It’s tough to be a girl in today’s culture. Society puts heavy pressure on girls to be obsessed with aesthetics, image, and labels through celebrity culture, commercial advertisements, and the plethora of social media, apps, AI, and other technologies. The chaos and confusion make it all too easy for them to look to outside sources (influencers from Insta, Tik-Tok, and Reddit; friends; romantic relationships; academics; sports; and more) to find acceptance and self-worth or to form an identity.
Unfortunately, these cultural guides are like “shifting sand.” When life inevitably changes (sports injury, a move, a break-up, bad grades), for girls whose sense of worth is not anchored in Christ, the changes often become the source of an identity crisis, generating anxiety, isolation, or depression.
Instead, girls should be encouraged to remember who they are depends on whose they are. And they are God’s girls. Identity isn’t truthfully derived from other people’s opinions or cultural sources. We can’t even assign ourselves true value and worth. Only our Creator has the right to define us. He created us in His image, and when we fell into sin, He did everything necessary to make us worthy, to restore our relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He calls His girls to shine His light and expose lies with His truth. That’s what Shine! conferences are all about.
Shine! Is Life-changing.
Shine! has been incredibly impactful for the young ladies and women in the Central Midwest area. Cross Point Free Will Baptist Church had the amazing opportunity to host the conference in 2023. The one-day event helped women (of all ages) find their place and purpose as they prepared for an event that would be life-changing for teens who attended. This event was multi-church, multigenerational, and multi-denominational, which was incredible for our younger generation to see. We are truly better when we work together!
Throughout the conference, young ladies had an opportunity to worship, hear biblical teaching, and enjoy hanging out with friends and leaders. Many heard teaching that helped them understand their value and worth for the first time, resulting in salvation decisions and spiritual growth. Speakers spoke with boldness and transparency as they declared God’s Word, Christ’s love, and His forgiveness. When the 2024 dates were announced, our young ladies were eager to attend and came to this year’s event expecting God to move in their lives.
I am very thankful for Shine! and the impact the conference is making in the lives of young ladies. Additionally, Shine! helped energize women within our churches to invest in and equip our young women for Christ. Shine! is certainly a “better together” and “everyone everywhere” event.
— Deirdre Vickers, Wichita, KS
Shine! Is Exciting.
In March 2023, the ladies at Cultivate Free Will Baptist Church were privileged to host a Shine! event. The event was well attended, with more than a hundred teen girls, along with moms, pastors’ wives, and youth workers. The excitement in the building built quickly as the girls were greeted at the door with gift bags, a coffee bar, a hair tinsel station, and photo booth opportunities.
When the services began with Cultivate’s worship team leading the girls in songs of praise to the Lord, the excitement grew even more! It was such a joy to hear so many teenage girls lift their voices in worship. The speakers for the day shared their testimonies and Scripture, exactly what the young ladies in attendance needed to hear.
Hosting a Shine! event was such a blessing for me as a pastor’s wife. Cultivate is a church plant, and this was the first time most of our ladies had been part of any event like this. It was a joy for us to plan, decorate, prepare food, assemble gift bags, practice music, and prepare to speak. On the day of the event, I stood with tears in my eyes as I watched my precious friends serve the younger generation. We ended that day praising God for what He had done and asking when we could do it again!
— Melanie Franks, Athens, AL
Shine! Is a Journey in Obedience.
I am grateful to God for the doors He has opened as I’ve stepped forward in obedience. I appreciate WNAC allowing me to host the 2024 Shine! conference at Randall University. Reflecting on this conference, I am reminded of God’s guidance, particularly in my commitment to teaching and encouraging young women (Titus 2:3).
Driven by a heartfelt desire to bridge the generational gap in our Free Will Baptist churches, we first engaged mature women by organizing prayer groups in each church. Additionally, due to the generosity of many churches, we were able to give away more than a hundred baskets filled with tangible expressions of love and support for the young attendees. These baskets included testimonial letters, encouraging these young women to embrace biblical womanhood.
The conference theme, “Are You Brave Enough to Be a Biblical Woman?” was carefully chosen to address the secular worldview that pressures our girls today. Through biblical teachings and examples of courageous, biblical women, attendees were inspired to glorify God, follow the Lord Jesus faithfully, proclaim His gospel, and trust Him as provider and protector. Drawing from Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee,” we found assurance that God equips us to embody biblical womanhood.
Hosting this conference was a journey of obedience. God’s kindness was evident in the attendance of over 500, the representation of 66 churches, and the financial help from churches in the Oklahoma City area to host the event at Randall University. I am certain the Holy Spirit was present. I cling to the promise in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void.”
Without reservation, I can sing, “Behold our God, He is seated on His throne!”
— Carol Thompson, Moore, Oklahoma
You’re Not Enough, but God Is!
“You are enough.”
This platitude is plastered on fancy stainless-steel cups, painted on beautiful wall art, and posted on social media a million times a day. It’s meant to console and comfort those who draw identity and worth from achievement or the approval of others. Like every other false gospel, it’s a works-based system. At first, it sounds like freedom — there’s no need for transformation — just resting in our “awesome” selves and being “enough,” right?
Before long, however, we face the reality of our own brokenness. “Being enough” becomes an impossibly heavy burden in a never-ending cycle — a hamster wheel of good works and self-betterment that leaves us teetering on the edge of exhaustion and disillusionment.
Sweet sisters, the effects of sin and the fall were too far-reaching for any of us ever to be enough. This lie must be exposed and rejected. Our worth was never meant to be assigned by others, nor were we meant to find it within. Our inexpressible value comes from being made in the image of our Creator, and what makes us worthy is His “enough-ness” in our place, through His death on the cross and glorious resurrection. When our faith is placed in Christ, His perfection and righteousness are counted as our own — no more striving in self and slavery to sin. He adopts us as His own, daughters made worthy at a high cost, equipped to shine His light in the darkness.
