Her Green Room

Around 800 ministry wives assembled in the Orange County Convention Center to encourage, inspire, and show appreciation to each other during the second biennial Her Green Room event, at General Council 2015 in Orlando, Florida.

Kerry Clarensau, national Assemblies of God Women's Ministry director, opened the event by introducing the lead team for Her Green Room, which includes Johanna Garrison, author spouse of Assistant General Superintendent Alton Garrison; Sandie Mundis, missionary and wife of AG World Missions Executive Director Greg Mundis; Mary Beth Bradshaw, church planter and Church Multiplication Network wives' leader; Debbie Cole, coordinator of Women in Ministry for Northwest Ministry Network, assistant superintendent's wife; Tiffany Cooper, lead pastor, pastor's wife, and church planter; Jodi Detrick, author, speaker, mentor, district official's wife; Laurel Harvey, Rural Compassion U.S. missionary; Lori Jacobs, district official's wife; Debbie Lindell, lead pastor, pastor's wife, and director of ministry to women; Denise Ryan, staff pastor, former missionary, and staff pastor's wife; and Angela Trementozzi, missionary, mentor of women missionaries, and wife of AG World Missions Europe regional director.

Clarensau introduced a panel discussion on the topic of abiding in God's love by saying, "Jesus says, 'Abide in My love,' so everything in ministry should flow from that place where we abide in His love." Bradshaw and Cooper served on a panel with Clarensau, to discuss what keeps ministry wives from abiding in Jesus' love.

Bradshaw shared that fear is an emotion that keeps her from abiding in love. 

"I fear failure; I can have an unhealthy fear of God, and I fear for my family," Bradshaw said. "My daughter became very ill last year, and we almost lost her several times. I allowed fear to take over." Bradshaw said she began to practically abide in God's love instead of dwelling on fear by taking her thoughts captive, and concentrating on the 1 John 4:18, "Perfect love casts out fear" (King James Version).

Clarensau said sometimes disappointment keeps people from abiding in God's love.

"We can sometimes dwell on our disappointments, such as when adult children make bad decisions, or when people in ministry dishearten us," Clarensau said. She suggested the ministry wives remember the concept that nothing is perfect until heaven, and in the meantime an attitude of gratefulness should be adopted. She also recommended that the ministry wives ask a specified group of people to be prayer warriors for them.

Tiffany Cooper recognized that sometimes conflict keeps Christians from dwelling in God's love, whether it's ministry conflicts, relational issues, or internal conflicts.

"When you abide in the feelings or emotions, it drifts into other areas -- and it interrupts peace," Cooper said. She recommended one-on-one conversation, which is biblical, in an effort to diminish conflict. "It is powerful toward healing conflict, and bringing understanding."

Clarensau concluded the panel discussion by saying, "I need to dwell in His love to nourish and strengthen me. We have been praying for you to abide in His love, because that's where you will experience fruit." 

Two women were named as 2015 Her Green Room Women of Honor. Detrick recognized Maggie Dunn, founder and chief administrator of House of Providence in Detroit, for her work with children in the foster care system in Michigan.

In accepting the award, Dunn said, "We see miracles every day in the girls we work with. Beauty can come out of deep anguish." 

Mundis honored AG World missionary Beth Decker for continuing to work in a remote region after her husband's death in 2011.

"Our story -- now my story -- is not 'the' story," Decker said. "Because of Jesus' bloody story, my story is now part of God's story of redemption."

Darla Knoth

Darla Knoth is is senior editor of Adult and Youth Resources, Editorial Services, at the Assemblies of God National Office.