Missions Blog

A Day of Healing, Hope & Joy

Today was a long day—a really long day! 😴 We started at 7:30 a.m. and for most, we didn’t finally crawl into bed until 1 a.m. Sunday. But as exhausting as it was, it was also one of the most meaningful and joy-filled days of the trip.

We started our morning with devotional and prayer time as a team before heading to breakfast with all of the women attending the conference. As more women arrived, we gathered together for praise and worship. It was absolutely beautiful to hear hundreds of women lifting their voices to God—each in their own native language, yet worshipping the same God. ❤️

After worship, two more women from our team shared their testimonies with the help of a translator. This has definitely been one of the most nerve-racking parts of the trip. There is something incredibly vulnerable about standing in front of hundreds of women and sharing the difficult and painful parts of your story.

But there has also been such freedom and peace on the other side of that vulnerability. We aren’t sharing our stories because they’re perfect—we’re sharing them because God has redeemed them. And if being transparent about our struggles can give even one woman hope that God can heal and restore her story too, then it’s worth it.

Next, Laura, the Word of Life missionary who was our conference speaker, shared a powerful message about the Lord healing our hearts and finding our identity in Him.

One of the most meaningful parts of her message involved the mirrors we had purchased for the women. She encouraged them to look beyond their physical reflection and consider how distorted our view of ourselves can become through our own flaws, experiences and the expectations of society.

Our reflection in a mirror can show us what we look like—but it can’t tell us who we are.

She encouraged the women to see themselves through the eyes of their Heavenly Father. We are daughters of the King. We are children of God. Our identity isn’t found in our appearance, our past, our mistakes, our circumstances or what other people think of us. It is found in Him. 💜

After the morning sessions, we enjoyed lunch and then into more of our testimonials.

Following this we moved into one of the fun parts of the conference—craft time!

A big part of the fundraising and preparation for this trip involved collecting supplies for the craft, and today we got to see all of that hard work come together. The women created their own hats for our Kentucky Derby-themed party that evening. They had so much fun being creative and making each hat completely their own.

And honestly, the best part was seeing them all show up later wearing their creations! 🎩💐

After crafting, we had a little free time, and some of our team helped lead water aerobics. It was a welcome chance to get out of our chairs, move around and cool off. There was plenty of laughter involved, too!

Then it was time to get ready for the party. We all put on our dresses and florals to fit the Kentucky Derby theme, and we headed to dinner where our team helped serve the women.

After dinner, we gathered for worship, and two women from our team had the opportunity to help lead a song in both English and Spanish. Once again, it was such a beautiful reminder that even though we may speak different languages and come from very different places, we are united in Christ.

We then heard two more testimonies from our team, followed by more teaching and sharing from Laura.

And, of course, there were plenty of coffee breaks sprinkled throughout the day—which were VERY much needed on a day this long! ☕😂

Once the conference sessions were finally finished, it was time for something completely different: FUN!

One of the women’s favorite traditions is the conference pageant, where they compete to be crowned queen of the conference. The women are divided into two age groups. The women over 40 are the “Ensure” group, while those under 40 are the “Collagen” group. (Yes, they have a sense of humor! 😂)

The contestants walked the runway, performed a talent and then were judged by the crowd’s applause.

Our fearless team leader, Sarah, even entered the competition—and she made it to the finals! 🎉

At the end of the night, last year’s queens crowned the new queens, and the women laughed, cheered and celebrated well into the night.

By the time we finally headed to bed around 12:30 a.m., we were exhausted—but our hearts were full.

One of the greatest joys of this trip has been watching these women simply enjoy being together. We even recognized some of the women from the Emberá tribe we visited earlier in the week!

For some of these women, this conference may be the only opportunity they have to step away from their jobs, responsibilities and families for a little while. It’s a chance to be surrounded by other women of God—to find fellowship, encouragement and support.

A place where they can laugh together, cry together, learn together and grow together.

And tonight, as I watched them laughing and celebrating late into the night, I was reminded that sometimes healing doesn’t always look like a serious moment of prayer or a powerful message.

Sometimes healing looks like a room full of women laughing together.

Sometimes it looks like a handmade hat.

Sometimes it looks like a testimony shared through a translator.

Sometimes it looks like worship in a language you don’t understand.

And sometimes it looks like simply knowing, I’m not alone.

What a beautiful gift it has been to be part of it. 💜🇵🇦