BENTONVILLE, Ark. – As the first event to cancel amid the pandemic last year, Inspire Women’s Conference had a year to plan and adapt to whatever the circumstances were going to look like in 2021. In a normal year, Inspire would be held in a central location. However, this year five locations were made available so attendees could join together safely for powerful worship and impactful teaching while still following COVID-19 safety protocols.
Central Baptist Church in Conway, First Baptist Church in Bentonville, First Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Nettleton Baptist Church in Jonesboro, and Second Baptist Church in Monticello served as host locations for Inspire on Saturday, March 13.
Worship was led by Cory and Stephanie Epps and was pre-recorded and played at each location. The main speaker, Lori McDaniel, was also pre-recorded and played at each location. Breakout sessions were not part of this year’s conference. Instead, they are being recorded and released on the Inspire On The Go podcast. This way, even those who didn’t attend the conference can still catch these bits of wisdom and bible teaching.
Lori McDaniel
Lori is a wife, mom, and recent grandmother of twins. She’s also a fellow Arkansan, which is why having her speak at Inspire Women’s Conference was all the more impactful. Lori, previously a missionary for the International Mission Board, has a heart for discipleship and that has led her to over 30 countries working to further the Gospel.
There were two sessions for the annual women’s event. Lori’s teaching covered Acts 3-4, where the main topic was having a ‘God’s size vision’ for your life. She posed the question, “As a follower of Jesus Christ, how do I live my life?” and provided eight applications that women could use to help re-evaluate their relationship with God.
She left their time with the question, “What are you going to do with aligning God’s plan and name with your life right now?” For God to use us like we want Him to, we have to be willing to listen and go where he commands.
Live Panel / Meaningful Conversations
Even though breakouts weren’t happening live this year, the Inspire team still wanted women to be able to talk and dive deeper into what they were learning. Thus they developed the idea for ‘Meaningful Conversations.’
Questions related to Lori’s teaching were printed in the program. A 10-15 minute window allowed the women time to meet with the people they had come with and discuss the questions related to Lori’s teaching. At the end of the day, they were able to answer on their own, some ending reflection questions.
At each location, a live panel of three to four women leaders from each location answered questions ranging from discipleship to leadership and more in a 25-minute session. It was a time for attendees to hear from women’s ministry leaders close and far away on their experiences, styles of leadership, teaching, and general tips leading other women in ministry.
Inspire summed up that God always has a plan and nothing catches Him by surprise. We have to be focused and listen to Him, so we can always be on the same page. God wants us to have a bigger vision and bigger goal for our life, we just have to want it enough too to align ourselves with Him.
To find the breakout sessions, click here.
To watch Inspire Digital Women’s Conference, click here.