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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”

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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.

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Hannah’s small group

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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! 🙂

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

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“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!!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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

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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.

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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!

19 comments

  1. That looks like so much fun!! I really hope you can come down later in the year:)

  2. My daughter and I had the pleasure of being at the Strong for the Lord seminar and we had a great time. Melanie would not stop talking about it. Thank you so much for that oppertunity. It made me think differently as a mom and my role for Melanie. Sincerely, Tanya

  3. Wow, it was an amazing week! I think we were just as blessed (or more) as the moms and their girls were. 🙂 Miss you, Sarah and Grace.

  4. Your post made me cry Grace!

    Thanks for sharing. I am glad to hear about the Lord’s working at the conferences and over the whole trip! I was praying for you all! <3

    Love you,
    Laura

  5. It was amazing to see all that the Lord did through this conference!!! HE gets all the glory!

  6. I had the blessing of working with the video crew, and WOW, did we have a good last minute, thrown together crew, especially for not being pros. And if we get to do it again sometime, we’ll do sooooo much better on the next time around, trust me.

  7. I was so excited to read the report of the conferences in Omaha, and what a blessing they were! So glad they went well! 🙂

  8. Praise the Lord for all He has done! How beautiful to know that this is only the beginning of all that He is going to do in the hearts of the young women He touched through the conferences! I am praying right now for continued fruit in each life… May the Lord bless, encourage, and strengthen you and your family as you continue to serve Him! Thanks for the update, Grace!

  9. Grace! I didn’t give you permission to put those pictures up of me!!!! But, I guess I deserve it because I made all of those goofy faces. LOL

    This was a fabulous conference, and it was amazing to see the Lord clearly working in the lives of everyone there. Thanks for posting about it!

  10. Grace, Could you give me an idea of where you get your skits? Have you written them yourselves? Thanks!

  11. Thank you for the update and pictures, Grace! It sounds like you had a wonderful conference- praise the Lord for the way He is working through Bright Lights!

  12. Hi Grace, i am soo glad Isaac sang and played his guitar for you all! Tell your mom thank you from the Injeti family here for giving him this chance to serve. :)Love Supriya

  13. Kate: Yes, we write the skits.
    Supriya: I’m sure you all miss Issac in India. Tell YOUR family thank you for sharing him with us. 🙂

  14. Wish we could have been there. Once only an hour away, but now living in Texas, but be assurred Sara – you are touching the hearts of girls in more places than just the midwest. We now live in Texas and your book is a “must read” according to our 14 year old. Can I recommend conferences further south (Texas perhaps)?!?!?! We have a church that would host you and plenty of families that would be willing to help out! Would love to attend!

  15. Please give Sarah a big hug from me and tell her thank you for her encouragment and prayers you both are great blessing to me too

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