Thousands of Christian women from across Zimbabwe thronged to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds for an interdenominational three-day conference in Bulawayo last week.
  
Woman Unlimited is a grouping of predominantly Christian women from across denominations, who want to challenge stereotypes about women and make a difference in all facets of their lives.
  
Religion in Zimbabwe visited the conference venue where the visionary and founder of Woman Unlimited Pastor Maureen Shana explained what the conference, running under the theme “No More Limits” aimed to

Pastor Maureen Shana in an interview with RelZim.org during the recent Woman Unlimited conference in Bulawayo (photo. M. Tshuma).

achieve. “This conference is about women who refuse any form of limitations. So we are gathering women with a passion to make a difference. These are women from different Churches, from different walks of life. Our coming together is so that we can network, teach each other the word of God and help each other unlock the potential that is in every one of us. You know that the word of God says in Jeremiah 1 verse 5: ‘Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you.’ However, there are so many women who do not know that they are qualified to be here on earth. They are not aware that before they were even formed in their mother’s wombs God called them and separated them,” she explained by adding that she believes every woman on earth has an assignment.
 
Maureen Shana, who is also a senior pastor at Word of Life International Ministries, further added, “So when women come together and they see other women probably doing what they have always desired to do, something on the inside of them is provoked.”
Encouraging all women to be proactive, Pastor Shana said, “My message is: there is grace on women in this season. There is just something that God is doing about the woman. For a long time women have taken the back seat and they were just watching but we are not supposed to be watching anymore.  The time has come for every woman to arise and shine for the glory of the Lord has risen upon them.”
 
She continued by saying that, in regaining their identity, women were not after competing with males or evening challenging them, arguing that women have their own assignment while men too have theirs. “We are not up to competing with men, but we are coming in to complement and stand side by side with men and complete the work and the assignment that God has given us here on earth,” she emphasized.

Ladies in a prayer session during the Woman Unlimited conference in Bulawayo last week (photo. M. Tshuma).

 
On the vision of Woman Unlimited that completes five years in 2011, the woman of God had this to say, “Our vision is to help women discover purpose, unlock potential, exceed limitations and birth destiny.”
 
The Christian-women organization has ministered in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho, where Pastor Shana said the response was overwhelming. 
 
Running concurrently with the conference was the business expo in which women in industry were showcasing their businesses in order to inspire others to join them as well.
 
Pastors that spoke during the conference which ran from Thursday to Saturday included Maureen Shana herself, her husband Dr. Goodwill Shana and many others from Bulawayo, Harare, the United States and Jamaica.