Tag: Christian Speakers

I had such a wonderful time of fellowship and teaching recently with the ladies of Providence Baptist Church in Opelika, Alabama, and their guests from the surrounding area, at the Staying on the Path in a World of Compromise women’s conference.

PBC was the staging area for disaster relief operations following the devastating tornado in the area in March of 2019. A beautiful memorial to the victims has been erected on the church grounds.

Providence’s WOVEN (Women Of the Vine Encouraging and Nurturing) women’s ministry put on a fantastic conference.

Everything was so nice and no detail was left unattended…

Here are some of the charming ladies who attended the conference…

I had the pleasure of teaching three sessions, God’s Word, Our Foundation – on the necessity, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture, Discernment 101 – an introduction to discerning false doctrine and false teachers, and a great Q&A session where these ladies asked some really smart questions! (Sorry, no audio of the conference sessions at this time.)

Hostess bags are never necessary for a speaker, but I’m always so humbled and grateful to receive a special treat like this, especially after a long, tiring day of traveling. Although the contents are appreciated, the gesture of hospitality and caring is so precious and meaningful to me. I’m not especially gifted in that area, and I so admire sisters in Christ who are.

Many, many thanks to the conference organizers, especially April and Lynda, for taking such good care of me and making me feel so at home. It was a pleasure fellowshipping with them and with the ladies who attended the conference.

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If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.

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Photo Credits

Photos by others credited in captions

Remaining photos by Michelle Lesley

I had a great time of fellowship and teaching recently with the ladies of Cornerstone Church of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Teton Valley Bible Church, of Driggs, Idaho, and their guests from the surrounding area. These sister churches, across the border and across the mountains from each other, come together each year to host a conference to build up the women of their churches and to reach out to the women of their communities. This year, the theme was discernment.

I taught on discernment in four different areas of our walk with the Lord: the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, living by Scripture instead of our emotions, false doctrine and false teachers, and women’s roles in the home and church. And we had a fun Q&A session over lunch, too!

Click here to listen to the conference audio!

I also had the privilege of recommending a few books for the book table. It was my pleasure to recommend to them (and to you!) God, Greed, and the Prosperity Gospel by Costi Hinn, Deceived No More by Doreen Virtue, and You’re Not Enough and That’s OK by Allie Beth Stuckey.

I had never been to Wyoming or Idaho before this trip. They are both so beautiful! I took about a million pictures, but I tried to pare it down for this article. (You can click on most of the pictures to enlarge them.)

Jackson Hole has several of these charming elk antler arches. When you get off the plane, you walk through one to get into the airport, and there’s one at each corner of the town square.

The hotel I stayed at in Jackson Hole had these adorable little critters everywhere!

When we crossed over the mountains into Driggs, I got to stay in this cozy little resort cabin. Too cute! It snowed the morning I flew out.

During some down time prior to the conference, one of the lovely sisters from Cornerstone graciously took time out of her schedule to drive me around to see the sights.

Here’s the National Elk Refuge. You can hardly see them, but there are swans and ducks in that little pond. We didn’t see any elk that day, but I did get to see some alongside the road another day.

There’s a significant Mormon population around Jackson Hole. Near the turn of the 19th century, the area pictured below was a community of 33 homesteads surrounding a “church” and a school. These are a few of the buildings still standing from that era, with the Grand Tetons in the background.

The Grand Tetons, and boy are they grand! A camera just can’t capture the beauty of God’s creation like the human eye can, but I tried. :0) (I did not add any filters. The sky is really just that radiant and gorgeous.)

These were taken at the area where Ansel Adams took his famous photo Tetons and the Snake River. Maybe the trees weren’t quite as tall back in 1942. :0)

After a fantastic morning of sightseeing, we headed back toward the town square for lunch where, as is my custom, I sampled a bit of the local fare. The restaurant that served elk burgers was closed, but we found the next best thing – a bison burger, which was delectable and has now spoiled me forever for regular hamburger.

I was enchanted by the rustic, “log cabin in the mountains” facade design of many of the buildings in Jackson Hole, even their Albertson’s and Target! I’m told the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is “famous” and that they have saddles for bar stools.

Many, many thanks to the conference organizers and pastors of Cornerstone and TVBC for treating me like a queen and making a work trip seem more like a vacation. It was such a pleasure fellowshipping with them and with the ladies who attended the conference. If you’re ever in the Jackson Hole or Driggs area, and need a good church to join or visit, I can’t recommend these two churches highly enough.

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If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.

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Photo Credits

Photo of Michelle speaking by Anika (conference organizer)

All other photos by Michelle Lesley