Bellevue Bright Lights: August 2012

Sunday, August 5, 2012

What a Wonderful Conference!

A huge THANK YOU to the amazing women who helped to put on our first (and highly successful) Radiant Purity conference - Amanda B., Vanessa S. (who also hosted 11 conference attendees from up north!), Vanessa J. and her husband Abram (our wonderful last minute technical guy!!), and Nan, our fantastic Redmond Assembly of God liaison and helper! Thank you also to Anna and Melodie K., who blessed us by leading one of the small groups. Thank you to Danyel B. who assisted Vanessa J. with the youngest breakout group. Thank you to Vanessa S. for facilitating the mom's breakout and to Amanda for helping me with the older girls group. A HUGE thank you to Redmond Assembly of God for allowing us to use their beautiful facility! Last, but certainly not least, thank you to the supportive husbands and for all the help they gave in making our conference the wonderful event it was....

We had 25 girls and 11 moms at final count...a huge change from the 3 girls who were officially registered as of a couple weeks ago. In fact, due to the low numbers, we had decided to actually postpone our conference for this coming February. But, as has been the case all along with this conference, the Lord had other ideas!

Originally, we wanted to host a Strong in the Lord conference...but the Lord made it clear we were to do a Radiant Purity event. We wanted to set the date for June...but the Lord wanted it in August. We wanted to cancel because it seemed no one was interested...but the Lord wanted us to have faith and to "not despise the day of small things" - we all 3 got this verse from Zechariah 4:10!! Thank you also, Bekah, for your encouragement in proceeding forward as planned...we truly were blessed just as you said we would be :)

The 3 goals for our conference were answered: many people mentioned how blessed they and their daughters were by the material, a new local BL group may be forming, and it looks like we'll be getting a few more gals joining our own Bellevue Bright Lights group!

What a lovely group of moms and daughters! Unfortunately, 5 gals and 3 mom's are missing from this group shot...

What is a Bright Light?

It is a girl who has given her life to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone for salvation and for the grace to live each day according to His will. It is a girl who knows how to respond "just right" to people and circumstances, demonstrating godliness in her actions and attitudes. It is a girl who has Biblical convictions and commitments (holiness), and is able to go through her teenage years strong for the Lord without stumbling as many do. It is a girl who touches the lives of others by her servant’s spirit, her radiant countenance, and the message of eternal life through Jesus Christ (testimony). God wants bright lights! There is a great need for more of them in this generation of darkness.

What does a typical meeting look like?

What is a Typical Meeting Like? If you were to attend a Bright Lights meeting, what would it be like? At each meeting the leader shares a lesson covering important topics that are essential for girls in order for them to be strong for the Lord in their youth, such as:

Developing a Close Relationship with Parents
Gaining a Clear Conscience
Spending Time in God’s Word Everyday
Keeping Yourself Pure from Polluting Influences
Accepting the Way God Created You
Choosing Wise Friends
Contentment
Sensitivity
Humility
Self-control

The lesson is reinforced by testimonies from older girls in the group. At Bright Lights meetings, we also enjoy singing, fellowshipping with likeminded young ladies, listening to biographies of great Christians from history, preparing for future ministry opportunities, enjoying other activities together, and snacks (often with tea in china tea cups).

Each girl receives a Bright Lights binder that she brings with her to the meetings each week. After each lesson, she receives a new handout to add to her binder. The Bright Lights curriculum is organized into eight sets which you can view here.

Statement of Faith

1. Everyone has sinned and broken God’s laws. Because the penalty for sin is death, each of us deserve to spend eternity in hell in separation from God. We are totally incapable of achieving heaven on our own. There is no way we can be good enough to attain forgiveness from sin or achieve eternal life by our own works.
2. God so loved the world that He gave His only son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from our sin. Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again on the third day. He paid the penalty for our sin and took the punishment that we deserved.
3. Forgiveness and the free gift of eternal life is offered to anyone who will repent of their sin, and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Redemption is wholly by the blood of Christ, and salvation is by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and the final authority for our lives. It is literal, historical, and infallible.
5. There is one God, eternally existent in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
6. The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God, born of a virgin, sinlessly perfect. His sacrifice is substitutionary and representative. He rose bodily from the dead and ascended to His Father’s right hand, where He now ministers as our Great High Priest.
7. Jesus Christ is coming again to rapture His church, and subsequently to return and reign over the earth.
8. God created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing) by His spoken word in six literal days as the Bible states.
9. There will be a resurrection of both the saved and the lost to either eternal life or eternal judgment.
10. A true child of God who is justified by the blood of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit is safe and exempt from God’s judgment and thus secure for eternity.