Intentional. Steeped in God’s Truth. Customizable. God-Centered. Missions-Minded. Relevant. Authentic. Impactful.
These are just some of the words used to describe Complete — an annual gathering for teen girls sponsored by Alabama WMU. It began in Alabama decades ago (previously known as Pizazz).
The recent event, held March 8–9 at Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery, focused on Truth — God’s Truth. The theme stemmed from John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Courtney Veasey, Bible teacher and founder of Brunch Ministries, served as event speaker with Jenna & Zoë as music leaders.
‘Connections matter’
“This particular event is important because of its focus on truth, because I think that is a cultural pressure that teens are having to deal with — your truth, my truth — but to stop and focus on God’s truth that Jesus is the Truth,” said Trish Jackson, Alabama WMU missions lifestyle strategist for preschool, children and students.
“There is truly something special and helpful about sending teen girls to an all girls event,” she explained. “They are not having all the distractions from the outside and the topics are specific to them. They get to meet other girls like them from a different part of Alabama and those connections matter.
“When you see breakout rooms busting at the seams, you know God is using topics on self-worth, identity, how to have a healthy mind and how to study the Bible to speak to the hearts of the girls.”
Highlights worth and value
One of this year’s Challenge Team mentors Suzanna Brothers, a member of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa, added that what she loves most about Complete is “how intentional it is. You can tell that it is all designed for the girls and you can see whenever they come in, their faces just light up.”
Jamie McGlaughn, a member of MeadowBrook Church in Gadsden, has been bringing teens to this event for 25 years. She has witnessed the importance of an event geared toward teen girls — especially with the need to learn to navigate life in an ever-changing culture. She noted that Complete helps young women understand their worth and value.
“I have watched the change and shift over the past 25 years of all the things vying for our teens’ attention,” McGlaughn said. “In the beginning, there were not so many things pulling at their time and attention. It makes it even more special to me as a leader that these girls are setting aside time to come because they have that hunger to learn more and dig deeper.”
She has “even seen so many girls grow up coming to Complete and then ask to be chaperones because even as adults and young women, they wanted to continue to come because they gleaned so much from what they learned.”
Learning about missions
One young lady that came year after year to Complete as a teen and now comes as an adult leader and brings girls from her own church is Taylor Noah, a member of Eastern Hills Baptist Church.
“As a teenager, Complete was a time for me to come with other like-minded females and with women from my church that loved missions and loved the Lord. We live in a world that tells you, ‘you’re not good enough, you’re not pretty enough, you’re not smart enough.’ Then at Complete … it is a breath of fresh air and you hear how you are loved, you are beautifully created, you have the God of the Universe pursuing you and He loves you and wants a relationship with you,” she said. “I keep coming back to Complete because I love learning about missions and participating in missions. Complete continues to fuel that. Now as a leader for teenagers at my church, I desire for them to have that relationship with Him as well.”
Madilyn Segrest, also from Eastern Hills Baptist, is one of the teens who came with Noah this year to Complete. It is her second year participating and she said she loved “the overall missions aspect. I love missions and it is definitely something I want to do with my life. I loved feeling the Holy Spirit in the worship, teaching and people and getting to share that with other girls from around our state.”
Segrest plans to come again next year and hopes to see even more of her friends attend because “it’s just very impactful on your life and it does make a big difference.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Tiffany Roy for Alabama WMU and is published with permission.
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