and Stacy, friends and both members of the Exec. Team here at Gather Women jump into conversation about all things LOVE.

Stacy on the simplicity and magnitude of God’s love:

“Love is a recognition that I can’t do this on my own and that because I am sacrificially loved and given the gift of salvation who am I to pick and choose and to take something where the beauty of it is the simplicity of it. Sometimes we try to dress it up, but that is just not what it is. This Christmas I hope we can all find the simplicity of God’s love and just stand in it.”

Stacy Mattheis lives in Red Deer, Alberta with her husband Tyler and two of their three adult children. Stacy homeschooled all three, has served in many different areas of ministry in her local church from Women’s Ministry, technical teams, spiritual formation, family ministry, and she is a key member of the Executive Team of Gather Women. She values unity, authenticity and truth. You can find her reflecting on life and her journey with the Lord on Instagram and Facebook (find out how to connect with her below)

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Episode 81 Guest:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

Taking a break from our incredible conversation with ordinary, yet extraordinary women all across Canada in our ALL THE THINGS series we move into a special Four-Part Advent Series. This week Cathie meets with Alyssa Esparaz from Compassion Canada and dives in to our first Advent topic of HOPE.

Alyssa on Hope being a decision:

“I would say yes…The people closest to me will know there have been tearful moments and conversations where you are sitting there and being like does this really make a difference? Does it even matter?… But when people ask me if there is hope no matter what the conversation is about what it is I think my response will always be “It’s up to us.” - it’s our choice really.”

Alyssa Esparaz communicator and advocate. She brings her passions for youth, justice and Jesus to her role as Content and Public Relations Manager at Compassion Canada. Alyssa is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied International Development. Some of her favourite things in the world are Raptors basketball, going on airplanes and eating way too much ice cream. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @_godsgal4ever.

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Episode 80 Guest:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

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A Special Thanks To Our Valued

Gather Influence Podcast Season 7 Partner

Compassion Canada!

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY!

This episode features an inspiring conversation with Cathie Ostapchuk and Bonnie Pue all about diving into ministry and pioneering vision while balancing life as a wife and mother. If you are someone who is seeking to integrate your passion for ministry and your love of family, this episode is for you!!

“The other big piece for me is a message really around and about wholeness and about wholeness specifically in the area of sexuality and what it would look like for the church to be a place where messages of hope and redemption are spoken.”

Bonnie Pue is a speaker, writer, and podcaster, but most of her time and energy is spent as a homeschooling mother to 5 young sons. She and her husband Bryan have been leaders in their local church community for over a decade, and they recently launched The Union Movement, a ministry focused on bringing health in the interconnected areas of sexuality, relationships, family, and church culture. Bonnie lives on the West Coast of British Columbia, and loves getting out on the hiking trails nearby.

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Episode 79 Guest:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

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A Special Thanks To Our Valued

Gather Influence Podcast Season 7 Partner

Compassion Canada!

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY!

This episode features a great conversation with Rebecca and Kim Hutchins from North of Toronto, ON about balancing all the things they do, and how there is freedom found in realizing we should be championing one another and that we are not in competition with one another as we are all called differently and defined in Christ. That “we are all working together for God in our own way, but we are all working as one body” (Kim)

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Episode 77 Guest:

Youtube:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

Gather Influence Podcast Season 7 Partner

Compassion Canada!

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This episode features a stunning conversation with Cathie and Jaclyn Weidner from just outside of Vancouver, BC. Cathie and Jaclyn dive into topics like capacity, life in different seasons and stirking balance when you feel called by God to do “all the things’. You are not going to want to miss this fun, valuable and inviting conversation!

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Episode 77 Guest:

Gather Women @gatherwomen

A Special Thanks To Our Valued

Gather Influence Podcast Season 7 Partner

Compassion Canada!

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY!

In this first episode of Season 7 of the Gather Influence Podcast our Lead Catalyst Cathie Ostapchuk and Rebecca Doner are excited to invite you into this brand new season as we talk about ALL THE THINGS. Each conversation will dive into all the things ordinary, yet extraordinary women are doing across Canada.

Season 7 will be filled with conversations with ordinary, yet extraordinary women. Whether in the marketplace, ministry, in the middle of motherhood or more, we want to connect you with each guest and find out how and why they serve where they do as they step into their unique roles with Kingdom purpose.

We are excited to have you come along this journey and listen with us as we seek to connect, equip and mobilize all of YOU ordinary, extraordinary women, one conversation at a time.

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Rebecca Doner - Instagram @lifeinoverflow

Gather Women @gatherwomen

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A Special Thanks To Our Valued

Gather Influence Podcast Season 7 Partner

Compassion Canada!

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY!