Quick. What do racial bias, mixed families and absentee parents have to do with grandmothers? African-American speaker Thelma Wells–brought up by her grandmother–can tell you point blank. And that’s her short list.
On the heels of a two-decade run with the national conference series Women of Faith, Wells–the “Christian Oprah”–now addresses society’s family fissures widened by the years, the races, the miles and the electronics. At age 75, Wells announces the deceptively soft-sounding “Generation Love,” one-day conferences shaped by having grown up under her great grandmother, Sarah Harrell.
“Millennials get information without knowledge. Boomers see Millennial indifference and close doors. Teens are growing up ignorant of intergenerational riches,” Wells said. “And everyone suffers a brand of loneliness.”
In the “Generation Love” conference, every speaker appears with a family member. Launching Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas, women come from multiple ethnicities, denominations and nationalities, for the talks, panels, drama, dance and prayer–much of it interactive.
Based on Psalm 100:5, which closes with,” . . . his truth endures to all generations,” families gain vision and tools to better understand, listen and glean from their richest natural resources: each other.
“The X-factor is love,” Wells said. “And the effect is far more than sentiment. It’s what holds families and cities and nations intact.”
Generation Love’s impressive speakers and award-winning artists start with MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN mother-daughter team, Christy and Abigail Beam. Then there’s Babbie Mason, Steph Carse, Anna Byrd, comedian Becky Baker, and millennial speaker Grant Skeldon, director of Initiative Network. Actress and Women of Faith headliner Nicole Johnson wrote the multi-generational drama sketches.
Two panels will feature mother/daughter or father/son panel hosts and guests: Mandy Majors, founder of nextTalk, which gets parents and kids to talk about cyberbullying, social media, and sex, with daughter Ella; Wynter Pitts, owner of tween magazine “For Girls Like You” speaks with actress daughter Alena of WAR ROOM; Sabrina Harrison, owner of MINT dentistry, appears with her educator mom, Dr. Veronica Guerra.
The 2016-17 Generation Love Tour conferences are October 15 at Sunnyvale First Baptist Church, Sunnyvale, Texas; January 28 at First Baptist Grapevine, Grapevine, Texas; and February 25 at Cornerstone Baptist, Arlington, Texas. More info at GenerationLove.info.
