Inspire, Winter 2003

Inspire 27 Ever since she was a teenager, Dannah Barker Gresh ’89 dreamed of being a writer. “I never had any specific goals for that dream,” she explained, “I just loved to write. I thought it would be amazing to write for a living.” Just nine years after graduating from Cedarville, that dream became a reality as Dannah became an author. Dannah recalled, “In 1998 I felt God calling me to write a book. It seemed a bit outrageous to be honest. Deb Bush Haffey ’68, Cedarville professor and friend, agreed to read my proposal and help refine it. Unknown to me, she was friends with a man who was then vice president of Moody Media, and she hand-delivered my proposal to him. Twelve weeks later I had a contract from Moody!” Dannah now has written four books; the latest is Secret Keeper Girl , which offers moms eight great ideas for dates with their eight- to 12- year-old daughters to discuss modesty, beauty, and purity. After becoming a writer, Dannah became a speaker. That, however, was never part of the childhood dream. “I couldn’t have imagined being a speaker,” she said. “I was socially clumsy and shy. Even when I became published and a friend in the industry encouraged me to pursue speaking, I laughed.” Dannah says God has removed the fear, and she now enjoys speaking — though not as much as writing. Dannah’s speaking endeavors actually began when she was asked to lead a retreat on a subject very close to her heart — purity. “In 1996, I did my first retreat for my church,” Dannah explained. “With a handful of girls, my calling began. I started sharing my testimony of sexual sin and God’s healing and teaching about purity. In the following months and years I would, by word-of-mouth requests, do several more local events.” From there her ministry evolved. Dannah and her husband, Bob ’88, established Pure Freedom, an organization that encourages men and women to practice sexual purity. Pure Freedom also was not part of any earlier dreams. “I not only didn’t dream this,” Dannah admitted, “I denied God access to this dream He had for my life. But as my church prodded me to conduct just one retreat for teen girls on the subject of sexual purity, I relinquished. During that weekend I saw myself in the eyes of the girls in attendance. How hungry they were for someone older and wiser to be real with them.” Dannah realized there was one door of her life that she had kept closed to God’s calling. She said, “It was the door to my secrets — the door that hid the sexual sin. Sadly, in keeping this door closed, I also missed God’s healing and hid God’s forgiveness from others around me.” In 2000, And the Bride Wore White was released. With that began national retreat requests. “In 2001, Who Moved the Goalpost by my husband, Bob Gresh, was released and we began doing guy’s events, too,” Dannah noted. “We facilitate about 16 two-day retreats a year ranging from 200-1,000 high school students.” Pure Freedom’s mission is to encourage and equip men and women of all ages to live a life of purity, to heal from moments of past impurity, and to enjoy the covenant rewards of God. Dannah says another Pure Freedom distinctive is that she wants to teach teens how to live a life of purity and how to heal if they’ve missed the mark — to move beyond the simplicity of “just waiting” — which is hard to do in this day and age. Dannah added, “It is our prayer that as I reveal how God’s truth worked in my life, others will find God’s hope and healing.” Dannah can’t imagine a better dream to be living. She shared, “It’s so much easier to follow God’s dreams than our own. When the Holy Spirit walks ahead of you, there are less obstacles to overcome and more joy along the way!” Dannah says she dreams of training up younger women to do what she’s doing. She concluded, “I want to look to today’s college girls and young married women and train them. I see myself fading away from being the one to facilitate events and focusing on helping others do that.” For more information about Pure Freedom as well as Dannah’s and Bob’s books, visit their Web site at www.purefreedom.org . Pure Freedom D a n n a h B a r k e r G r e s h ’ 8 9