Creating a Vision Board
(Dream it. Believe it. Do it.)
Scripture: Proverbs 29:18
Dream It
What dreams and visions do you have for your women’s ministries in the coming year? Where do you spiritually see the women in the future? What plans and goals have been set?
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” Women need spiritually minded leaders to cast a vision for the future, laying out expectations and biblically focused dreams for their corps groups.
As a leader, it is essential to begin with prayer. Don’t begin with Pinterest or an article from a women’s magazine. You can get creative with the details later, but if we want results for the kingdom of God, we must seek the Spirit of God in these matters.
Pray as a leader for your group, asking God to speak to your heart concerning where He desires to take the group. Meet with key women to pray and review last year’s goals, accomplishments and unfinished items. Toss out anything that did not come to fruition that the Lord is not urging you to complete or do in the coming year. It is okay to have unfinished goals when you are in tune with the Holy Spirit.
Believe It
It takes a measure of faith to seek God’s Holy Spirit for revelation concerning women’s ministries and not to move solely from our own agendas or what is popular in today’s culture. As we grow in Christ and know Him and His dreams for our people, we as leaders can believe in faith that He will show us His ways.
Sometimes we do not know what to do and end up just doing things the way we have done them in the past. To breathe fresh ideas in our programs, it’s vital to seek God’s Holy Spirit. Hosea prophesied that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6 (NIV). Let’s walk in faithful obedience as we seek God’s plans for our women.
Do It
After praying on our own and with key women, it’s time to create a vision board that uses key words and pictures to cast a vision for our corps women.
Ephesians 1:18 (MSG) paraphrases, “I ask … to make your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do.”
What is God calling your women’s ministries group to do this year? Begin with big picture thinking. Make broad strokes. Using a whiteboard or giant post-it notes, write down some of those concepts. These could be spiritual growth, more ministry to younger women, or supporting your community.
Then break down these large ideas and dreams into attainable goals. Using the previous thoughts: Video Bible Study (spiritual growth), babysitting for the Young Adult Fellowship Group (ministry to younger women), attending a local Human Trafficking Prayer Vigil (supporting our community).
Using clip art or magazines, cut out images that signify or convey these goals. For example, if reaching out to Spanish-speaking residents at The Salvation Army’s Senior Apartments is the large idea, use a picture of a Spanish Bible to symbolize the Spanish-language meeting or Bible study that will be held there in the coming year.
Take these pictures and mount them on posterboard or on a bulletin board. You could also use a corkboard covered with wrapping paper. Add items like teacups to signify the upcoming Spring Mother/Daughter Tea.
As a corps group, we wanted to support women in our Salvation Army Center of Hope. We decided to each donate a pack of new underwear, bras, or undershirts. To make it fun we called it “Drop Your Drawers.” The program titled attracted women from the corps who don’t normally attend the group and we had a terrific response. The next year we made “Period Packs” and the women enthusiastically brought in tampons, pads and incontinence products for women staying at the shelter.
Another broad idea that we had was to increase attendance at our Divisional Women’s Retreat. The expense was too much for some of our women, and although our corps had the funds, we wanted the women to have a “buy–in” to the event. We didn’t want to just subsidize the trip. We came up with several methods whereby the women could earn their way to the retreat—attendance, paying club dues, bringing a friend and participating in or leading a weekly meeting. On our vision board we placed photographs of the guests who were speaking at the retreat along with the dates and parameters of helping to pay for the event. Women wanted to attend the Women’s Retreat and we showed them how it was possible through our vision board that was placed in the fellowship hall.
When we seek God in these matters, He will speak to us. He will give us the revelation or vision. He will place God-centered dreams in us, in our local leaders and in our women. Then, it’s our turn to believe and obey them.
