This past weekend, youth and staff from our Ruston campus were able to attend The Heartfelt Experience Women’s Conference held at First West church in West Monroe, LA.  The conference featured Heartfelt Ministry founder, Dr. Joneal Kirby, the Women of Duck Commander (Sadie & Mia, too), along with Shellie Tomlinson, Mary Snyder, Mindy Lancaster, and musical guest, Jeremy Camp and his wife Adie.

Heartfelt Ministry’s website states, “The mission of our Heartfelt Ministry is generational faith passing—older women mentoring younger women—as Titus 2 teaches us to do. It’s obvious this spiritual element is missing today and our culture, and the church, is in desperate need of it. Our goal with this conference is to show every participant how to build and leave a legacy of faith in her generation.”

Rebecca Deich, Pastoral Care Assistant for the children’s home said, “I was able to meet the gracious ladies of Duck Dynasty at the Heartfelt Experience and tried not to cry as I thanked them for donating tickets so that some of the girls in our residential care could attend this awesome, life-changing day full of motivational speakers, live art demonstrations, and a fashion show. I was able to purchase some books for our youth and Sadie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and Dancing With the Stars fame, was kind enough to sign and dedicate each book!”

In addition to attending the conference, our youth and staff were fed lunch compliments of Chick-Fil-A. The Cow mascots were there and went above and beyond by having a special photo shoot just for our kids to have their pictures made with them. In addition, the Chick-Fil-A staff encouraged us to take extra meals back to campus for youth who had been unable to attend the conference.

It means so much to the youth in our care when they witness people in their communities caring for them and showing them kindness. We are thankful for opportunities such as these!