Hillsong's Women's Conference Kicks Off with 16,000

Hillsong's annual women's conference Colour Your World kicked off 15 March, with a sold-out audience in the Acer Arena, Sydney.

Colour, one of the largest gatherings of women in Australia, will host more than16,000 women, as it commemorates its 11th annual year.

This is the first time Colour will be held at the Acer Arena at Sydney Olympic Park, bringing together women from all over Australia and the world representing a broad cross-section of Christian denominations.

Founder of Colour Conference, and Hillsong's co-senior pastor, Bobbie Houston, said the heartbeat of the conference remains the same, "placing value on womanhood", but there's a real sense that this year's conference marks a coming of age.

"We're in our 11th year and I believe we're entering a new era not just in terms of the conference, but also in relation to the role that women can play in seeing God's Kingdom advance," said Bobbie.

"I'm honoured that women gather with us to worship God and we come with our heart's expectant of what God is going to do in the lives of women."

"I'm also truly humbled by the fact that pastors and leaders entrust us with speaking into the lives of the women from their churches, and my prayer and hope is always that they will return home more excited and inspired about the vision of their church and their community," she said.

Colour wishes to build awareness about the plight of humanity both locally and globally. At the conference, there will be a strong emphasis on social justice and mobilising women to respond to often desperate need.

"We try to make it as practical as possible for women to make a difference in their spheres of influence, which has been the reason for the formation of thecoloursisterhood," Bobbie explained.

"Through this foundation we have seen AIDS orphans and widows helped in Africa, children sponsored through Compassion and many other local and global causes supported. This year we will also be enlarging our hearts and focus toward the child soldiers of Africa."