The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

FOR all the young women hurting in the country, for all those looking for love in the wrong places, a special conference will be put on next week by members of Fresh Fire Outreach Ministries International.

The “Woman at the Well: I Will Never Be Bound Again” event is geared towards creating an atmosphere of transparency, healing and deliverance for women from all different walks of life, according to organisers.

It will be held at the Commonwealth Mission Baptist Church on Commonwealth Boulevard, Elizabeth Estates, August 25-27, beginning at 7pm nightly.

“I believe that so many times wives, mothers, first ladies and businesswomen become so busy pouring ourselves into and giving of ourselves to everyone all year round that we sometimes run dry and find ourselves running on a broken heel, but God is calling the women of this nation back to the well,” said Felicia Archer, founder of Fresh Fire Outreach Ministries and the conference’s host.

The conference takes its name from the story of the Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of John, in John 4:4–26.

“ ‘Woman at the Well’ is a conference that was birthed as a direct result of my story as a female seeking love in all of the wrong places. So many of our young women are hurting, many are on the verge of giving up, many have been abused, and sometimes it appears as if life is going around in circles. And I believe that it is a result of generational curses that need to be broken and strongholds that need to be pulled down,” said Ms Archer.

Hosting the conference for a second time around, she said, is only possible by the grace of God.

Ms Archer said she feels humbled that the Lord saw fit to choose someone like her to carry out this mandate. She started the Fresh Fire Outreach Ministries International in 2010 when she was just 17 years old. Despite certain restrictions and circumstances, she pushed herself to host the first event under the organisation’s umbrella – a concert in aid of medical expenses she had incurred.

In 2011, she hosted the ministry’s first annual National Youth Revival in Nassau, Freeport and Abaco. She said the organisation has since continued to grow by leaps and bounds as hundreds of lives were impacted, saved, healed and delivered.

Ms Archer continues to travel extensively, representing her ministry and declaring the Word of the Lord. Just last year, she introduced the annual “Women at the Well” series.

“So many women committed suicide in recent times, so many of them are bound by ungodly soul ties, and so many women are hurting from the core of their spirit. I personally recognised one thing about pain; pain has no respect for a person, it has no face and it has no identity. Every one of us has experienced pain and sometimes we assume that one is happy because of one’s personality, career or financial state, but deep down inside one can be sinking deep into despair. And sometimes all they need is an ounce of hope or a word of encouragement that can change their life,” she said.

“The inspiration behind this event was truly the Holy Spirit giving me a burden to see the women of our nation whole again.”

Ms Archer said patrons can expect the upcoming conference to be unlike any other, in that persons will leave with a changed same state of mind.

“I believe it is beneficial to not just Bahamians, but to every woman and to our nation at large because women have strategically been placed in leadership roles throughout Bible history and also in recent times. Women play an important part in nurturing the next generation; they are life-givers, decision-makers, and also play a huge role in assisting our men in becoming all that God has designed them to be by cultivating their gifts,” she said.

“The world will not be the same without women. If we have unhealthy and broken women then they will only have the ability to produce unhealthy marriages and broken families. But if we have whole and healthy marriages, we will have a whole and healthy nation. The overall objective for this event is not for us to have another conference and leave saying that we had a ‘good time’, but for us to leave truly changed and transformed.”

Ms Archer is already in the planning stages for “Woman at the Well” 2016 at which she plans to offer day sessions, a variety of classes, a prayer breakfast and more.

“We are looking forward to having women from the United States of America and throughout the Bahamas join us at the well as we impact the present and future generation of women in our society,” she said.

Conference speakers for this year’s event will include Pastor Carnetta Ferguson of the Church of God of Prophecy, Wulff Road; Pastor Cleopatra Williams of Life Changers Ministries International; Apostle Gail McKinney from Trinity City of Praise, and Minister Tanya Duncombe of Word of Life Ministries. Minister Sarah Moss of Unity Baptist Church will be leading an intercession beginning 6.30pm each evening.

A musical selection will be provided by singer Johnathan Farrington along with his Grace Generation team. Other performers will include Oral Roberts University recording artist A’ltheia Sweeting and Sheniqua Hanna Thurston, the 242 Untapped season one winner. Latasha Taylor, praise and worship leader at Mount Tabor Church, will minister in song each night.

For further information, e-mail freshfireministries2010@gmail.com, visit the Facebook page ‘Woman at the Well 2015’ or call 242-424-6847.