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.
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 
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. 
Adjusting cameras 
Samuel, Nathan and Daniel unloading another box of cables
Setting up the lights
On Thursday, in between conferences, we had a great time hiking in Grayson Highlands State Park.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to be out there in the woods!
God blessed us with a beautiful breezy day and I sort of felt like I was walking inside a beautiful painting. One of the highlights of the day was just spending more time with the others in our group. We don’t always have much time to talk while running the conferences.
It was so beautiful Lauren just couldn’t quit hiking –even after her shoes wore out! 
It was fun to get acquainted with the friendly free-range ponies in the park. They were so cute.
After we were all tired and hungry, we enjoyed a great lasagna dinner out on the Stam’s back deck. The Stams are the family who hosted both the Strong in the Lord Conference and the Radiant Purity Conference (which I’m going to post about next) in Bristol. They have a wonderful family and we so appreciate all the sacrifices they’ve made to bring these conferences here!
Praying with our group of leaders before the conference starts.
Girls and mothers arriving
…picking up their name tags…
…and gathering for the main session.
Throughout the conference we go back and forth between the main sessions and small group times. The groups have names such as “Stars”, “Fireflies”, “Flashlights”, etc.
“What was your favorite part of the conference?” I often ask the girls. “The skits!” they often reply with a little grin and twinkle in their eye. 
We use the skits to reinforce what we’re teaching. This skit is called “The Conscience Skit” and teaches the importance of confessing your sin and keeping a clear conscience.
The “CBN Broadcast Skit” 
We concluded the conference with candles and encouraging the girls to “…Let Your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and praise your father in Heaven…!” (Matthew 5:16)
“How should we arrange these signs so the girls can find their small group rooms easily?” “Should we put it there?”
“Or should we put it here?”
“Oh, this is so confusing!”
After dinner and a time of music, my dad shared with everyone the three major world-changing events of history. Can anyone guess what they are? I know, you’re probably wondering how he narrowed it down to “three”. It’s not a major war, not electricity, not the automobile, or anything like that.
One of our new friends had a good time trying the harp.
Yu Chen and Stephen