Zoom Lemonade
This year’s Summer Sampler Series answers the question “What does by design do?” Each post will address an aspect of our ministry, as told by women who have been positively impacted. We hope that their stories encourage you and inspire you to take advantage of the support, training, and resources available to you from by design ministries.
For more information about the wide range of services offered by our ministry, please click here.
Zoom Lemonade
By Kristi Stoughton
Online workshops always sounded like a good idea. It made sense for by design to share the training and resources that had previously only been available to women in New England, and we loved the idea of being able to expand our ministry around the world. But oh boy, it sure felt like a daunting task. With our staff already working crazy hours and our resources stretched to the limit, it just didn’t feel possible. So we put it off. For years.
And then the pandemic hit.
Suddenly, all our classes, workshops, mentoring events, Together Groups, and celebration events had to be canceled. Our Women’s Leadership Training certificate program had to be stopped in its tracks. But just because our events had ceased, that didn’t mean that the needs had disappeared. How would we continue to minister now that our events were on hold?
Enter Zoom.
Like everyone else during the pandemic, we had to pivot and change how we were doing things. The wonderful teachers and trainers from our Speakers Directory stepped up to the task and were willing to jump into the deep end of the pool. Some created teaching videos for our YouTube channel and others led online workshops via Zoom.
Our first Zoom workshop was in June 2020 and the topic was, appropriately, “Changing World, Unchanging God.” At the workshop, women from around the country engaged with each other and learned from a talented and wise speaker. It was an exciting, dynamic time! Needs were met. Women connected and were refreshed. After that first workshop, we knew that we had to continue.
And we have! Nearly every month we have offered a Zoom workshop from one of the amazing authors, speakers, and life coaches from our Speakers Directory. It has been so fun to see everyone interact and learn together. The energy and encouragement just continue to grow. And we have no plans to stop!
Hosting the Zoom workshops has enabled us to welcome women from all around the country. We’ve kept women connected and helped them forge new connections. It has been a means of support and encouragement.
The pandemic has been difficult for everyone. But we’ve made lemonade out of those lemons, and now we’re offering that refreshing lemonade to women around the country and around the world.
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Come and join us!
All of our upcoming events can be viewed on our website. But sometimes it can be hard to remember to check back, so if you’d like to stay updated on our next Zoom workshop, please sign up for our mailing list. And don’t forget to invite a friend (from anywhere around the world!) to join us for our next Zoom workshop!
If your church is looking for a speaker for your next event - whether in-person or virtual - you can find outstanding Christian speakers in our Speakers Directory. Vetted, dynamic, compelling, and relational women are ready to share with your group!
Kristi Stoughton, Associate Director of by design ministries, is a native of New Hampshire, where she currently resides with her husband. As a speaker for women’s events, Kristi has a passion for women to know God’s love deeply. She loves to share about the joyful, exciting, heartbreaking, beautiful, victorious, rollicking adventure that is Life in Christ! Kristi hasn’t yet met a craft that she doesn’t like, and thanks to her husband for his kind indulgence as she gleefully stockpiles crafting supplies she “might need someday.” Kristi loves playing her guitar and singing on her church’s worship team as well as serving with her musical “sister chicks” as the worship team for women’s retreats and other events. You can visit her online at www.krististoughton.com.