Jessie Lee ThetfordSilver City’s Indian Hills Baptist Church opened their doors on November 1 & 2 to welcome women to Brave Ministry’s Stripped Women’s Conference. Speaker Jo Leggett encouraged women to evaluate their response to pain in their lives, looking through the dual lens of Christianity and mental health, to see if their response was what they wanted to present to the world. Jessie Lee Thetford led the 75+ women in worship as well as presented a free concert of original music to end the weekend event.
“So often, women in rural areas feel a sense of isolation,” said speaker and Brave Ministry’s president, Jo Leggett of Gallup, NM. “It was wonderful to see women gather, feeling welcome by amazing food, a friendly environment, and free childcare. Women allowed so much vulnerability, sharing their personal pain. This is exciting because sharing our pain with others in a safe environment is the first step to really dealing with it with God and experiencing true healing. When we look at pain and our responses to pain with the additional lens of our knowledge about mental health, we are armed with the insight to let God strip us of the things that we are using to protect ourselves from suffering and instead clothe us with what best shows off our identity in Him.
”Worship for the conference was led by Jessie Lee Thetford of Leadville, CO. Beyond her role as a music ministry leader, she is a singer-songwriter. The addition of her free concert, a combination of song and story-telling, provided a capstone experience to prepare conference participants, as well as their invited community and family members, to integrate the information and inspiration they received into their lives as they left the gathering. For more information on this artist, please visitwww.jessieleethetford.com.
Brave Ministry is a non-profit organization that reaches out to women in isolation. They chose to present the conference in Silver City due to its reach into the rural community, a population that often feels isolated. “We wanted to nullify reasons why women wouldn’t be able to attend a conference, like distance from home,” said Jo Leggett. “That’s also why we offered the conference and meal for free and why Indian Hills Baptist Church provided free childcare. We wanted women to be able to come no matter what their circumstances to grow closer together and closer to Christ.”
Brave Ministry partnered with Indian Hills Baptist Church’s Women Together Ministry, led by Dandi Hussey, because of their shared desire to bring women into a sense of belonging in the Body of Christ. More information about Brave Ministry can be found at their websitewww.braveministry.com.