Girl Defined Conference Encouraged Hundreds
S TOR Y MADE POS S I B L E B Y:
Frank Dunn
Realtor
L E G A C Y
BY AMY MORGAN
WRITER
More than 500 teen girls, some
accompanied by mothers, packed the
sanctuary of Shearer Hills Baptist
Church August 3 and 4, for the third
annual GirlDefined Conference. Participants
traveled from 30 states and
eight countries – Austria to Australia –
to attend the inspiring event promoting
God’s design for romance, love and
purity. GirlDefined Ministries founders
Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird
discussed how girls can approach their
longing for love through the boundaries
of God’s design, rather than culture’s
destructive model. Discussions covered
true love, purposeful relationships and
femininity to help girls discover a
radically better and refreshingly
biblical approach to navigating life
and romance.
Participants enjoyed an ice cream
social, live worship by Crossway Bible
Church’s musical team, a concert by
Willow City Band, breakout sessions
and fun with like minded friends.
“The reason we think the message
of love and romance is so important is
who you end up with – who you marry
– will change the course of your life,”
Bethany said. “Hollywood’s version of
love is all about the sparks and the
chemistry. In reality, God’s design is
nothing like that – it’s about Agape,
self-sacrificial love. We want to
encourage girls to be intentional with
the dating and relationship process –
not just going in with eyes half closed
– to look for a man with character and
a heart for God, because who you date
will be who you will marry.”
The sisters have written three
books in just a little more than four
years. Girl Defined was their flagship
title, in which the attractive youngadult,
blonde sisters share their story
of how they walked away from careers
in the modeling industry to find a
greater purpose honoring God with
their lives and work. In 2014, they
began GirlDefined Ministries to inspire
the next generation. Each felt she had
reached a turning point in her life
where it was important to make a
courageous choice to serve God rather
than follow the path of the world.
“We wanted to use our lives for
something more,” Bethany said. “Our
goal has been to help modern girls
understand and live out God’s timeless
truth for womanhood. In a day and age
when girls and women receive so many
conflicting messages about their value,
purpose, and identity, they desperately
need to know that the only one who
can define them is the One who
created them,” the sisters post at
GirlDefined.com.
Last year, they wrote Love Defined,
which released May 1, 2018, in
response to questions raised by
thousands of messages from girls who
follow them.
“The girls are sharing all these
issues and struggles in the areas of
romance and love. Every time we’d
write a blog on one of those topics, the
open rate would skyrocket,” Bethany
said. “At the time we wrote the book,
Kristen had been married for six years,
and I was single.” The sisters were able
to bring their different perspectives to
the book, which is filled with stories of
how they weathered crushes and difficult
breakups, while still following
God’s game plan. Bethany is putting
their advice into action now, as she
was recently engaged and planning an
October wedding.
“As a father and grandfather with
a daughter and 5 granddaughters, it
is a great joy to support the work of
GirlDefined Ministries. God’s plans for
romance, courtship and marriage allow
the absolute best outcome for any
future family! I am honored to partner
with this amazing ministry which offers
an alternative choice to what movies,
TV shows and even
our society give to
teenagers and young
women. “Frank Dunn, Realtor
4 www.saBeacon.com October 2018
/GirlDefined.com
/www.saBeacon.com