Review

By: Kelly Jo Prewitt

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Women Fill Rose Garden, Find 'Amazing Freedom'

Rush hour on Portland's MAX system was a little more congested than normal when thousands of giggly women flooded the MAX on their way to the annual Women of Faith conference.

The high voltage of estrogen emptied into the Rose Garden Arena on Oct. 12 and 13 for the annual two-day conference featuring speakers and artists such as Luci Swindoll, Anita Renfroe, Nicole Nordeman, Sandi Patty and Dr. Henry Cloud.

The speakers used comedy to lighten the mood while sharing their testimonies and tackling real-life issues such as divorce, fear, depression and illness. The women came together to share the theme of the "Amazing Freedom" offered in Christ.

According to the organization's Web site, Women of Faith is a Christian women's organization encouraging women to grow in faith through a relationship with Jesus and an understanding of God's love. For the last 11 years, Women of Faith has toured the United States. This year's theme was "Amazing Freedom."

Speaker Patsy Clairmont had suffered from agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces, for years. Sixteen thousand women watched as she danced on the open stage and shared her story of astonishing freedom.

Women of all ages attended the conference. MBC librarian Cheri Liu, who has attended the conference five times, said the conference was a time to learn from older women and join in rich fellowship.

MBC junior Hannah Michalsky said that she was encouraged by the interaction between the differing generations of women in the room.

Michalsky said she was surprised and refreshed to hear the older speakers laugh about mammograms and awkward honeymoons.

Not all of the conference was lighthearted. Dr. Henry Cloud and Sheila Walsh kicked off the pre-conference by sharing that God has a dream for everyone's life. The pre-conference ended with a question-and-answer session, which opened the floor for many women to ask about issues in their lives.

Mrs. Liu said the pre-conference was her favorite portion of the two-day sessions. She said many women were encouraged to go back to their childhoods and get their dreams where they died.

Recapturing old dreams was lived out by Lisa Smith, a young woman with Down's syndrome. She taught herself to sign to Sandi Patty songs and told her mother that her dream was to sign on stage for Ms. Patty.

Ms. Patty spotted Ms. Smith in the crowd signing at a concert and invited her to the stage. Ms. Smith now frequently travels on the worship team with Women of Faith to sign along to Ms. Patty's songs.

Women of Faith will be back in Portland at the Rose Garden Arena on Oct. 10-11, 2008, for more fun and stories of life change with "Infinite Grace." For more information, visit www.womenoffaith.com.

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