She is one of the most prominent female Catholic voices in Australia and as a keynote speaker at the ‘Anointed’ Women’s conference on 27 September, Selina Hasham will address hundreds of women as a woman “anointed to be a leader in my work, to be a witness to the Gospel and to use my creative skills to further the kingdom.”
Selina’s keynote theme is “Anointed for Sisterhood,” a topic she embraces with passion: “I’m very happy to say yes to this topic, because it’s one that I have life experience in. If you’re serious about being a woman walking along the discipleship road, it becomes very evident early. I’ve been mentored by older sisters or more spiritual Christian sisters and I’m hoping that women see that they need to walk alongside each other.”
At the event, to be held at Royal Randwick Racecourse and organised by the Catholic Women’s Network within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, Selina will draw on her own journey as the CEO of Harvest Journeys and the stories of women in Scripture who famously walked alongside each other.
“I’m really looking at a few examples from the scriptures of incredible women who have been sister to one another—Our Lady, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, the women teachers—so really looking at our own lives and my life experiences through the presence of those scriptural stories and testimonies.”
Excited to be appearing with international guest speaker, Sr Miriam James Heidland SOT, another prominent voice Selina calls “a rockstar,” and “very connected with the Spirit, very mission driven, and very authentic,” Selina highlights how rare and precious it is for women to gather in this way: “While there’s an understanding that women are often getting together for things, it’s always in the context of us doing our jobs and fulfilling our vocations and being busy. So, clearing some space to be together for a day, to listen to input and to listen to God, I think, is kind of rare.
And we are expecting up to 800 to 1000 women. So that’s unique, having a space for that many women to get together in a dedicated fashion and really give that to God.”
Selina sees the surge in women’s faith gatherings in Sydney, as a sign of the Holy Spirit at work: “I think the Holy Spirit is definitely moving amongst the church and inspiring hearts to seek, because there’s a lot of seekers out there. God is always working in his spirit. He’s never abandoning the church. So not surprising that he’s working, in our day and age to draw his children, and in this case, his daughters.”
Reflecting on her own journey, Selina is humble: “I just see a struggling person who’s just responding to what God’s done in my life. I’ve got my own story of how God met me when I was a teenager, really oriented my life on a different course, and I’ve tried to be faithful to that course every step of the way. I don’t see myself engineering a particular path, but I’m certainly responding to the love.”
Selina’s message to women considering attending the conference is simple: “God gives us many opportunities to say yes to him. And I think I’m doing this because I’ve said yes to God many times for very little things, very small things, and I can pinpoint that speaking at this conference is a big yes to many, many more ‘yeses’ along the way.
“I wouldn’t have imagined that I’d be speaking to a conference of 800 to 1000 women. But God, if that’s what you want me to do, then I will always say yes.”
