Author: Julia Pferdehirt

Dear Sisters, On Saturday, April 28th at 2 pm, Lilada Gee and the Nehemiah Community Development Corporation are hosting a "Ladies Afternoon Tea." Now, Lilada is a woman worth knowing! Her heart is invested in a ministry she’s calling Women of Worth. She describes this as a "new initiative with a mission to encourage, inspire, and empower women who are survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence." Lilada had told her own story in a book, "I Can’t Live Like This Anymore." Jesus was and is her "way out" of a history of sexual and emotional abuse. Now, God is…

Dear Sisters, Time to pray! 22,000 students will be attending InterVarsity’s Urbana Missions conference in St. Louis. This is a place God has used to call many to Kingdom service in missions, the workplace, and their communities. Please pray for Scott Bessenecker, a Madison visionary who has created a ministry-training ground for people with a "Mother Teresa" anointing and calling to serve the poor. He’s going to be inviting students to test this call with his "Slum Track" at Urbana.Please pray for safety for the thousands of people traveling. For energy for the staff (I’m just a volunteer and I feel…

Yep. More than 20,000 students have registered to attend Urbana – Intervarsity Christian Fellowship’s every-third-year International Missions conference. Historically held in Urbana, Illinois, the conference has relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. However, the IV folks have kept the "Urbana" name – perhaps to communicate to those thousands of students that the vision remains the same even if the location has changed.I’m privileged to be part of this in a small way. On the 26th of December I’ll hop on a chartered bus and head to St. Louis. There, I’ll join a small team of intercessors and prayer ministry people supporting…

Dear Sisters, A week doesn’t go by that I don’t meet some amazing new woman or reconnect with someone in the Body of Christ who is stepping into something new and fascinating.My long-time friend Marcia Bosscher just sent me a letter about her new venture. After many years as a mom-volunteer-woman of all trades, she’s joined InterVarsity as the director of "Graduate and Professional Women’s" ministry. In short, she’ll be coordinating and doing ministry with graduate students and young professional women trying to make their way in the whirling world. This is an important ministry. Many grad students are in limbo.…

You all know the story of Saint Nicholas, right? If you want a really good laugh, check David Sadaris’ "Carnegie Hall, Live" Cd out of the library and listen to him tell the story of Saint Nicholas, the Dutch version. It was one of those "should I be driving and listening to something this absurdly funny at the same time?’ moments. (If you do this, kindly forget that I recommended Sadaris – it reveals my bizarre and often irreverent sense of humor. You may, or may not appreciate it. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect the position of the…

Dear Madison Sisters, Just yesterday I met my friend Michelle Sugarman (she’s a life coach and very, very interesting woman worth knowing!) at the Muse Cafe over on Old Sauk Road. We were talking about scheduling one of her "what does clutter mean to me and why do I have such a hard time getting rid of it" workshops at Faith Community (my church.) And, in walked another worth-knowing, wonderful woman, Carolyn (Mary Kay person, lovely woman, creative, big heart….I really like her). Turns out, Carolyn was Michelle’s next appointment. I say this to point out that we’re a small community…

Quote for the Day: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in a letter to Julia Ward Howe.Founder of the movement for women’s suffrage, Convener of the Women’s Rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, and mother of six.Stanton, with co-laborers Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Howard Shaw (one of the first ordained women pastors in the United States), Julia Ward Howe and others spent her entire adult life working for the right of women to…

Dear Friends, This week I’ve seen one "launch" of a new book and been invited to another. These are books worth knowing about. A book "launch" signals the publication of a new title. It’s a lot like bringing the new baby home from the hospital and being visited by a parade of adoring, amazed, ooohing and ahhhing friends.Scott Bessenecker, director of InterVarsity’s Global Trek project, has written an amazing, challenging, visionary book called The New Friars. It tells of Global Trek and, within the larger picture, a movement worldwide within the Body of Christ. God is calling people to accept a…