Grace Notes

The Radiant Purity Conference in Cedar Rapids (August 13-14th) was definitely an exciting weekend. We were very encouraged by the attendance, the response, and the conclusion of the whole event.

These roses were given to us by some special conference attendees. Great representation of the message of the conference!

The discussion groups at the Radiant Purity Conference always keep things fresh and interesting. Here was Lilly and Laura’s group.

Some of the girls in my small group really weren’t very familiar with the idea of courtship but they had lots of good questions. One girl announced to all of us that she just texted a guy friend and broke up with him because he did not match any of the “desired qualities for a husband” we listed as a group during our discussion time the night before. We all cheered for her.

Here are a few other responses from young ladies:

“I’m going to ask my father again to guard my heart and hold me accountable” -14 yr old

“I am going to memorize Romans 6-8 to replace wrong thoughts” -14 yr old

“I’m going to talk to my parents about crushes and stuff” -14 yr old

“I made a commitment not to kiss before marriage” -17 yr old

One thing that excites us most is to see the older girls and moms become interested in starting their own Bright Lights groups when they go home.

Chelsy and Tia’s Group

Here was our “cool down” and sharing time — where we enjoyed good food, relaxing, and hearing encouraging reports about how the Lord was working in all the other small groups. Lots of joy and laughter. But the relaxing didn’t last too long because soon it was time for…

Clean up!! After a week of conferences in the same church, there was lots of cleaning, organizing and packing to do as we prepared to leave the next morning for Duluth….! (Big thanks to the Bieglers and Martinezes for all your help!) Here Tia and Lilly are packing up the booktable.

Rachel and Abby. (In case you haven’t noticed, we are always completely serious after conferences are over…)

…especially Stephen.

Check back soon for more reports from the Duluth, MN Conferences!

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The Bright Lights conference at the Creation Museum was a climax to our recent Bright Lights conference trip.

Our team of leaders, taking advantage of the beautiful picturesque grounds.

Below are a few examples of ways we saw God working and answering prayer at this conference.

-Just a week and a half previously, a man designed and donated a Bright Lights registration sign (as seen in the registration pictures on the slide show) and delivered it to us at our conferences in Virginia. It was a wonderful addition to our registration booth outside the museum. God provided at just the right time. My dad says you might call it a “sign from God.”

-A family from Wisconsin planned a week long family trip many months ago to Ohio, intending to spend several days of that week at the Creation Museum. The mother had also wanted to come to a Bright Lights Conference sometime but had not been able to work it out to come to any previous conferences. This mother told us that she began praying that a Bright Lights Conference would be planned somewhere within driving distance of the museum during that same week since they had that time available. A few days before they left, she checked our website and found that there would be a Bright Lights Conference right at the museum itself the first day they were there!

-The weather was beautiful, allowing us to do the small groups in the outside gardens and pavilions.

-Our whole team of leaders stayed at a guest house on the museum grounds. A few museum volunteers who were staying in the same location decided to get up at 5 AM to make a pancake breakfast for our entire staff. This was completely unexpected and very much appreciated!

-Although unexpected complications could have developed from running a conference at a location where there’s already so much going on, the whole day went smoothly. From registration, to the main sessions, to the small groups outside, everything stayed on schedule, and there was an enthusiastic spirit among everyone.

-One mother gave four extra planetarium tickets to Nickie, asking her to pass them on to anyone who could use them. Praying that God would direct her to the right family, Nickie approached a mom with two daughters in the main hall and offered them the free tickets. They joyfully thanked her, and as they were walking away the mom said to the smiling little girl, “See? God gave you the desire of your heart!”

-Many girls indicated on their response forms that they made commitments to spend time in God’s Word every day, to honor their parents, to keep a clear conscience, to minister to their brothers and sisters, to keep themselves pure from polluting influences, and to be strong for the Lord in their youth.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” Psalm 145:3-4

In Ohio we did the same schedule conference as Virginia. Strong in the Lord Conference, free day, Radiant Purity Conference. It was a great week! Everyone had their “tired moments” but the Lord’s grace is always sufficient and we were all excited to see how open and responsive the girls were to the lessons we were teaching.

Attendees

Leaders

God brought together an incredible group of leaders who persevered though all the early mornings, new pressures and responsibilities, long hours on the road, and being with people day-in and day-out. They kept serving sacrificially and cheerfully, and were a great example to me of Christ’s character. Our times of sharing from the Word and praying together were a highlight for everyone. Even though many hadn’t known each other previously, there was a special fellowship and unity in the group. True fellowship takes place when you are serving the Lord, side-by-side, and encouraging each other even when the going gets rough.

My brother Stephen is a very alert person. Always aware of his surroundings, he notices details other people don’t notice. He stays on top of all the “behind the scenes” technical elements of running the conferences. Projectors, lapel mics, speakers, sound mixer, lights, video equipment, computers, printers, scanners, you name it… Stephen seems to instinctively know how everything works and goes the extra mile to pursue excellence.

Daniel and Stephen can fix just about anything, and they had lots of opportunities to put their mechanical skills into practice (i.e. we are good at breaking things).

And by the way, thank you to those of you who were praying for the video! We haven’t viewed it yet, but we think we were able to get some good footage.

Singing with our staff on our free day

We also had a great game of Ultimate Frisbee game on our free day

The Radiant Purity Conference in Bristol, VA. The girls were very responsive and soaked up the lessons like a sponge.

What would a conference be without skits?
No hectic moments backstage, no missing ques and come-ins, no messy bins of skit props, and no bloopers to laugh about afterward…

In our “modesty panel,” we share lots of tips on how to put together modest outfits.

Here’s a true “behind the scenes” picture… Since Daniel recently edited the DVDs of the Radiant Purity Conference we did in Omaha last April, Sarah recommended we watch the skits as a “refresher” to help us with our acting. We are excited about our new DVDs…

We’re so grateful to Lindsay, Sarah and Loren who spent many hours in the church kitchen providing healthy meals for all of us (on top of all their other responsibilities and the hectic conference schedule). You may notice the large stack of Grandma cookies; we bought those for snacks for the conference attendees and…*smile*… we found we had a few too many. So let me just warn you, if you see any of our staff in the next few weeks, don’t offer them a “Grandma cookie”.

One morning while we were in Virginia, we were able to meet up with a lady who has been in contact with us regarding translating Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends into Bulgarian. It was exciting to hear stories about what the Lord is doing in Bulgarian families! She showed us one of their most recent projects– a Bulgarian translation of The True Story of Noah’s Ark.

After both conferences in Virginia were over, we, along with several of the families who helped to host the conferences, sat around eating pizza and listening to testimonies and stories from the week. It was a very special time for everyone with lots of laughter and tears.

After our time of sharing, the guys packed the trailer…

…while the girls cleaned the church. Hannah (left) a former Bright Lights intern, is the one who hosted the conferences in Bristol. Thanks again, Hannah, for your initiative and all your hard work!

After all the work was done Saturday night, we gathered around the piano and sang. It takes a while to wind down from the excitement of a conference and singing praises to the Lord was a great way to conclude the week.

“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever…He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:1, 20-22

Four Bright Lights Conferences scheduled for August!
We will be doing a Strong in the Lord Conference and a Radiant Purity Conference in Bristol, Virginia, and then we’ll repeat the same schedule in Pataskala, Ohio.

To view flyer for Bristol,VA, click here.
To view flyer for Pataskala,OH, click here
To register online, click here.

Last week we “moved in” (literally!) to Kingsway Christian Church and spent the week running two Bright Lights Conferences…

We followed our typical conference schedule:
Monday: Set up
Tuesday Evening and Wednesday: “Strong in the Lord Conference”
Thursday: Rest day
Friday Evening and Saturday: “Radiant Purity Conference”

Before each conference we spent a few hours in “teacher’s training”, discussion, and prayer. We were excited to see the Lord provide the leaders we needed for the small groups. Many of the leaders who had helped at past conferences were not able to make it this time, but the Lord raised up an awesome new team. About 20 godly older young ladies–outstanding leaders–joined us from over 9 different states. We agreed that this was definately something God brought about.

Hannah’s small group

The age range for the Strong in the Lord conference is 8-14.

One of the topics we stress at the “Strong in the Lord Conference” is the importance of reading your Bible daily. The morning after the conference while I was at the home of one of the ladies who hosted the conference for a shower, (all of us leaders sleep at the church and shuttle to homes for showers), I began chatting with Hannah (10 yrs. old), who had attended the conference.
“Did you sleep in this morning?” I asked.
“No, I got up at six,” she said sweetly, “because I was so excited to start my Bible reading plan.”
She went on to tell me what she read and what she had learned. Way to go, Hannah! Keep it up!


The skits always keep us laughing, and no matter how much we prepare and organize… it’s still crazy backstage, right girls?!


“Cowgirl Bekah”, (along with Alexandra), cooked several meals for our staff throughout the week. And as you can see, she doesn’t stop acting when she is offstage. Thanks again, Bekah and Alexandra, for all your patient work in the kitchen — even when the potatoes wouldn’t cook!!


Having the Wissmann girls join us at the conference was definitely a special treat! Each of their songs and testimonies added a beautiful dimension to the conference. We’re grateful to God for arranging their schedule so that they could come join us.




The Bright Lights group in Omaha sang a song for us that was written by the mother of one of the girls in their group. We really liked the song, and now we are excited to teach the song to our own Bright Lights group in Cedar Rapids.


The cool down after the “Strong in the Lord Conference” was refreshing. After a non-stop day, it was wonderful to relax on a beautiful evening and listen to stories and reports from the conference.

Happy Birthday, Stephen! Stephen has a pretty high-pressure job all week as he keeps the technical side of everything running smoothly. We are also very grateful for the other guys who came along to help with video.
We’ve been trying to get the conferences recorded for years, but there have been countless obstacles. We decided to try–yet again—to tape the conference, but we needed sufficient lighting and good camera men.
A couple weeks ago some good friends, Daniel and Samuel Roberts, contacted us and volunteered to help with video at the conference if we needed it. Of course, we said “yes”, and they drove all the way from Alabama to Nebraska to help. They are experienced camera men and did an excellent job. Combined with the three other young men from our town, Andrew, Issac, and John, we had just the video team we needed.
In addition, the church had great lighting because they used to broadcast their services. Coupled with our own lights we brought, we were able to produce sufficient lighting for the video. The sessions and skits went well, and we think that we actually may have gotten the video footage we need this time!


On our free day, our team enjoyed some much-needed rest and recuperation which included extra sleep, an afternoon at the park, ultimate Frisbee, a relaxed dinner, birthday dessert for Stephen, and a nice time of singing with instruments in the evening. Yes, it felt wonderful.


Here is my small group from the Radiant Purity conference! I appreciated their honesty and good insights!

Sarah is affectionately nicknamed our “fearless leader”… Sarah, what can I say about you?! You definitely have a way of communicating truth to young ladies in a practical, understandable way. Thank you for the difference you’ve made in all of our lives.

What you don’t see in this picture is the tears in many eyes. As I took this picture, Tami, our wonderful hostess, (in pink) was sharing through tears how clearly she saw the Lord bringing this conference together and how excited she is for what HE is still going to do. Thoughout our whole pizza and sharing time we heard report after report of encouraging ways the Lord worked throughout the week.

In Joshua 24:2-13 we see the Lord reminding Israel of how HE was the One who had really done the work in bringing them into the promised land. Joshua 24:12 says, “And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.”As we reflected over the conference, it was so obvious to us that the LORD fought the battle last week – not us. May HE continually receive all the glory and all the praise from our hearts!

We are excited to announce our next Strong in the Lord and Radiant Purity Conferences scheduled for April 14-18th — only 3 weeks away!

Click here to view flyer / registration form.

See our schedule page for more info.

To see pictures and reports from previous conferences, click here or here! If you can’t make it to the conference, we’d so appreciate it if you would keep us–and the attendees–in your prayers!

…Our last conference here in Singapore and Malaysia! The conference went smooth (PTL!), and we were encouraged by the response of the attendees. The whole idea of an alternative to dating was new to many.


These are the girls in my discussion group. We discussed many topics such as the importance of saving your whole heart for one man, how to keep your mind pure, accepting the way God created you, honoring/communicating with parents, modesty, how to deal with crushes in the right way, etc.

We all enjoyed a time of sharing Saturday evening after the conference. Each leader shared encouraging reports from the discussional group she led. And, of course, we had many laughs…

We are so grateful for our “team” in SE Asia. Pictured above are some of the girls (and moms) who helped lead the conferences this year. It’s not possible to do Bright Lights conferneces without young ladies to lead the small group times, but God provided this team of godly young ladies in SE Asia who filled this role. They rose to each challenge that was thrown at them and did a wonderful job.

Guess what? We are HOME now! It feels wonderful. More reports and pictures from the trip coming soon!

Radiant Purity Conference Attendees

The Radiant Purity Conference here in Lansing ended Thursday evening. By the Lord’s grace everything came together and many girls expressed to us how the Lord was changing their hearts.