As a rookie in the business community I was intrigued by their motto “People do business with people they know, like and trust”
Networking simply means getting to know people, seeing how you can help them and trying to make a good impression so that they feel comfortable with you and would have no hesitation in recommending you to their friends and contacts. Only then can you attempt to ‘sell’ them your products or services.
It struck me that Christians and the churches to which they belong could learn a lot from this approach? What do you think?
Jan came to a Woman to Woman group at the Methodist Church in Prestwich, and her talk inspired me to take the plunge and do something which I had been thinking about for over a year !! My husband died in June 2007, and, in the months which followed it seemed that the Lord was leading me to people who had experienced the same thing.Bereavement causes practical problems, as well as the obvious emotional ones, and as a single woman once more, I found it difficult to socialize. If you go out with married friends, it accentuates the fact that you are on your own, and that is very painful, as I found out to my sorrow. It is not easy to go to theatres or even the cinema, as a single woman, and even a church event can bring back memories of when you were part of a couple.
Spurred on by Jan, and prayed for…very important!!….I started a group which I called “Alone2Gether” in July of last year. At the first meeting I had 14 ladies in my living room, which is only average size, plus about 10 more who couldn’t make it on that night for various reasons !! Praise the Lord for showing me that there IS a need in my community !!! We have had outings to the Bridgewater Hall, to concerts, and also a trip around Manchester Cathedral (one of the ladies is a guide there!) and a memorable evening just before Christmas to the Manchester Evening News Arena to see a Classical Spectacular, complete with lasers, fireworks and a cannon!!
Above all though, it has brought together a group of otherwise lonely women (we now include women who are divorced or separated) and we enjoy each others’ company very much. What the Lord has in store for all of us, who knows…but it’s exciting waiting to find out !!!Watch this space…..