Tracy Bush’s mother, the late Rev. Ruby Miles Bush, often told her daughter that she had a special calling on her life. But Tracy did not fully understand it or surrender to the call until after her mother’s death on July 15, 2009.

“It was then that I began to accept the call and to see the vision,” said Bush. “I began to acknowledge the hurt and despair of so many women and to finally begin to tell God, ‘yes.’ He reached me at what I feel was my lowest point and sparked a new life and passion in me.”

From there, a new ministry, “Women on the Rise Now” or WOTR NOW was born. This ministry is dedicated to the memory, life and legacy of Tracy’s mother, a woman Bush describes as “a strong vessel of God who caught the vision of empowerment many years ago.”

Saturday afternoon, about 18 women met at a residence in Johnston for an empowerment session. The sessions are spiritually based and are designed to help every women realize her worth and to learn how to be a vessel that God can use to build up His kingdom, Bush said. Meetings are the third Saturday of every month but currently a regular meeting place has not been established.

“We want the community to know that we are a diverse group,” Bush said. “Not just a group of women with degrees and professional jobs. We are women from all walks of life who have had trials and still have them, but who overcome them by the help of God. It consists of women from Edgefield, Aiken, Richmond and surrounding counties who have taken on the responsibility of moving women towards empowerment.”

Services offered include spiritual coaching, life coaching, financial coaching, job and career readiness and adult and adolescent mentoring. Scripture for the group is taken from Ephesians 4:11-13.
Minister Regina Jackson, who led the session Saturday, told women, “We all need someone to look to for guidance and support. In the Bible, mentoring or coaching is very important. That’s what we’re doing here—becoming empowered—so that we can go out and do the same.”

The women repeated some phrases and sayings in unison, among them, “I am a vessel full of power with a treasure from the Lord” after which Jackson went over some concepts, backed by scriptures, with them.

“God has an assignment for each of you,” she said. “But first, he wants to do some things with you.”
She talked about sacrifices that women sometimes have to make in order for it to be possible to carry out their assignments.

“There are a lot of women under the foot of men,” she said. “Maybe, you feel like you aren’t worth anything. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice something to be salt (referring to ‘the salt of the earth’ scripture) to other women. It may be a relationship, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a family member. You may have to cut off a conversation that will drag you down and say, ‘I’m not going there.’ You may have to sacrifice some of your money or time.”

Bush said it is her hope that with the knowledge gained within the ministry women will be able to go out and lead productive lives. She wants people to know that the ministry is not against men. Instead it is designed to help each woman realize her full potential and to be what God intended her to be.

“I hope that, at some point, we can inspire someone to start a ‘Men on the Rise Now’ group,” she said.

WOTR NOW is planning a workshop on Oct. 16 at Bettis Academy Campus, Collins Building, 78 Nicholson Road in Trenton. The title is, “From Our Origin to our Current Existence, Recognizing God’s Purpose for My Life.” Registration starts at 1:30 p.m., and the workshop is from 2 to 5 p.m. It is free, and food and workshop favors will be provided. RSVP at wotrnow@yahoo.com.

A website is under construction. For further information about the ministry, e-mail wotrnow@yahoo.com or call (803) 640-2756.