Introducing Our Brand New Site

We are the dreamers, the goers, the doers.

We are the stumblers, the broken, the failures.

 

We are the helpers, the healers, the leaders, and the servants.

We are the cleaners of laundry and the wipers of noses.

 

We are the teachers, the students, the writers, and the readers.

We are the surfers of change and the knowers of uncertainty.

 

We are the busy, the tired.

We are the fixers and the solvers.

 

We are the desperate, the clueless.

We are the kingdom builders.

 

Sometimes we need a beautiful, quiet place to rest our feet, to let our neediness hang out.

We need whispers of courage, to be reminded that this mundane, messy work of our life is indeed changing the world, for it is certainly changing me.

We need anchors of hope, to know that through upheavals of change, our Father has not forgotten us. Rather, we’re in the crook of his arm as he charts a story of glory beyond our understanding.

We need moments of “me too,” to be assured we’re not alone in our fears or our heart struggles.

We need someone to lift our chins, to point our eyes towards flashes of color, bits of light, gifts of grace.

We need the camaraderie of souls that understand, that nudge us onward to the ever deeper, always sweeter place of his presence.

Our prayer is that Velvet Ashes is this place for you.

We’ve made it all new for you.

We have a God of beauty who is continually making all things new. We have a God who took this small seed of a dream and grew it beyond our biggest dreams.   He grew us out of our first home, and now has made a place for who we have become.

Take a walk around. You’ll see all our favorite spaces are still here, the blog, The Grove, Book Club, the Instagram feed, the Community Map.

Let me take you on a tour of the new features of this place, and the places we’ve spruced up.

Prayer Support

Prayer has always been the backdrop of Velvet Ashes, but we are bringing it front and center, offering clear and easy avenues for you to both offer and find prayer support. We have three ways for you do this. Come take a peek.

Give

We have big news. I need a drum roll or trumpet blast here. After countless hours of paperwork, we are now Velvet Ashes Incorporated, an official non-profit organization!

This means we can now directly receive donations and offer U.S. tax-deductible receipts. Velvet Ashes only exists because of financial gifts. Now giving is easy to do from anywhere, and automated monthly online giving is possible.

Personally-Timed Series

For a long time we have dreamed of offering special support for women who are moving to the field and for women who are returning to their home countries. We’re thrilled today to unveil the “Leaving Home” and “Returning Home” series just for these two groups.

New Video

Our amazing videographer has pulled together many of the videos and pictures you’ve shared with us to create a new introduction video. Now when people ask, “What is Velvet Ashes?” THIS is what we show them.

Retreat Access

The Velvet Ashes Retreat is the highlight of the year for our community. If you were not one of the 1,300 women in 121 countries who took part in this year’s incredible retreat, you’re probably bummed you missed out. But wait, we’re making a way so you still can!  You’ll be able to purchase access to our past retreats.  Coming soon!

Connection Groups

Connection Groups are the heart of Velvet Ashes happening behind the screen. We value sharing life in intimate groups. This is how we do that. Check out our new video and sign up if you’re interested in being a group facilitator for our upcoming fall session.

Meet the Team

Check out our updated Meet the Team page. How would YOU like to join the Velvet Ashes team? We currently have openings for Graphic Artists and for an Instagram Manager. Check out the bottom of the Meet the Team page for details.

Resource Page

One of our favorite things to do is connect people to great opportunities and resources. We’ve created a place for all our recommendations!

The Grove

We’ve got a fun new way for you to share at The Grove. Add #velvetashes + theme of the week to your Instagram images and they’ll appear in The Grove post. This week’s theme is “Colorful,” so use #velvetashescolorful. We’ll choose a favorite to repost on our Instagram and feature it in our weekend “Have You Seen?” post.

***

And that’s the grand tour! Our prayer is that velvetashes.com is a life-giving place for you.

I want to pause and give a round of applause to the incredible team that has worked so hard to create this new space for us. You all know who you are. Thank you. Thank you for the massive effort and for believing in what God is doing here.

Now let’s enjoy this place!

What new features are you excited about?

 We’d love to hear your thoughts about the new site!

3 Comments

  1. Jennifer Ott July 7, 2016

    So exciting!!! Thank you guys, and I am looking forward to exploring the new site!

  2. Annalisa July 7, 2016

    So, I was on the main page, and I clicked on the Prayer Wall box, and I got a 404 error. The link on this blog post works, but the one on the main page goes to a different link which doesn’t exist.

    It takes a little longer to load than before, but I think that’s mostly a cache issue and will soon fix itself. 🙂

    Great work, ladies!!

    1. contemplate July 8, 2016

      Annalisa thanks for reporting this issue. We’ve now fixed the Prayer Wall link on the homepage. Enjoy!

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