The Three Miracles of the Going Beyond Priscilla Shirer Women’s Conference

I was recently blessed to be able to go to the Going Beyond Priscilla Shirer Women’s conference at Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg. I was originally not planning to go because I couldn’t afford the $45 ticket price. But a few weeks before the conference, I received an email from the church stating that they needed workers to help and that there were several bookstore positions available that would not require the purchase of a ticket. I emailed back and said that I could help if I could have one of those positions, as I could not afford to buy a ticket. I was pleasantly surprised when I got an email back stating that I was one of those chosen to work the bookstore area and that I would get to go free. This was the first miracle of the conference for me.



When I arrived at Temple on that Friday evening, I wasn’t real sure what my responsibilities would be, but I soon found out that the job was not hard. I simply had to station myself behind the tables of books and be available to point people in the right direction or answer their questions if I could. Friday evening went very smooth and I stayed late after the service to help lay out the continental breakfast for Saturday morning. As I worked the tables on Saturday I was blessed with the opportunity to help a lady who was thinking about doing a Bible study at her church in North Mississippi. She said that there was no lady’s programs at her church, and that she had been thinking about doing one, but she just wasn’t sure. I talked to her for a little while and told her that I thought God was calling her to lead a group. She told me she wasn’t real sure on which bible study to start with, so I recommended my favorite, Beth Moore’s Breaking Free. I told her it was a good beginner Bible study because it was all about breaking free from the strongholds in your life, and then would allow you to grow more spiritually with the other Bible studies. She then asked me what she should start out with, the workbook and the leaders guide, or the audio CD’s because she couldn’t afford to get it all. I recommended starting out with the workbook and leader’s guide and then getting the audio CD’s later as she could afford it. I suggested that we pray about the situation and I just reached over the table and took her hand and said a quick word of prayer with her and asked God to lead her into the right Bible study if she was in fact being called to lead it, and that God would provide the means for her to get what she needed to do it. As soon as I ended the prayer, a lady walked up beside her and I thought it was someone she knew. But I soon found out she didn’t even know the lady, but the lady handed her $60 dollars and told her to buy everything she needed to lead that Bible study. She was able to buy the audio CD’s, the workbook, and the leader’s guide, and left in happy tears. That was the second miracle of the conference.



Before we started working that weekend, I was talking to a few of my fellow workers about wanting to do the Beth More Breaking Free Bible study myself, but not being able to afford to buy the audio CD’s myself. After seeing the lady receive the funds she needed for her Bible study, I was praying, “Now Lord, you know I want to do this too, but I can’t afford them either.” The next thing I knew, one of my fellow workers handed me a $20 Lifeway gift card and hugged my neck. After the conference I went to Lifeway to see what I could buy with that $20. I knew I could get the workbook and leader’s guide for close to $20, but I really wanted to get the audio CD’s to lead a group. I had my water bill money in my purse, and I made up my mind to go ahead and buy the CD’s with my water bill money. But I prayed that God would somehow provide the bill money back, if I spent it. But I was still hesitant so I browsed around the store for awhile just looking around. There were several things I could have bought for that $20 and not touched the bill money, but I really wanted those CD’s. I had them in my hand as I was walking around, and had just about made up my mind to buy them with the bill money and the gift card, thinking that with the gift card, it would be like paying only half price for them. As I turned a corner I heard a lady comment to another about the conference. I said to her, “That really was a great conference, wasn’t it?” We got in a conversation and began to talk about the conference, and I was holding the CD’s in my hand. I said, “Yea, I really want to get these CD’s to lead a Bible study, and I’ve got a $20 gift card, so I’m trying to make up my mind whether to spend my water bill money or not to get them.” She said, “Oh what is that?” and reached out to look at what I had in my hand. I said I really wanted to get them to lead a women’s bible study for victims of sexual and domestic violence, because it’s all about breaking the strongholds in our lives, and it’s the perfect study to reach these people. The next thing I knew, she reached in her purse and gave me the other $20 I needed to get the CD’s, without spending my bill money! We had a nice conversation after that and exchanged emails and promised to keep in touch. And God had provided a third miracle for me from that conference.



I sometimes think my prayers are just bouncing off the roof, but God answered my prayers this time for sure. He provided my ticket to go to the conference in the first place, provided the funds a lady needed to lead a bible study that I had prayed for, and then last of all, provided the funds for me to get what I needed to lead a study myself at some point in the future. Now these miracles may not seem very great to some people, but to those of us who struggle just to make ends meet, these were truly miracles! God is good, and provides all our needs at just the right time.