ASH FLAT — Rock This
House event
information
Where: Ash Flat
Church of Christ
Family Life
Center
When: 6:30-
9:30 p.m. Aug.
24 and 8:30-
11:30 a.m. Aug.
25
What: Women’s
gathering for all
denominations,
featuring speak
ers, music, sto
rytelling, drama
and more
Tickets: $10,
which includes
dinner on Aug.
24 and break
fast on Aug. 25
ASH FLAT - Organizers hope the spirit of the Lord will be rocking the house at the Ash Flat Church of Christ next month.
Rock This House started out as a small gathering of women in the AshFlat community. Organized by the Women of Faith Ministry at the Ash Flat Church of Christ, the event brings women from all denominations together for one big gathering each year.
Now in its fourth year, the event has exploded with almost 800 women from not only neighboring towns, but neighboring states as well, expected to attend this year’s event. The event will feature speakers,music, storytelling, drama and more.
The women’s group held the firstevent three years ago.
“We started praying about it and pitched the idea to the elders,” Jan Haney said about the idea of Rock This House. “They were all on board.
“The first year, my goal was 300 [participants], and 350 women showed up. Someone said, ‘Jan, they are having to park at the bank.’ So I knew we would be OK.”
This year, the group expects 800 participants, based on current ticket sales. Rock This House will be from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Aug. 24 and from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Aug. 25 at the church’s Family Life Center.
Tickets prices are $10, and that includes dinner on Aug. 24 and breakfast on Aug. 25.
The name of the event is based on Scripture. The group of women came up with thename of the event from Acts 4:31, which says, “And when they had prayed, the placewas shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the HolyGhost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” “It was the most amazingexperience I’ve ever had,” Teri Fowler said about the first time she attended the event. “I hadn’t planned to go, and my boss had given me a ticket, so I thought I’d better go.”
Fowler said she’s not a morning person and had planned just to attend the Friday night session.
But she said after the event that night, she couldn’t wait to get up and get back Saturday morning.
“It helped me to step over some things that were sitting in the way of enjoying my Christianity,” she said.
After that first experience with Rock This House, Fowler became a volunteer for the project and one of its most prolific spokeswomen.
She’s not the only one who has been positively affected by the event
Out of Rock This House, Haney said, other groups have been formed. One of thoseis an a cappella group called Amazed that formed to perform at the event. It had some financial benefits for the event as well - the group isn’t having to pay a group to sing at the event.
This year, the event will feature Ester Burroughs as the keynote speaker. Burroughs is an author who encourages women and families with God’s word and life lessons.
The women are already working on next year’s Rock This House, which will be held July 26 and 27, 2013. The event will feature Lysa Ter-Keurst, best-selling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries.
For more information on Rock This House, visit the Ash Flat Church of Christ website, ashflatcofc.org.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.
Three Rivers, Pages 47 on 07/26/2012