Purity “Life-style” Show
Hosted by Black Hawk LFL
The purity “life-style” show, “Dressing for Life: Secrets of the Great Cover-up,” was hosted on June 7 by the Black Hawk chapter of Lutherans For Life (LFL). Approximately 140 women and young girls attended the event at Valley Lutheran Middle and High School in Cedar Falls.
“Dressing for Life” is both an educational and mentoring event. The script, written and presented by Linda Bartlett, helps women to focus on what God says about clothing, behavior, and choices. Vintage clothing from the past 100 years that illustrate changing cultures and ideologies were modeled by 13 young women from the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area. The event is educational because it explains why God made clothes and how being modest makes a positive difference for men and the culture. The event mentors purity, Biblical womanhood, and the gift of hospitality. Each table hostess mentored the gift of hospitality at her creatively decorated table.
“Dressing for Life” is also a fund-raiser. A free-will offering was taken on June 7 and matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The funds donated will help the continuing ministries of Word of Hope (www.word-of-hope.org) and Titus 2 for Life (www.titus2-4life.org), the healing and mentoring ministries affiliated with Lutherans For Life. Some of the funds were used to help purchase “God’s Word for Life” study Bibles for the Alternative Pregnancy Center in Waterloo.
During the past three years, “Dressing for Life” has raised over $35,000 for Word of Hope, Titus 2 for Life, local caring pregnancy centers, and area pro-life projects. Linda Bartlett and Judy Hayen have taken this purity “life-style” show to Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota, and all around Iowa.
Black Hawk LFL began planning this “life-style” show a year ago when several women, including Kie Maas, attended the “Dressing” event hosted by Linn County’s LFL in Hiawatha. Kie, Marcene Niehaus and a team of volunteers, coordinated the event. Five women helped with the models, 20 hostesses invited guests and decorated tables, and two women took the models to TJ Maxx to pick out modest clothing that was modeled at the end of the show.
All who attended were encouraged to order the ten-lesson Bible study, “Dressing for Life: Secrets of the Great Cover-up,” which is available from www.lutheransforlife.org in a reproducible PDF format. This study is appropriate for use by moms and daughters, girls in catechism class, at a sleep-over, at a girls’ retreat, or during a series of “girl’s night outs.”
“Dressing for Life” is a model for ministry offered by Titus 2 for Life. Other models include Titus 2 Retreats and training events for small groups. To learn more, visit www.titus2-4life.org
“The message of ‘Dressing for Life’ is counter-culture,” notes Linda Bartlett. “It challenges girls and women to rebel against the ‘sexy’ image and, instead, see themselves as God does. It encourages them to dress and behave in a way that brings glory, not to themselves, but to the God who created them.”
“Dressing for Life” concludes with the “perfect” dress: the white wedding dress. “We learned why the dress is white, what the veil means, and why God wants a woman to wait to be sexually intimate until marriage,” Kie explained. “But, that wasn’t all. Linda offered hope to all women – who trust in and wait patiently for their Savior, Jesus Christ.”
For more information on the events and projects of Black Hawk LFL, please e-mail kmaas48@mchsi.com
