Highlights from Pastor Elizabeth Akinyi at the WOID 5th Edition Conference

At the Women of Inspired Destiny (WOID) 5th Edition Conference, Pastor Elizabeth Akinyi spoke on the theme Courage for Such a Time Like This. She defined courage as setting your heart to accomplish an assignment, no matter the cost, and showed how Esther’s story teaches us the courage needed to fulfill God’s will.

She explained that Esther displayed courage in many ways: as an orphan (Esther 2:7), as a slave in Persia (Esther 2:6), in entering a beauty competition, in taking Queen Vashti’s seat, as the king’s wife (Esther 2:17), in facing Haman, and even in changing the constitution to save her people. Pastor Elizabeth declared that it takes courage to serve God’s purpose in our generation.

She also emphasized the importance of knowing the times and seasons (Ecclesiastes 3:1; 1 Chronicles 12:32). Seasons are temporary, but God is constant (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Like Mordecai reminded Esther (Esther 4:14), we too must recognize our time to align with God’s agenda.

Using Judges 5:15–18, 23, she showed how some tribes rose to the occasion (Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali), while others hesitated, played safe, or got distracted (Reuben, Gilead, Dan, Asher, Meroz). In the same way, many today miss God’s call due to excuses (Luke 14:16–24).

She closed with a strong reminder: life is like a candle — every moment we are shining and burning. The challenge is to shine while it is still our time. Just as it was Esther’s time to shine and God’s time to preserve the Jews, so too we are called to courageously fulfill our divine assignments (Acts 13:36).