If you’ve ever longed for fellowship with God-fearing and loving women, then you have come to the right place. For the past four years, Coptic Women Fellowship (CWF) has been enriching and supporting women who are searching for more. More fellowship, more spirituality, and more love.
If you’re curious about the need for female fellowship, please allow me to tell you why I think it is essential.
Whether you are single or married, a professional or a stay-at-home mom, someone immersed in the church or standing on the sidelines, you need female friendships. I often label myself as a wife, mother, or fill-in-the-blank. But the truth is, at my core I’m just another woman who longs for a deep connection with other women who’ve walked in my shoes and understand my struggles.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we all desire to belong to a tribe. We constantly look for our place in society, and how we can form profound relationships with those arounds us. If you’ve ever stepped out of your familiar scene and moved to a new place, you know exactly what I mean. It's that feeling of finding those who you can laugh with, cry with, and share your feelings with.
We can try to put up a front and say to ourselves, “I don’t need friends, I’m fine on my own.” But deep down you know something is missing. That something is the God-made gift of friendship.
“Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
Two are always better than one, and the more the merrier. We all need (and should have) a circle of wonderful women around us who deeply value their relationship with their Maker, and the fellowship with those around them. CWF is made up of multi-talented women in whose beauty you can see the fingerprints of God Himself. Women who are introverts and extroverts. Women who are creative and extraordinary. Women who have traveled to many parts of the world searching for Him. Women who come from very different walks of life but are trying to stay on the narrow path. Why would we not want to be part of such a beautiful group?
I urge you to make a commitment to yourself, to become part of this rich community of women. And not only to attend the CWF spiritual days, but to go a step further and keep in touch with the women you’ve met. Let CWF be a starting point to where you meet great women you can build a connection with.
You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn from the speakers and women in attendance. And I’m sure they can all benefit from you too. Yes, you! You have been graced with Godly gifts, as St. Paul says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:5-6). He also reminds us that we are the body of Christ, with each member being unique. CWF is a melting pot of unique members, all making up the body of Christ. So would you join it and expand this body of Christ?
About the writer:
Lilyan Andrews is a priest-wife, mother, engineer, blogger, and most recently a life coach. She loves to write to younger women about the struggles we all faced and continue to face as we hold strong to our faith and values in an ever-changing world. She’s a NJ local, but serves with her husband in Queens, NY. If you want to know more about Lilyan, check out her blog - Lilies and Thorns, or coaching website for more information.