Sisters 2017 - Panel Discussion - Life.Church

Reach One, Teach One – Sisterhood Panel

Opening Moments

The moderator restated our Life.Church mission: “to lead women to become fully devoted followers of Christ,” then framed the day’s focus with the simple rally-cry, “Reach one, teach one.” She welcomed three sisters—Amanda, Kari (Carrie) McCarty, and Latonya Pratt—inviting them to unwrap what biblical community looks like in real life.

Testimonies

Amanda

• Rhythm of ministry: in every season she finds “the women a few steps behind me”—middle-schoolers in high school, high-schoolers in college, now young adults over Wednesday-morning bagels.
• Method: faithful presence. “I just listened, prayed, encouraged, showed up.”
• Advice to hesitant women: community doesn’t require perfect answers or formal labels. “Grab coffee, take the kids to Chick-fil-A, and talk about what the Lord is doing.”
• Personal witness: during her own illness friends “brought me groceries when I couldn’t go shopping.” Fighting isolation is worth every awkward first hello.
• Emotion: tears mixed with resolve—“Satan wants to isolate us… but God is faithful and good and He’s going to walk us through this.”

Kari (Carrie) McCarty

• Core conviction: ministry is “loving God and loving people—it’s not complicated.”
• Gift leveraged: hospitality. For 35 years her home has hosted life-groups; now she pours into new leaders. “It’s not our ability—it’s our availability.”
• Greatest blessing: friendship with 27-year-old Jenny Bruns. Kari walked beside Jenny from baby dedication (Mother’s Day 2016) through a 15-month battle with stage-4 cancer.
• Holy outcome: “Her hope never wavered, her faith never quit… six days ago Jenny met Jesus.” Kari wore Jenny’s necklace on stage as a living tribute.

Latonya Pratt

• Two lanes of ministry:

1. Mentorship in corporate America—training young women to excel at work and follow Christ.
2. Encouragement for moms “knee-deep in diapers and emails,” reminding them, “You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way” (Song of Songs 4:7).
   • Community testimony: ten years with the same life-group of “sisters” who stood through miscarriage, the loss of both parents, and miracles—one prayed-for couple now has four children.
   • Theology of togetherness: “The very first book of the Bible says man should not be alone,” and “two are better than one” (Genesis 2:18; Ecclesiastes 4:9). “You need a tribe… someone holding your arms up like Aaron held up Moses.”

Holy-Spirit Highlights

• Simple obedience—showing up—opens doors for discipleship far more than polished answers.
• Hospitality and home can become a decades-long pulpit.
• Suffering, when walked in community, multiplies hope and leaves a legacy.
• God ministers in boardrooms, nurseries, and cancer wards alike—no space is off-limits.
• Isolation is the enemy’s tactic; vulnerability is God’s remedy.

Prayer Points & Next Steps

• Comfort and ongoing provision for Jenny Bruns’ family and friends.
• Courage for every woman still standing alone to take the first small step toward community.
• Strength and creativity for leaders opening homes, offices, and play-places as mission fields.
• Continued fruit for Amanda’s Wednesday group, Kari’s leader-mentoring, and Latonya’s workplace discipleship.
• Personal action: ask the Father, “What’s my next ‘reach one, teach one’ assignment?”

Closing Blessing

“We are going to lead women to become fully devoted followers of Christ—we’re going to reach one and teach one. Amen.”