A Journey of Revelation and Empowerment
For Girls in 7th through 12th Grade
Young Women's Conference
In Their Shoes
"In Their Shoes" is a nationwide Young Women's Conference offering an uplifting, Bible-based, non-denominational Christian youth development opportunity where our young women will uncover false beliefs and skewed perceptions they have learned on their first leg of this journey called life. Our workshops offer life lessons, social skills, Biblical tools, insights and perspectives to pack light for the long journey to live their life abundantly! This one-day conference provides timeless yet timely advice for young women of all cultures and backgrounds.
In order to secure the confidence of churches across the United States to host an In Their Shoes conference and for parents to register their daughters, we want to give you a brief history of how the program was developed by Evelyn Wooten:
"In Their Shoes - A Journey of Revelation and Empowerment" is a ministry outreach of Christwalk Church and Ministry Center to fulfill The Great Commission. Visit our website for more information https://www.cwalk.org/
The Great Commission: "...go and make disciples of all nations..." Matthew 28:19
In Their Shoes mandate: “hold the conference in each school district in each county in every state.” 777, January 11, 2022
Our Vision
In Their Shoes: Young Women’s Conference of Revelation and Empowerment will utilize God's Word to reveal truths to our young women concerning their minds, their bodies and their lives, and to provide resources to empower them to unleash their unlimited potential to achieve the divine mission God has preordained for their life.
The Mandate God gave the church in Matthew 28:19 was “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” On Tuesday, January 11, 2022 during the 777 Revival Meeting at the Christwalk Church in Millersburg, God gave me a direction to do my part in fulfilling The Great Commission. As I was listening to Pastor Chip’s message, I became conscious of a “weight” upon me. It was not a heavy weight, but more of a feeling of being surrounded, or encompassed. Then I began to hear instructions on how I was to revamp the In Their Shoes: Young Women’s Conference of Revelation and Empowerment ministry He had given me in 2013. I started writing down some of the things I heard concerning the workshops and then heard I was to “hold the conference in each school district in each county in every state.” I abruptly stopped writing because the enormity of the command was overwhelming. Just as I was trying to wrap my mind around this, I heard, “you are to take money from the sale of your property to start the funding.” My immediate response was, “Wait a minute, wait a minute Lord, we need to talk about this!”
I was awake all night that night talking to the Lord, trying to make sense of what He was asking of me. My first issue was the enormity of the program. When I first developed the conference, it was to be a one-time event for up to 200 teenage girls in Holmes County. Now He was telling me to take the conference to every high school in the entire United States! Seriously, every single one!! He calmed my spirit by taking me to Proverbs 4:12 “When you walk, your steps will not be impeded [for your path will be clear and open]; And when you run, you will not stumble.” And also “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24. I know I have the skills to plan and carry out large events. I have chaired 3-day state conventions for several years in a row in the past. My spiritual gifts are administration, teaching, and helps so He has equipped me with the mechanics of what is needed to do the conferences so I was feeling more confident in my ability. To be honest, what I was having the most difficulty with was giving my potential profits from the sale of my property. I am a seventy-plus year old great-grandmother living on social security with very little savings. I had inherited my property when my dad died several years ago. Now that I was in the process of selling it, I had given much thought and planning to how best be frugal with the large sum of money, as it is most likely the only large sum of money I will ever have again. After much thought and prayer, I had made a list with minimum 10% tithing, paying off several bills, paying for my funeral, getting some dental work done, buying a newer vehicle, and the balance into savings earmarked for traveling. Yes, I had it all planned out. I was ready to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
But ahhhh, the best laid plans of mice and men aft go astray! The Lord and I had a good, long talk that evening and He showed me the error of my ways. I now have new plans and I feel very good about them, due in part through Ephesians 4:22-24 “And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness. “ It is not that I had any sinful desires to use my money on, but so much more can be done for the Lord and for the Great Commission. Sometimes it is just hard to see past our self and focus on what is truly important. I also gleaned much from Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 when he talked about how God was always with him and gave him comfort during his sufferings. The Lord was not asking me to go through any great physical sufferings, but only to give up my material desires for a retirement of travel to help reach young girls during the formative years of their lives. How blessed I am to be a part of this!!!
The Lord gave me the ministry of the Young Women’s Conference back in 2013. I had helped with another conference called In Her Shoes put on by Every Woman’s House. The all day Saturday conference contained workshops dealing with awareness on domestic violence. One of the messages talked about how women often feel trapped to stay in abusive relationships due to finances, but mostly from lack of confidence and resources to get away. I remember thinking how different my life would have been if I had known I did not have to endure the physical and mental abuse from my mother during my childhood, and the sexual abuse from her brother. It was the lack of knowledge and low self-esteem that led me into a marriage at age 16 to a man who would be abusive to me and our children. I can not recall if it was the very next day, or a Sunday or two later, during worship and the singing of Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place that I had my first physical encounter with God. As I was standing there with my eyes closed, I became aware of a fresh coolness in the air, kind like a brisk autumn morning but it had a sweet aroma. Then I felt something brush lightly against me. I was a good foot or better from the end of the pew, so it wasn’t someone walking by. I just stood there as the congregation continued to sing and I began to hear about “In Their Shoes.”
I actually saw the heading for the website during that encounter with teenagers in different shoes surrounding "IN THEIR SHOES. Phrases like, “meet the girls where they are at” and “give them knowledge through My Words” stayed with me through the next several months as I researched social issues for teenage girls and noted speakers. It was so amazing how I would be working on a topic, and all of a sudden the perfect speaker would pop up in my search. And they were all so accepting of the vision of the conference! Once everything was laid out, I made a website and presented the ministry to my pastor at the time. He was not interested at all. He didn’t like the heading on the website and he was in the middle of a fund raising for a mission trip to Guatemala. So the conference was dropped. I was heartbroken and even a bit angry. But the In Their Shoes never left me. I have thought about it from time to time over the years, and even mentioned it at the women’s conference last fall in Georgia.
So now here we are. I have written all this to give you the background on In Their Shoes. I also wanted to give you some insight into my walk with the Lord. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at my grandmother's funeral in November of 1991. I was fortunate to become a member of a solid, Bible teaching church. I immersed myself in The Word for the next several years, being a part of any and all Bible studies offered. A day came when my ex-mother-in-law made it impossible for me to continue at that church. I did not attend a church for the next 14 years, although I would often watch different ministers on television. Then my older sister died in December 2011. My brother's pastor performed the funeral service for Diane and I became reacquainted with his wife and mother-in-law. Our families had been good friends during my childhood. In January of 2012 I began attending the Millersburg Church of God. Once again, I became very dedicated to learn more about the Lord. I was so blessed to meet Janet Yoder, who would become a very dear friend and who would disciple me for the next seven years before she and her husband left the church. I ended my membership with the church in September of 2020. I had started attending Bible study classes once a month with Christwalk Church in December of 2019. I immediately recognized the teaching as being solid Biblical truth at the very first meeting with Pastor Chip and Pastor Jonah. I could hardly wait for the next month's meetings and was very saddened when Covid 19 shut the classes down in March. I was beyond thrilled when a month after I had left my church the next fall when I learned Christwalk was starting a sister church in Millersburg. I have continued to grow in my walk with the Lord and have developed a solid personal relationship with Him.
I do not consider myself the best example for a disciple. The Lord has been so good to me and I am becoming more obedient every day. I can relate to Peter, Andrew, James and John in Luke 5. After catching their largest haul of fish, which would have surely eased their financial burdens for themselves and their families, the Lord told them to lay it down and follow Him and become fishers of men. I have wondered what thoughts went through their minds as they walked away from their newfound wealth. I can almost hear Peter saying, “Wait a minute, wait a minute Lord, we need to talk about this!” as he began his journey following Jesus.
Unlike the four disciples, Jesus is not asking me to leave all of my newfound riches behind. He is simply asking me to pay it forward and then follow Him and become a fisher of teenage girls. I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive in redesigning the In Their Shoes program. I also want to thank all our potential Host Churches for joining me to help fulfil the Great Commission. And I want to assure the parents of all the girls attending our Young Women's Conference, that our vision is for your daughters to leave In Their Shoes having a stronger knowledge of who they are in Christ, with resources to handle their social issues and to truly know “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37.
God's Blessings to You,
Evelyn Wooten
