Saturday, April 24: Reaching & Ministering to Women
Learn how to best serve and support women in these life stages/situations:
Wounded Women, Widows, Young Women, Moms, Senior Adults
Paradise Valley Baptist Church / 9 am – 1 pm / Registration Links Below
***DOWNLOAD THE LIFT 2021 EVENT INFORMATION PDF***
Women of Worth
Meet Cherie – Cherie Wagner’s life-long passion is two-fold: knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known. Author of Found On My Knees, Awake O Sleeper, Rest, and Hope, Cherie founded Neue Thing, a women’s ministry that exists to ENCOURAGE, EQUIP, and EMPOWER women with the Word of God. She writes Bible studies for women that will encourage them to know and believe God’s Word, equip them to live it, and empower them to take it and transform this generation for Jesus Christ. Cherie, her husband Jeremy, and their son Redford live in Mesa Arizona.
Learn how to best serve and support women in these life stages/situations
Wounded Women
Debbie Gribauskas – Founder of Beyond Fear to Freedom. Click here to for link to her Facebook page
I thought I had it all together. I had a great successful career and all the answers, but I was also not ready for a series of life events that rocked my life. Chicago-Italian raised to a codependent mother and an addicted, rage-acholic father, and the first born of 4 kids. Life was a filled with drama, fear rejection and insecurity. Wounded was something I became intimately familiar with. I ended up in a mess of addiction, divorce, dysfunction, and heartache. I lost loved ones, and I was on a fast spiral to nowhere. If God had not intervened, I would have suffocated myself in hurt and denial. I had to take a step in a new direction. It took time, love, and mentoring, but my life was changed. I am a survivor of two sibling suicides, domestic abuse, divorce, church hurt, betrayal, and a whole lot more. But Jesus has redeemed my life and given me a purpose that I never had before. After 9 years of doing prison ministry God called me out in faith to start Beyond Fear To Freedom. Today I sit with the wounded in crisis, and I serve them in the same way that I was served. The world is filled with wounded women. I am a story of healing and recovering called to beckon others to experience their own healing and recovery.
Widows–Footsteps of Grief, Walking in Grace
Julie Caliendo (top) and Blair Revak (bottom) – Both Widows and Grief Share Leaders.
Blair and Julie met while participating in Toastmasters, a public speaking organization, and Grief Share, a Bible-based grief recovery program. Both had suffered the loss of a husband and were reaching out to journey through grief; each in their own footsteps.
Julie is an ordained minister, an Interpreter for the Deaf, and the Grief Share Director for her church. Julie created and maintains a blog designed to inspire and challenge others to read the Bible, “30/30 in the Word.” Blair is a retired family doctor and on the Speaker’s Bureau for Hospice of the Valley. She has been a Lead Facilitator for Grief Share for six years. Blair has also published several books.
Blair and Julie want to share with you their journey. Death is a part of life, but we are not taught how to cope with it. They will share valuable information from their experiences, including how to start today to prepare yourself.
Young Women
Cherie Wagner Founder of Neue Thing. Click here for link to her website (neuething.org)
Cherie has a passion for women, especially young women. Her mission Is to:
ENCOURAGE: Through public speaking and devotional teaching.
EQUIP: Through in-depth Bible studies, online study communities & one on one mentoring.
EMPOWER: Raise up a movement of women who are empowered and inspired to disciple other women in Christ.
Moms
Andrea Fortenberry – Writer, Speaker, Bible Study Teacher and Host of Restore: Soul Care for Moms.
Click here for link to her Facebook page
Click here for link to her website (andreafortenberry.com)
Andrea Fortenberry is a writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She is the host of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Mothering, a podcast that equips moms to find freedom from perfectionism and show up for the life God has for them.
In 2020, she joined the staff of MOPS International as an Executive Leadership Coach, where she encourages and supports coordinators across the country. She is also the founder of Restore: Soul Care for Moms, a conference she hosts annually in Arizona.
Senior Adults
Cathy Besson – Pastor’s Wife, Former Senior Adult Minister at North Phoenix Baptist Church
For 38 years I served with my husband Clyde, in Single Adults, Blended Families, Couples, Senior Adults and finally, mentoring Young Adults. We provided seminars worldwide and wrote Picking Up The Pieces: Successful Single Living, and Growing Together: Growth Coaching for Couples.
When the need for Senior Adult leadership at North Phoenix Baptist Church became known, I was asked to take this position. I served at two different times with NPBC Senior Adults. My leadership hinges on making sure each person I serve has the opportunity to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and to grow to live in His Presence, to experience God’s beautiful, loving Grace, Discipleship, Fellowship and Hospitality.
**Register Here if you will attend the event In-Person
**Register Here for if you will attend the event Online
Save the date for these other 2021 LIFT Conferences!
| Friday, September 24 | Reaching Across Generations |
| Friday, November 5 | Walking in Faith (Evangelism & Service) |