How It Began

"In 1988, while praying for repentance, revival, and unity of heart for the Church, I received a picture of women with raised hands worshiping the Lord together in a large open place. It was an important vision, but it was impossible to take any action to try to bring it about without the Lord. There had never been a stadium event for women, and Promise Keepers had not happened yet, so the idea of something like that seemed impossible. I tucked the vision away in my heart knowing if it was from the Lord, he would let me know what to do with it."

"It started with a longing, a deep ache and a desire to see women come together in unity to praise and worship THE LOVER OF OUR SOULS—OUR LORD AND KING—CHRIST JESUS. Our Lord under-girded this longing with a passion for REVIVAL. Little did I know the Lord placed that longing in me to be used of Him to 'birth' a stadium event for that exact purpose."

"In July 1995 the Lord implanted the vision of Chosen Women through the seed of scripture and prayer. He led me to 2 Chronicles Chapters 29, 30, 31 and the book of Nehemiah. All we did concerning the stadium event was viewed from the grid of these scriptures."

"It was important to me to have the vision confirmed by the Holy Spirit, my husband, the NEWIM board and my pastor. In every situation, the Lord confirmed what He had placed in my heart."

"Then came a time of waiting as the Lord began forming the vision into substance. The focus during that time, which continued through the events, was deep personal cleansing and discovery of his will. It was also a time of exploration of how to accomplish his will. For instance, he secured an invitation for me to go to Promise Keepers. That is where the reality of what he was asking me to do set in. He also showed me who he had selected as speakers, where the event was to be held and who would help bring it about."

"He also brought to my mind two memories of when I was a very little girl. First, I remember sitting in my mom's car in front of a gift shop. She was preparing me so we could go inside. She told me this was a special shop because it was filled with beautiful things but that I needed to be very careful because everything inside was breakable. She said if I kept my hands to my sides and followed her, she would be quick to do her errand and I would be fine. I was so excited to go into a grown-up place that had so many beautiful things that I kept my hands to my sides and followed Mom down the very narrow aisles. She completed her errand and we turned around and left. It all went great! I was obedient and Mom was very pleased."

"The next memory was a few years later when Mom and I went back to that same gift shop, only this time, we lingered. We went up and down the aisles and I got to see the glassware, crystal and china up close. As we browsed, there was one thing that caught my eye: it was a tea cup and saucer. I had never seen anything so beautiful. Mom said I had good taste and she placed the tea cup and saucer in my hands. It felt so delicate, but Mom taught me how to handle it with great care. After all, it was not mine. When I had finished looking at it, she helped me put it down. It recently occurred to me that Mom took quite a risk to place that tea cup into the hands of her child. If I had mishandled it, dropped or chipped it, she would have had to pay the price for damaged merchandise. The Lord used these memories to teach me my responsibility and how I was to handle this work of his."

"We then worked very hard to get the word out through the churches. This was before social media marketing and the Internet. Colleen, Sharyn and I went to churches up and down the West Coast, and talked with the press so women could hear and respond to the Lord's invitation to come and experience him in a new way."

"We also worked on details (like how do you order lunch and dinner for up to 100,000 people, where do you find thousands of volunteers, secure hotels, hire security, provide parking, meet special needs, etc.) It was exhausting, but the pain of the work was overshadowed by the joy and excitement of birthing this event."

"This last year and a half the Lord has been teaching me how I became accustomed to my sin and he challenged me to examine all I am, and all I do, from his perspective. I did not intentionally set out to sin against God, but over time I neglected my relationship with God, and the light of Christ within me was covered up."

"On the outside, I looked and acted like a spiritually mature woman but on the inside, there was a hardened heart. Dear sisters, I know I am not alone in this condition and invite you to join with me in learning what it is to be a growing, committed servant of Jesus Christ. Let's begin to experience him — not just use his name."