Next month, hundreds of women will gather in New York City for freedom. In many ways, She is Free, as experienced by the women of Liberty Sisterhood, is already underway. Months of prayer and preparation have paved a way for freedom.
But what do we mean when we say “She is Free”?
The women of Liberty Sisterhood have taken that phrase to heart, and have made the choice to pursue freedom in their own lives so that they can give it away as a gift to others. They’ve grown passionate about their expectation that other women will experience the same freedom that God has given them.
You would never guess the strength of our women and what they have endured, but they are overcomers because of their faith. Some are praying that a spirit of control will break off of women so they can be strong and independent without tearing down men or avoiding relationships with women. And some are expecting that women at She is Free will get a revelation that will keep them from questioning what God has told them about their identity.
Last week, a few of our women shared the personal journey they were walking through, with the hope that their breakthrough would ripple out to other women at the gathering in April.
Dawn commented, “We’re saying, ‘This is an area of freedom that I’m personally preparing for. This is personal.’ All of us carry the mantle of caring for the women of our church, so it has to be personal first, for what we want for ourselves.”
Creative release — Jenny
“Last September when we had a Sisterhood event, it was the first Sisterhood event I really embraced. It was that night that I came home and the Lord said to me that ‘you’re going to write music.’ [The journey has been] me committing to the women and the gift that he gave me that night, which just keeps on flowing. We as a core of women have to embrace sisterhood if we’re going to share that with women.
“She is Free is a whole other level to Sisterhood. This [unity] is really unique—Our ages, for example. And that’s really good because it’s for every woman.”
Identity — Mavis
“I just continually see it as a movement. Every time I hear myself say it’s a conference, I just suck those words back in…As I pray and think about it, I constantly see that, if we have women who are going in knowing their identity…I think we can by our spirit and by what we’re carrying quickly infuse that from the moment it begins.”
Forgiveness for abusers — Dawn
“Beyond what I am praying for for me, God has put something specific on my heart to pray for for women to get free from around She is Free. It’s around incest, rape, molestation. And getting free from unforgiveness 1) of the person who did it, 2) of the people who were charged with protecting the person and did not, and 3) forgiveness of self for the acts of promiscuity that often follow that kind of history…Sadly it’s quite prevalent…I do not want women leaving behind the promises that God had for them because they’re being held back by unforgiveness, which of course is understandable in those circumstances, but not what God has for us.”
Acceptance of true love, and freedom from alcohol abuse — Sunni
“One of the big lies that I was believing was that I didn’t deserve true love, that men would not be faithful to me, that I didn’t deserve that. And I replaced that with the truth that I deserved a man who would lay down his life for me the way Jesus did…I feel like God’s talking to me about alcohol. I gave it up for a few months, and honestly it changed my life. I mean I wouldn’t have been open to dating Andrew if I had not taken a break from alcohol.
“It’s twofold: There’re so many women that don’t believe that they deserve true love. They’re just in relationships that aren’t true and honest and real, and they don’t believe that they deserve more. Alcohol is just everywhere and people use it to think that they’ll have a better personality after a couple drinks and this is what dating is about…It’s so much deeper than that. Those were the two biggest lies that I was believing, and I got free from that.”
The resurrection of disappointed dreams — Kristen
“I have a heart for barren women, both those who’ve struggled with infertility but also barren in the area of dreams and hopes and desires, and that God would redeem the time, as well. The other part is that women would have the experience that they know that their Heavenly Father hears them and sees them. In those moments that they’ve spoken things only to him, that there would be that confirmation. God wants to be in communion with them.”
Freedom from shame — Jessi
“The shame that comes around infertility in New York. It’s been a full week of walking women through [being pregnant or not being pregnant or having to give up a baby as a teenager and shame from an abortion]. I feel like all of that stuff is more present. I think people think that the shame only comes from one of those areas, but I think they’re actually all more related than they think. Like, the person who has the abortion has the same heart-wrestle as the person who can’t have a baby. And it’s weird, because you think that they would be opposing. I think for women we know the importance of bearing children and having families, but for a lot of women it can be a huge emotional thing depending on what your trajectory is.”
Wholeness in dating relationships — Chelsea
“Purity. The lie that there’s shame on them because they did things the wrong way and they can’t be redeemed. And the lie that dating in New York there’s no one willing to do things the right way. There’s no hope. There’s no belief that there’s a right way to do that. I just believe that if we find our identity in Christ then we’re all going to be whole and that right person will come. The conference will be about getting that identity and wholeness and being ready to find that person that God has prepared for you.”
Freedom from the split life — Emily
“I feel for people who sort of are reconciling their spiritual walk with the life that they live in New York. I feel like there always has to be a divide, especially for people who have been educated out of their faith but are still hanging onto it for some reason. I know that some of the first visions of what She is Free would be is that it would just be an amazing outpouring of the Spirit. I feel like we’ve been praying through maybe a reluctance to accept all of that for people who don’t see that in their daily lives. So I feel like there will be freedom and identity where there’s a reconciliation of your dreams for God, your dreams for your life; your identity as a child of God, and in the world. And understanding that better.”
Freedom from The Someday Lie — Ashley
The lie that now I just have to hold on, wait, and see what’s happening, when God gives us so many choices. And the freedom to actually do. “I don’t have an example of this, so how am I supposed to set out and do this?” So I think it’s 1) creating that space for examples. A forum to connect women to see that there are other women who are working through this and who have successfully done this. They have a natural hope with something you can see. You have a choice…2) Realizing that there is freedom to get there. A lot of the breakthrough started with listening to God and making a choice to do something different than what you had been doing to make a space for God to move…So I pray that God will tell them what to do so that he can show them how to step into freedom.
“Freedom is really constantly evolving for me. I’m one of those people who thinks they’re free… and then gets free from something new, and in hindsight understand that I was bound. Most recently, freedom means that everything I am doing is for God and for his purposes.”
Freedom at work and in finance – April
“People come to NY to be someone and to make it, so to speak. A common theme is ‘I came here with a dream, but that’s not being fulfilled.’ There’s a spirit of fear, confusion, lies of, ‘Well, I’m just going to have to toil and struggle for years to be able to get to the dream that God has put in my heart’…I meet women who have incredible dreams and so much talent and they’re just being shot down with all these lies, because, ‘Oh, I’ve got to pay my bills, and I’d never be able to do that.’ I just think [about] the area of freedom at work and finance.
“It doesn’t have to be just corporate: a lot of these women are creative or came to New York to be performers or start a business, whatever it may be.
“I pray that She is Free will really allow women to grow in the area that he has gifted them in and to use that to have an amazing career. And to not have to worry about how you’re going to support yourself or raise a family.
“What is your dream for your business or your career or your life and what has God promised you? And where is the enemy trying to steal that from you?”
Freedom from The Yogurt Lie – Dawn and Sunni
“The lie that if I follow the purpose that God has called me to that I will be broke, is a lie that must be broken. That doesn’t mean that we’re irresponsible, or that we don’t seek counsel. But we’ve got to break this lie. I’ve dubbed it The Yogurt Lie.”
“That’s actually my lie. I believed that I’d only be able to eat yogurt if I went out on a limb for my career.”
“It’s actually Ramen noodles. You won’t be able to afford yogurt.”
“Some of us are still at the Ramen noodles stage.”
Currently we are at capacity with registrations for She is Free. You may email [email protected] if you’d like to add your name to a waitlist should cancellations or other opportunities make space available.
By: Trisha Schrader
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