Have you ever taken that first step into uncharted territory? You know the one, you look around and ask yourself, "what in the WORLD was I thinking?!" That's pretty much what happened almost three years ago when Refres{her} was birthed. I remember thinking I had completely lost my mind. Not only was I only 24 years old, I had never directed an event like this in my entire life. As a speaker, it was always my job to show up and speak - leave the planning to someone else. But I had this burning in my heart and I couldn't ignore the sting. What about the women of Las Vegas? That question continued to swirl through my mind daily. After living in Vegas for only a few years, I quickly learned that stereotypical "Las Vegas" issues were not the things trampling the lives of Las Vegas women. The women I met were dealing with the same things as women everywhere - they wanted to know they mattered, their life had purpose, and that they were worth something. They yearned to be connected in community. They needed a fresh encounter with Jesus.
So I did it. I said "yes" to Jesus without truly knowing what I had said yes to, only who I had said yes to. Three months later 125 women, 3 speakers, and a band came together for two days and lives were changed for eternity. I remember looking around as the band played their opening song and thinking to myself, "I'm so glad I said yes." As emails of life change began flooding in after the event was over I sat back thinking, "I'm so glad I said yes."
We are now heading into year THREE of Refres{her} and it continues to grow! Not only will more women gather at Refres{her} April 4-5, but for the first time, teen girls have a place to hang with their girlfriends and tackle some huge defining moments in their lives at the Refres{her} Girls Event November 2. I hear all of the time, "we aren't all about the numbers, but..." Well, our team IS all about the numbers. We want MORE people to come into an intimate, life changing, relationship with Jesus. We want MORE women to stop talking about Jesus and start living like Him. We want MORE women to plug into ministry. We want MORE authentic relationships. We want MORE time to worship. WE WANT MORE JESUS!
There are so many women who have been called to MORE - and we look at Jesus and say, "You want me to do what?!" Let me answer that question for you - He wants YOU to experience MORE of Him. Say, yes! You will be so glad you did.
-Vanessa Hartsell
Executive Director
Ignite Life ministries
So I did it. I said "yes" to Jesus without truly knowing what I had said yes to, only who I had said yes to. Three months later 125 women, 3 speakers, and a band came together for two days and lives were changed for eternity. I remember looking around as the band played their opening song and thinking to myself, "I'm so glad I said yes." As emails of life change began flooding in after the event was over I sat back thinking, "I'm so glad I said yes."
We are now heading into year THREE of Refres{her} and it continues to grow! Not only will more women gather at Refres{her} April 4-5, but for the first time, teen girls have a place to hang with their girlfriends and tackle some huge defining moments in their lives at the Refres{her} Girls Event November 2. I hear all of the time, "we aren't all about the numbers, but..." Well, our team IS all about the numbers. We want MORE people to come into an intimate, life changing, relationship with Jesus. We want MORE women to stop talking about Jesus and start living like Him. We want MORE women to plug into ministry. We want MORE authentic relationships. We want MORE time to worship. WE WANT MORE JESUS!
There are so many women who have been called to MORE - and we look at Jesus and say, "You want me to do what?!" Let me answer that question for you - He wants YOU to experience MORE of Him. Say, yes! You will be so glad you did.
-Vanessa Hartsell
Executive Director
Ignite Life ministries