Quick Women of Faith Update

I had a marvelous time again this year, volunteering at Portland's Women of Faith event behind the scenes. This is my 10th or 11th year volunteering, and my third as a runner for the speakers/talents. The funny part of working with the speakers is that I never get any good pictures or autographs! But I get to talk and be with them; every one I've every worked has been so real.

My assignment for the Friday Feature (daytime) was Sandi Patty. I really like her as a person and I so appreciate all she's worked through with God to come back as a performer in the Christian community. My favorite earlier music of hers is from the album LeVoyage and is called Little Narrow Gate.


The next several shots are from my cell phone and SO BLURRY!! But, they're the only tangible memories I have so I'm posting!

These are the six Talent Runners for this year: Brenda A who was our "Wrangler" (head honcho), Julie S from Gresham, Heather P from Spokane, Me, Brenda S from Salem, and Bev who also flew down from Spokane.

This is one of the Sign Language Interpreters, Liska. She also is the one who snapped our group shot.

Interesting note about these two shots; we're sitting in the backstage Speaker Catering lounge where we did NOT usually hang out. However, we were all on standby because of a suspected pipe bomb found in an upstairs bathroom at the arena. I didn't know there was a problem at first, and so actually managed to bumble right onto the scene. Three of us rode on the elevator with a police officer (who was responding) and joked a little about all the "rowdy" women who attended the event (we were kidding). Then, we come off the elevators right in the middle of the area that was surrounded by yellow caution tape. Not wanting to duck under said tape, we of course walked right up to the bathroom doors to move the end of the tape and walk around. I shopped for a few minutes, then we were all called on our radios to quickly report back downstairs. Then speakers were all sent to wait on the shuttle buses, we runners were allowed to sit in the lounge, and eventually everyone was evacuated - 10,000 participants! SO, no Friday night portion of the event.

However, what was intended for evil did NOT prevail. Women showed up bright and early on Saturday and were not scared away. The WOF team managed to re-work with schedules and the worship, the speakers, the dramas, the concerts ... all were amazing. Such truths were shared and again lives changed through a gathering of Christian women.

This is my only "star" photo, snapped during the book signing at the very end of a very long day (came an hour earlier and stayed an hour later). The woman in the foreground is Lisa Harper, a gifted and FUNNY bible teacher. I'm so sorry you can't see her very well; she's as beautiful outside as she is inside. This is her first year on the tour and I look forward to hearing her many more times. And what a sweetheart! I shadowed her most of Saturday and she was just so gracious and kind to everyone she met.

In the background, you can almost recognize the other Lisa -- Lisa Welchel, best known nationally for her nine years on The Facts of Life, but she's also an accomplished Christian author on various mom-friendly topics including discipline and homeschooling. This was her first time in Portland and I believe she's also going to become a regular addition to the Women of Faith program. Both ladies were so wonderful.

I hope if Women of Faith comes to a city nearby, you are able to attend!