The beginning of Living Proof Live with Beth Moore is probably different from what you might imagine.

Picture a drab meeting room with beige walls and brown — like an interrogation room from a TV police drama. There's nothing fancy about it. No coffee. No bottled water. Just a musty smell and four people: a young Bible teacher clutching the Scriptures, her assistant, my boss, and me. The year was 1997.

This young Bible teacher described what was happening at her small two-room office as she fielded phone calls from different churches. She humbly described receiving invitations to speak, and she was having a hard time declining because she wanted to go to every church that invited her. She was blown away to get even a single call.

She was just a few years older than I was, but I hung on every word because she spoke with such wisdom. This woman expressed her love for serving women and how writing and teaching were her calling. She described trying to do her best to prioritize being a godly wife and mom of two beautiful girls. She oozed Jesus, and those around her couldn't take their eyes off this Spirit-filled woman. She was different. Set apart. Contagious. And she felt things deeply.

Her name was Beth Moore. She'd been teaching for many years, but because of the release of a Bible study in 1995, churches across the country were eager to have her come teach their women.

Humble Beginnings

A year earlier, I'd accepted a job as an event planner for Lifeway Christian Resources and was told that we might conduct women's events one day. At the time, I didn't understand what that meant. But in that drab meeting room with Beth, a fresh plan started coming together.

The vision that our events team shared with Beth was to conduct seminars so women could learn more about God's Word, which hopefully would lead to a life of Bible study for every woman who attended. We planned to hold these events at churches in small towns but never dreamed of big events. We envisioned about 500 women sitting in an audience with their heads buried in the Word, with their journals opened for taking notes, and with yellow highlighters in hand to mark verses that spoke to them. If we'd known what God was going to do, we'd have adjourned that meeting, shaken our heads in disbelief, and run out of the room.

My boss asked me if I thought I could work with Beth to help plan the seminars, and I felt like I could because she seemed nice. And that's exactly how Living Proof Live began.

In the meantime, I'd been learning how to plan events with two other event coordinators at Lifeway. We'd enlisted a young guy named Travis Cottrell to lead worship for a singles' event. The first time I met Travis, he stood in the doorway of my office, and we chatted a bit, but little did we know that God would have us working together on a daily basis for years to come. He led worship for the singles' event, and I was blown away. Travis has a way of bringing life to old hymns and can lead an audience in a new song they've never sung before with ease. His humor is endearing; there's something wrong with you if you don't love him.

After the first Living Proof Live event in which Travis led worship, I received a message from Beth. On her fax (yes, we faxed in those days), in her curly handwriting, she wrote, "Keep Travis! It's a match." And it's been a match ever since.

God-Sized Results

The next 10 years were a blast! I still can recall something from every event, whether it's a funny moment, a God moment, a sweet woman during the prayer time, or a great meal our team shared together. Beth can remember what she taught and the exact text she used at every event. We worked so hard, but we had so much fun. There were times I felt guilty for getting paid. Honestly, I'd have done it for free.

We were young and inexperienced, but we all desired to reach as many women as possible. God protected each of us. He was faithful and had His mighty hand on us in many situations. I learned much about His Word, leadership, relationships, boundaries, friendship, being a wife and mom, and what it took to be detailed in event coordination.

Why would God call us together for that time? Though we couldn't see His full plan, God unfolded a journey we never could have made without Him. We met women we would've never met. We grew deeper in His Word. We experienced God as we'd never experienced Him before. From city to city, we cried with women, prayed with women, and laughed our heads off with women. We saw women understand Scripture for the first time. We saw women accept Christ. We watched women let go of strongholds to which they'd been chained for years. We saw communities impacted. We saw revival in churches. We saw women transformed. And He changed us, too. I'd never experienced anything like it before.

Years from now when I'm old, I'll hold hands with my grandchildren and reflect upon these past 15 years. I'll likely have to fight back tears as I thank God for allowing me to be a small part of the amazing Living Proof Live ministry. I didn't deserve it at all, so it's clear to me that it was all Him. My heart is full as I think about the privilege it's been to serve and love thousands of women across the country.

This article is courtesy of HomeLife Magazine.

Faith Whatley is currently the Director of Adult Ministry for the Resources Division at LifeWay. She gives direction to a team who create events and curriculum resources for adults as well as new gift lines for our LifeWay stores. She also serves on a strategic team that is stewarding the future success of our LifeWay Stores. Faith served as Director of Church Ministry Training & Events (2007-2011) which planned LifeWay’s training and enrichment events/camps. She served as the Director of Women's Ministry (2004-2007) and the Director of Women's Events (1998-2004) when the Living Proof Live events were launched. Most importantly she is a wife and mother. She has been married 31 years to Jim and is very proud of their two children, Hugh and Grace. Hugh is married to Milan and they live in Brentwood, TN, expecting their first baby in September. Grace is married to Matt and they live in Mount Juliet, TN. The Whatleys are active members at Gladeville Baptist Church.