Hundreds of Women Gather for the “Higher” One Day Event [PHOTOS]

This past weekend, we had over 300 women at the Heartland Community Schools Theatre for the One Day Women’s Event “Higher” featuring Jen Hatmaker. It was a wonderful day of worship and being challenged by God’s word. Local pastors and leaders were invited to coffee with Jen before the event even started. Worship was lead by Christine Quiring and Matt and Angie Penner from Wichita, Kansas.  Jen Hatmaker spoke twice during the morning and then answered questions during the luncheon. Her heart for loving people shined through and she spoke with such passion on how we need to switch from being God’s defenders and become his ambassadors to a world who is hurting to know Jesus Christ.

There are so many people that we would like to thank for making this happen. It is really a beautiful thing to see people come together from different churches and different areas to serve together. Thank you to our supporting churches: Henderson MB, Bethesda Mennonite, Faith Evangelical Bible, Stockham Community Church, and Lushton Bible Church. Thank you to the school for allowing us to use their facilities.  Thank you to the team of women that worked on the details leading up to the event and throughout the weekend.  Thank you to the husbands and men who moved tables and chairs for us. Thank you to Hashtag for allowing us to use your facilities and to the community businesses who gave items for giveaways. Thank you to each woman that came; we pray you were encouraged and challenged to see how you can live your life on mission right where you are at.

On top of a great day, our amazing turnout of women brought in extra funds. The cost for the event was kept very low ($25), and we tried to plan accordingly to keep costs low. With those efforts and with the great turnout, we have roughly $1,000 in excess that will be given to 100 Homes for Haiti, a project that is dear to Jen. The people of Haiti are still desperate for homes as thousands live in tents or makeshift shelters. Every time we build a home, we provide jobs, prevent trafficking, build healthy families, and restore hope. We are excited to be able to not only host an event but be able to give out of that event in return. Here is a video link about this project: http://vimeo.com/helponenow/whnf

This is the same project that we will be donating funds to for our Garage Sale for Orphans. This takes place on the Henderson Community Garage Sale day on June 15. The Henderson area women’s Bible studies are pulling their items together to have one sale and donate proceeds to this project.  Come out to shop and give all at once. We will be in the parking lot of the MB Church.  Anyone can host a garage sale for orphans – check it out: www.garagesalefororphans.com

Again, we want to thank the community for their support of an event like this!  Thank you!

Team Picture:

There are still more women who helped as greeters, setting out food and coffee, selling books, etc. who are not pictured. It took many women to pull off all the details.  Thank you!

Here are some other pictures from the event:

Nicole Quiring

Photos courtesy of Tara Swartzendruber