Major Judith Payne to lead Captivated 2017
Major Judith Payne to lead Captivated 2017
8 December 2016
“God of the Journey – discover, dream, grow” is the theme for each of the four Captivated by the Word Salvos Women conferences to be held in Sydney (10-12 Feb), Townsville (14 Feb), Brisbane (17-18 Feb) and Canberra (21 Feb).
Guest speaker for the Captivated events around the territory will be Major Judith Payne, Director for Well Being and Leadership Development in the United Kingdom with the Republic of Ireland Territory. Major Payne spoke with Pipeline’s Simone Worthing about her preparation for Captivated and her prayers that God will use this time to help restore the dreams of those who attend the conference as together they learn to journey more deeply with their creator.
Simone Worthing: What are you looking forward to in coming to Australia for the Captivated events?
Judith Payne: I am really looking forward to coming to Australia itself as I have never visited before and have heard so much about it and The Salvation Army there. I feel a sense of both peace about the decision to come and also of excitement, believing that God has planned something of significance to share from his Word among us.
SW: What topic will you focus on during the conference?
JP: I am going to share from God’s Word and invite the delegates to explore with me some of the wonders of being on a journey with God himself. One of the most amazing journeys in Scripture is the journey resulting from God’s rescue of his people from slavery in Egypt to his promised land and I would like to explore it from the perspective of Miriam, a young child who saved her brother’s life and became the first female prophet mentioned in the Bible. In Micah 6.4 God declares, “I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, paid your ransom, freed you from a place of slavery, and send Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead you” (The Voice). Could she have dreamed about such things when she was just a child? What did she discover on the journey and how did she grow? What does God want to say to us as a group and as individuals from his Word?
SW: What led you to choose this particular topic and your approach to it?
JP: The Australia Eastern Territory chose the title of this event: “God of the journey – dream, discover, grow”. I began reflecting on my experiences of God on the journey of my life, whether the dreams I had were fulfilled or not, what have I discovered about God and myself and others, how have I grown, and where have I seen the kingdom growing as a result. My mind went back to my life as a young nurse, the dreams I had for my life and how, on a London underground train one day, I had a life-changing revelation that God’s dreams are much bigger than mine. As a result, I offered to become a Salvation Army officer. My journey since then has confirmed, time after time, that God can do more than I can ask or even imagine. So, I always encourage people to be never satisfied with their own dreams but to search for God’s plans. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). I have discovered that whatever I am going through, God is working for my good in the midst of it, and using me in ways that I could never have dreamt of. As a result of the journey he is working in my life, he is enabling me to grow to maturity and in the likeness of Christ. Could it really get any better than this? Christian songwriter Chris Bowater wrote a song in 1983 that impacted my life and dreams. The third verse of Make me Lord a Dreamer for your Kingdom reads:
Make me Lord, a dreamer for your kingdom,
Dreams that will change a world that's lost its way,
May dreams that first found their birth in your omnipotence
Come alive in me, becoming reality.
I pray that this will be true also for those who attend these events.
SW: How do you think God can use the Captivated conferences to further his purpose in people’s lives?
JP: I have no doubt at all that the coming together of God’s people, in the presence of the living Word and in order to feast on the written word has the capacity to change our lives completely. I look forward to what that will be like for each of us.
SW: What are some of your passions in ministry and service to God?
JP: To see people who do not yet know God discover his love and power in their lives, to see God’s people discover their true potential in Christ and to see God’s Church as the beautiful bride of Christ in every way, wearing the clothes of love that truly express the heart of God for his world.
SW: Can you give us a brief overview of your officership?
JP: My journey as an officer has been amazing. I have been a corps officer, where I loved seeing how God changes lives and transforms communities, and hope at some point to be able to serve in that way again. I have served on divisional headquarters and as part of William Booth College, where I loved being a part of officer and employee development.
For four years I have been responsible for leadership development within the personnel service and now I am the Director for Well Being, where we support officers and employees in their service within The Salvation Army. I have never doubted that God’s plan for me is as an officer and feel incredibly privileged to have served in this way for 32 years.
I have just over eight years of active service left and I am asking God to do even more in and through me in the last years as he did in the first eight years. We live in a troubled age and world that, more than ever, needs what God is offering through his Church, and I want to be part of bringing that to pass.
I love the chorus from, What a work the Lord has done:
Greater things! Greater things!
Give us faith, O Lord, we pray,
Faith for greater things.
I believe that we will see greater things in our generation.
For those interested in attending Captivated, please see your local corps officer for registration forms. Sydney registrations can also be accessed at facebook.com/salvoswomen. If you have any questions, please email salvos.women@aue.salvationarmy.org
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.