Born in Sydney, Australia, Christine Caine grew up in the Greek Orthodox Church in a time where women didn't have much of a part to play in leadership roles or positions. She says today ''There was not much revelation of grace or the meaning of the Cross there - I thought that He was some big God in the sky who was always angry and wanted me to obey the rules.'' It wasn't until she saw a school production on the life of Christ that she truly began to understand the meaning of her faith. Whilst she made a decision then to give her life to Christ, she was never formally discipled and didn't really know how to live for Him.

It was not until later in her 20's that she walked into Sydney's renowned Hillsong Church and found what felt like home. Christine found herself surrounded for the first time with other women who were further along the road in their walk with Christ, able to mentor and disciple, capably leading bible studies and home groups and being active in all areas of Church life. Because of her religious upbringing, she had believed that the only way a woman could serve God in ministry was to become a nun. Chris began bible college and found the permission to grow, discipleship and deeper understanding of her faith that she had been searching for all along.

It was also during this process that she was able to confront the hidden pain of past childhood abuse by men which had left her completely broken and a relational mess. Moving out of a place of brokenness, Christine finally began to receive God's full healing and restoration and the overwhelming desire to let others know that such freedom in this life was and is possible! She'd felt the call to work in ministry since she was a young girl but still there were still not many examples of women doing so on a full-time basis around her. Little did she know that just a few years on, she would be that example to so many other young women around the world.

Her heart for the local church sold, one of Christine's driving passions became to see people everywhere joined to a thriving, bible-based, local church where they could be discipled, find healing and go out to touch others in need of God's love. Today, Christine, her husband Nick and their two daughters travel the world to assist local churches in equipping and discipling new leaders to do just that. Almost 20 years on, Christine's roles include pastor, speaker, author, evangelist, motivator, and leadership consultant. Together with her husband Nick, she began Equip & Empower Ministries in 2000. As a couple, they are the directors of Equip & Empower and oversee offices in both Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles.

Through their ministry the couple have seen up-close, the power of God moving through some of the toughest places across Europe and North America, literally breaking down strongholds and the yokes of generational oppression. They have also been vocal on helping to stop the dirge of human & sex trafficking across the nations through their 'A21 Campaign'. The ministry website provides a wide variety of excellent resources to help equip the church and new leaders, including books, teaching resources, dvd's and free podcasts.

Christine's success has unsurprisingly led many women and girls at conferences the world over who feel called into ministry to ask the same question; how on earth does she do it?

''Over this last year alone, my husband and I have ministered in over 40 countries and [that] was the number one question I was asked. 'How do you do the marriage, motherhood, ministry deal?' I heard that question so many times that I thought 'you know, I'm just gonna write a book on it and then I'll never have to answer that question again!' '' She laughs.

But all joking aside, Chris recognizes that these questions stem from something that is extremely close to her heart - a great desire of women not to be left out of the Kingdom agenda or the church ministry but to be able to participate in what God is doing in the world. ''What it really showed me was the longing of the female heart, to really understand what this role is because there isn't a long history of women in ministry in the Church, but of men in ministry in the church, so how can I be a woman, wife, a mother and make it all work?'' Chris continues,

''I see this as a great encouragement because when I was coming up 20 years or so ago, there were not many great female role models in leadership in the Church, not much mentoring or resources to help us grow as leaders....[but] today, there is so much out there, so many fantastic women's conferences, so much available to us and with this new technology it really isn't too difficult to plug in to what others are doing and begin to grow from there.''

Chris felt the need to put down all that she has experienced as a wife, mother and minister in a new book playfully titled 'Can I have and Do it All Please?'
''I wanted to address some of those questions, discuss the key role of the local church to those women who are looking to be mentored and discipled, [bring understanding] that not every bodies all will look like your all and it's best never to play comparison,'' Furthermore she explains, ''it makes me laugh because back in the 70's with the sexual revolution and feminism the big thing was that we wanted it all and thought we should able to do it all - but now that we have it all, can do it all we're not sure if we want it all!''

In her own life, Christine discovered that by concentrating solely on the things that she knew that God had called her to do, she was able to achieve more, use her time more wisely and have time for all the different roles that she plays in life.
''I think the book will probably shock some people because it's not a book about my life, how I travel the world with my husband and two children and oh, aren't I great? It's about let's define our 'all', let's find our identities, because what you find in a lot of women is that they define their identity by what they do and not who they are in Christ. And whenever you do that, you will always find a lot of conflict in your life. So I speak about who we are, which is; daughters of the King is very different from what we do; a corporate executive, a lawyer, a minister and so forth.''

The book also emphasizes the importance of a true encounter with a supernatural God, in order for us to live supernatural lives by His grace, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit. Not lives lived in stereotypical compartments or boxes, but lived in a constant state of flow and flux, that allows room for our humanity.

'Can I Have and Do it all, please?' also dedicates an entire chapter to helping women define and discover their 'all'. This was written to help women separate their 'supposed all' from their individual identities and help keep the two from getting confused.

''The book really talks about 'my all is not the same as every body else's all, but I only have to be accountable for my all. So what does that look like?' [And now]...I find it easier to say no to the things that aren't a part of my all. That take up a lot of energy or time.''

Christine also encourages women to take some of the pressure off of themselves by accepting the grace that God has for them to live their everyday lives which are often busy and filled with children, work or household duties, and not at all less worthy in His eyes.

''One day it's great and I can really get into the word for a long time, another day it's a miracle if I find myself with one minute alone in the bathroom before my 3 year old bursts in! But I've just taken all the pressure off myself and once I'd done that I was just set free. I realized just how legalistic I was in some of my thinking, but I realized that in all of my life whether kids time or husband time or devotional time, God has given me grace for it. I don't make one time more sacred than the other. Watching Dora the Explorer with my 3 year old is imperative. So is studying the Word. But it's all time for God and it's all sacred to Him.''

And so with that characteristic honesty in everything she does, Chris continues to speak into other people's lives through her straight-up preaching style, her life experiences and even through the more relaxed [and often hilarious!] 'Coffee With Chris' Podcasts - a Precious editorial staff favorite.

As Christine and Nick travel across the world, they are increasingly excited to see both the great breadth of God's movement and the raising up of churches which are outpouring compassion and the authentic love of Christ throughout their homes and communities.

They see a recognizable shift in more churches as they let go of religion, become more contemporary in outlook and life-giving through their teaching and the equipping of a new generation of leaders.

And in and amongst those leaders are a growing number of young women whose lives are being shaped and defined by how they make their lives work around their love for God and desire to partner with Him in the call to ministry, rather than sit out on the sidelines. The future certainly is bright!

(c) Copyright Precious Woman Magazine, 2009.