Grace Notes

Bright Lights Conferences/Bright Lights International

Kangaroos Interfere with Bright Lights Conferences

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Savannah and her mom got up in the middle of the night to begin traveling to Lilydale, Victoria, where the Bright Lights conferences were being held. They knew they had a very long drive ahead of them. Unfortunately they had some obstacles to navigate around: kangaroos jumping in the road. They explained to me how one kangaroo was actually jumping along in front of their vehicle, keeping them from going the usual speed. Eventually they decided to pull off onto the side of the road for a while to wait for the kangaroos to clear.

On Thursday Sarah taught a Leader’s Training. We were so excited that forty-four girls and moms came. We were even more excited that many of them are seriously interested in beginning a Bright Lights group!

On Friday and Saturday we ran the Radiant Purity conference, and then on Monday we taught the Strong in the Lord conference.

Brownie lost his head during the Brownie skit. “Brownie, hold yourself together!” Cowgirl Bekah exclaimed while handing his head back to him–er–her. [smile]

I think we all agreed Jolynn was pretty funny as the “day-dreamer” in the CBN News Report skit during the purity conference.

There were many priceless moments during the conferences in Australia. Hard moments to capture on a blog … most happened during individual one-to-one interactions and during small group times. Australians have much less opportunity to attend live conferences like this, and many came from long distances.

Our prayer is that the seeds of God’s Word that were sown in girls’ hearts will continue to bear fruit and grow, affecting all of Australia and beyond. We know that as individuals make decisions to deny themselves and follow Christ, their influence affects many more.

After the Radiant Purity conference one girl told Sarah that her life had been changed. She is planning to end a relationship that she knows is not God’s will, to live for the Lord now, and also to begin a Bright Lights group with her mom!

Grace Wong giving final announcements as we concluded the Radiant Purity Conference. Grace has been leading a Bright Lights group in Australia for a couple years now, and she and her family were the main ones who organized and hosted the conferences. She did an excellent job, and we are so grateful for the hard work she and her family put into this. So many others also sacrificed to help in big ways.

Our team of leaders who helped us lead the conferences. We snapped this picture Saturday night after we were all tired out and about ready to start saying goodbye. Just like He does in every country, the Lord brought together a beautiful team of leaders who love Him and display it in their lives. It is so special to go to a “far away land” and yet be right at home with sisters who are so like-minded.

Besides for the three conferences, we also had some opportunities to enjoy Australia. The trees and animals in Australia are so different. It was really fun to wake up to unique bird calls. After feeding this bird, Jolynn ran into a little unforeseen problem. “Um…How do I tell the bird I want it to go now?”

Tuesday evening was a highlight for all of us as we went to the Langford’s house for dinner and had a really special evening. The delicious meal got even better when the kangaroos started hopping out. Talk about dinner entertainment – watching real kangaroos in the wild!

Though difficult to see in this picture, there were dozens of kangaroos hopping around out there.

I still have a lot to post so I will be putting up more pictures and reports soon.

Bright Lights Conferences/Bright Lights International/Radiant Purity Conferences/Strong in the Lord Conf.

Singapore Bright Lights Conferences

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Singapore Conferences!

Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell B Vanderbon have taken on … um … a new look look for these overseas conferences. Dani has definitely exceeded what I thought a girl could do playing Mr. Maxwell.

The good thing was that I could actually get this dress zipped up. When we do overseas conferences we ask local people to help find skit props. Some Asian people are kind of … um, small! [smile]

Small groups!

This picture is of Reena (in white), a 26-yr old girl who is now engaged, sharing with my small group about how the Lord had changed her thinking in the area of purity and relationships. The girls loved hearing her share, and it was really a provision from the Lord to have her with us!

Dads praying for their daughters

Moms praying for their daughters

“Cool down” time with staff and those who had helped to host the conference, sharing stories.

Eating pizza and ice cream with flavors we don’t get in the States…red bean, durian, jackfruit …

This is something else we were eating that I’m going to miss! … it’s a soft bean curd desert with a sweet syrup-like sauce.

There is so much more to share, I feel that this is a very inadequate representation of the Singapore conferences. Right now we are in Australia. It has been an extremely full week and blogging hasn’t been top priority, but I will definitely be posting more reports soon. Sarah and Nickie are packing suitcases now as I write this. We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning to fly home.

It doesn’t feel like Christmas yet, especially since I have a sunburn! We’ve had an amazing trip, and we are going home to snowy Iowa for Christmas with full hearts of gratefulness and awesome memories. More reports coming soon.

Bright Lights Conferences

Adventures in Kuala Lumpur

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Wow, I’m definitely behind in sharing what has been happening. Since the last blog post, we’ve had two conferences in Kuala Lumpur, two conferences in Singapore, and now we’re in Australia. For now, I’m just going to give a short report of our time in KL, with more reports coming soon. (Depending on how much time + internet access I have. 🙂 )

We adjusted the schedule in KL so that each conference was just one day. Friday was the “Strong in the Lord” Conference, and Saturday was the “Radiant Purity” Conference. In a way, the weekend felt like it went by like one crazy blur [smile], but we really saw the Lord working in girls’ lives!

Bekah’s small group at the Strong in the Lord Conference.

Nickie kept very busy at the book table. It was encouraging to see how thirsty the moms were for discipleship materials for their families.

Although Stephen wasn’t with us, the Lord provided some other young men from the church. We really appreciated all their help and time. (Running sound isn’t always an easy job at a Bright Lights conference because of so many different actors coming and leaving stage during the skits.)

This is what we ate for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning at an Indian restaurant. These “fried pancakes” (roti prata) come in many shapes and sizes, and this one was about 3 ft tall.

…with sweetened condensed milk on the inside.

I’ve heard my dad give his “Rebekah” message from Genesis 24 many times at churches, but this was the first time I heard it with Chinese translation! (The church that hosted the conference had a Chinese church that met simultaneously to the English service.) This is one of my dad’s “life messages” upon which we have based many aspects of our ministry.

It’s been great having my parents with us. They flew in to KL and joined us the day before the conference started. Things are always better when they are along.

BUT the big surprise happened a week later when Stephen flew in to help with the Singapore conferences. He’s with us now in Australia. Having him with us has definitely been a highlight of the trip for me and Sarah. 🙂 It was a last minute decision.

Traveling light is not really a possibility when you are bringing a sound system, book table supplies, and misc. conference materials in your suitcases…plus traveling for 7 weeks. It definitely made bus trips extra interesting. We are VERY grateful to the many kind people here who have helped us with transporting them. I’ve also been gaining more insights on Hebrews 12:1. (Haha.)

Wherever we go, one of the highlights is always simply getting to know the people. This night was just a relaxed evening with a couple other families.

One evening we out with several young people who we got to know when they attended the University of Iowa. Their friend, Xin Hui, came to our church, and we got to know them through her. Sarah e-mailed them in advance saying we’d be in KL, and they took us to a nice Chinese restaurant. They also gave me a “green tea / red bean” cake for my birthday. It was great! [smile]

One evening, we got together with a Chinese church of new believers. It was refreshing to hear their vibrant testimonies and share with them some of the lessons the Lord has taught us.

As I mentioned, we are in Australia now. (Trying to keep warm, haha!)

Please PRAY for the Bright Lights Leaders Training that Sarah is teaching tomorrow. Last I heard, 44 girls and moms were attending. This is pretty large number for a Leader’s Training– normally these trainings are with a smaller group. It would be great to see more Bright Lights groups begin in Australia. The Radiant Purity Conference begins the next day.

Bright Lights Conferences

“My Life is Like a Flower”

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At the last conference in Melaka, the Bright Lights was not an independent event, but the girls’ track in a home school conference.

The picture above is the parents’ sessions. Homeschooling is more difficult for families here in many ways. It was refreshing to talk with families from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore who are desiring to be different from the world and raise their families for the kingdom of God. It’s refreshing to have that “instant fellowship” with like-minded families on the other side of the world. God is raising up a remnant of young people for His glory all over the world [smile]!

This is a short video of “our girls” singing for their parents on the last day of the conference. Since our theme with the girls this year was “Sing a New Song,” we taught them a new song called, “My Life is Like A Flower.” It speaks of how our lives go by so quickly and we want each day to be a “song sung to Jesus.”

Report from today: Today we have been setting up at the church where we will be running the Bright Lights conferences here in KL, Malaysia. My parents just arrived this morning and had a great flight. We will be running 2 one-day conferences tomorrow and the next day. My dad will be helping to run a young men’s conference simultaneously. Please pray that the next 48 hours would be fruitful for the Lord.

“O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” Psalm 96:1-6

Bright Lights Conferences/Singapore and Malaysia

Malaysia Conference, Friends, and Fish :)

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Thanking the Lord for the privilege of working with such special girls for three days. They were SO sweet. So affectionate, appreciative, eager to learn and grow … so much fun to be with!


“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment…” 1 Peter 3:3 Each of the girls at the Bright Lights conference in Melaka, Malaysia made a little reminder to take home of one of the lessons taught—inward beauty. The world chases after a fading beauty and cherishes the “shell.” We, instead, chase after Christ and cherish the pearl of knowing Him. Philippians 3:8 says, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…”

Jolynn and Carolynn (Bright Lights leaders in Singapore who both lead a BL group there) planned the theme this year: “Sing a New Song.” They did so much work and planning and did a fantastic job!

This was a fun activity. The girls fill the glasses with just the right amount of water to make five notes on a scale so that when you tap the glasses with a spoon so you can play a song.

Bekah teaching memory verses

Saturday evening we ate a delicious Chinese dinner with the Tehs – leaders in the home school community here.

I don’t know which was more entertaining- seeing Mr. Teh remove the fish eyeballs from the fish head and suck them (a Chinese delicacy) or watching the the reactions of the Americans around him.

After dinner we also went to Jonker street – a popular night market in Melaka. Very neat place to go! Very little “personal bubble space,” lol, but that’s just part of the fun experience. [smile]

Yesterday after walking around and getting some things to eat at the bus station in Kuala Lumpur, we learned that we were going to be there for another hour and a half. So we decided it was a good time for a Sunday afternoon Bible study. Surrounded by our mound of suitcases, we all turned to Hebrews 12 and had such a good discussion. This has been one of the best parts of Bright Lights conferences this fall season…. all the interesting Bible studies we’ve been able to enjoy together in various places [smile]! So fun to “put your heads together” on a passage hear others’ insights.

We continued the discussion this morning and talked for a while about how God disciplines us (Hebrews 12:5-12). Although He chastises us, but He does not punish us (people saved through faith in Jesus) for our sins because Jesus took that punishment on the cross. Later today, Sarah reminded us of a quote from David Brainard that says, “Oh methinks if He would punish me for my sins, it would not wound my heart so deep to offend Him; but though I sin continually, yet He continually repeats His kindness to me.”

I went on a shopping trip last night here in Kuala Lumpur. You really see what you’re getting when you buy fish in Malaysia! And you really smell it too. [smile]

I wonder how to choose which fish to buy? Maybe whichever one looks the friendliest?

Bright Lights Conferences/Singapore and Malaysia

Bright Lights Conference in Melaka, Malaysia

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After a beautiful drive through the Malaysian countryside, we arrived in Melaka a few days ago.

Took this picture after dinner at a little outdoor Indian restaurant near our hotel.

Most of the last two days have been spent doing “teacher’s training” with the Asian girls who are helping us to lead the conference. Here Jolynn (in red) is sharing with the group. She and Carolyn (from Singapore) have done so much work in organizing this conference, and it’s been fantastic to see so many other Asian girls involved as well and rising to leadership. They’re all doing a terrific job!!


Shopping trip for craft supplies for the conference.

The conference started this morning! We have a great group of girls and it has been such a good day. The conference will run three days (ending Saturday).

We keep talking among ourselves (Americans) about how sweet the girls are here! It is so fun to work with them. The girls are mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and there are some from China.

Please pray that the Lord would accomplish much in the hearts of these girls in the next two days!

Singapore and Malaysia

In Singapore!

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We have been in Singapore for 2 days now and things are going very well. Our friends here have been taking very good care of us.


Last night Jolynn’s family made a special meal for us and we enjoyed catching up after four years. We had a good discussion about discipleship and how our primary goal must always be to get people into the Word. This morning I was reading Matthew 12 and thinking about how our goal is to focus on “roots” not “fruits” because when the roots are good the fruit will come. Jesus said “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit” (Matthew 12:33).


Sarah, Jolynn and Josiah in front of a flee market, waiting for the rest of our group. We went down to Orchard Road (the busiest shopping area in Singapore) to go “fishing.”


Danielle and Nickie are talking with a new friend they met. Nickie began talking with “Tria” and her friend, and then they invited Nickie and Dani to get something to eat with them.
“Well, how about if you come join our group for dinner,” Nickie suggested. They agreed, and we spent the next two hours getting acquainted and discussing views about spiritual beliefs. Tria’s friend had to leave part way through, but Tria stayed with us until we left the mall. She mentioned, “You are different than the Americans I see on TV … and I respect that.” The sad truth is that the image Americans have over here is exactly that… what they see on TV, movies, and billboards. Danielle explained to her: “You know how some Muslims aren’t devout and just call themselves ‘Muslim’? In America, many aren’t truly Christian but just call themselves “Christian.” Dani emphasized how we prefer sometimes to call ourselves “followers of Jesus.” We were so glad for that time to talk with Tria about so many important things and we know we are going to stay in touch!

Here’s the coconut I bought tonight to put in the refrigerator for breakfast tomorrow. That is, if I don’t eat it before then. They’re sooo good…especially the meat you can scrape from the inside. After carrying it for about 45 minutes on public transportation, that is one valuable coconut.

Bright Lights Conferences/Strong in the Lord Conf.

More Bright Lights in Alaska

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The Strong in the Lord conference last weekend

View from the parking lot of the church

There’s nothing better to prepare you for an Alaska Bright Lights conference than reindeer sausage for breakfast, right?! (Thanks again, Mr. Vassar! 🙂 )

Just as attendees were beginning to arrive the easel fell over. Here Sarah is discovering that one of the lights broke. Thankfully Simon (son of one of the host families) got it all fixed in time.

Bryant simultaneously fixing a broken harp string …

Stephen meeting with the sound man from the church before the conference started

We had barely any problems with sound at this conference since Stephen was there. He has always had a way of fixing things that go wrong, so his presence at a conference removes a lot of stress from the rest of us.

Not to mention he even brought us Starbucks mochas to split up … a very appreciated surprise!

And he gets us all laughing … (this picture was taken at the Vassar’s house after the conference).

But back to the conference. Here’s Sarah, a girl in the Alaska Bright Lights group, arriving at the conference Saturday morning. (The sun doesn’t rise until about 10am so this was the first time we’ve had people arrive at a BL conference Sat. morning in the dark!)

Morning devotions in the small groups … (which includes balloon popping).

Kelly Jo, an attendee from a couple hours away, really bonded with Abby, her small group leader. It was a difficult goodbye!

Although there were new challenges and new obstacles in Alaska, we are going to look back on our time time there as a time we really saw the Lord work. For example, here is something a very honest father wrote on his response form:

“[The conference] reinforced that my responsibility as a father is so huge, and I am failing so bad, a lot of head knowledge not as much heart, time is running out … Please pray that I would make the decision to truly serve the Lord with my whole life, I’ve been serving two masters and my family is suffering because of it, that’s not my intent but that’s what’s happening.”

We also had some special opportunities outside the conferences. Our team went over to the home of Vangie (a girl in Alaska who joined our team for the week) to sing for her father, who has been in a wheelchair/bed for many years. Though our team went over hoping to be a blessing to him, but it turned out that Mr. and Mrs. Alexander were such a blessing to our team! They shared many stories about how the Lord has been their rock through the difficult times they have gone through. There were quite a few tears that afternoon!

It was so sweet to see how excited Bethany, Bekah’s little sister, was as they picked Bekah up at the airport.

We are flying out tomorrow morning for Singapore. Bekah and Danielle both were not feeling well over the 2 days we were home … we’d appreciate prayer for health / rest on the plane and also for opportunities to be a light.

Miscellaneous

Moose, Porcupine, and Witnessing!

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Thank you for all of your prayers today for our materials in Singapore. Currently Customs is closed for the weekend. We will let you know what we learn on Monday.

The “Strong in the Lord” Conference started tonight and ends tomorrow at 6pm. I will be posting a report about it soon. For now, here are a few reports from the week.

Wednesday our team went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and saw moose, grizzly bears, elk, bison, lynx, etc. We had a nice time watching them and trying to get them to socialize (i.e. come closer so we could see them better).

A moose

Of all the animals the porcupine was definitely the most excited to see us….

Wednesday evening Jessica Vassar (left) asked if we could go witnessing. So she, her sister Gabby (right) and I went to a local coffee shop in search of someone to share the gospel with.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out who to talk to and how to start the conversation, we decided to do our own little Halloween questionnaire, asking questions such as, “What do you think happens when someone dies?” This helped us get a conversation started with two high school girls which went pretty well.

Then we began talking with a girl who was sitting by herself. It became evident very quickly that she was a believer, and when I gave her Living Waters’ “Good Person Comic” tract, she said that she had been wanting more of those to use in witnessing but didn’t know where to order them! So I gave her a stack. [smile]. We talked for a while and found we were like-minded in many ways. We were very encouraged by this conversation and by the way the Lord arranged that.

The girls in the Bright Lights group here wanted to do a witnessing outreach with our group while we were here. We decided to go witnessing door to door on Halloween, giving little “gift baggies” (instead of taking candy) and sharing the gospel by using our our little Halloween questionnaire. We divided into 7 teams and reached about 100 houses. We were surprised by people’s receptiveness and had many good conversations! Before we froze entirely [smile], we all piled in vehicles and gathered at a nearby home for hot chocolate and sharing reports (pictured above). It was a very special evening I don’t think I will ever forget!

Miscellaneous

Urgent Prayer Request

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Please pray for the pallet of materials we shipped to Singapore for the Bright Lights conferences. It is currently being held up by Singapore Customs. Singapore has special rules for DVDs and they have rejected our shipment due to the DVDs we have on the pallet. If Customs rejects the DVDs they will ship the entire pallet back to us.