Since WAVES were responsible for organizing Friday night’s public speaking event in Sacramento, Betty asked WAVE Kristen to share with the public what W.A.V.E.S is all about. Here is what Kristen shared at Friday’s public event:
My name is Kristen Foley, and I am one of the many volunteers who helped to organize tonight’s very special event.
Betty asked me to share with you a little bit about the group of volunteers who helped to make this night possible for all of us. Since Embraced by the Light was first published, Betty began hearing from people around the world who were connecting to the message of God’s unconditional love that they found in the book, and they wanted to know what they could do to help spread the message of Betty’s experience to others in need of hope and comfort. To meet this need, Betty created a volunteer organization in 2001, where folks from around the world who had been touched by the message of EBTL could join together and use their combined efforts of prayer and service to reach others with the reassuring message of God’s unconditional love for us all. Betty decided to call the group W.A.V.E.S, which stands for ‘warring angel volunteers on earth’. She chose this name in reference to the mighty protecting angels she met in heaven, and also because of the ripple effect of love that would go out as this group of volunteers began individually and collectively spreading waves of love in their own homes and workplaces, in their own communities and cities throughout the world.
W.A.V.E.S is about sharing the message of love that many of us have come to know through Betty’s books. In just over four years, W.A.V.E.S has grown to more than 1,000 members worldwide. There are countless ways that W.A.V.E.S volunteers are impacting the lives of others. Our event tonight is just one of the many ripples created by W.A.V.E.S volunteers throughout the year. Many W.A.V.E.S regularly pray for the needs of others on Betty’s prayer page, and some W.A.V.E.S give away copies of Betty’s books to hospices and nursing homes or to others they feel would benefit from its message. And still other W.A.V.E.S are involved in service projects that are benefiting their communities. W.A.V.E.S volunteers use their own unique gifts and talents to uplift others and spread God’s love in ways fitting to each individual, making a difference in the world through one compassionate action at a time.
Betty describes in EBTL the significance that a single act of kindness can have when she says: “I saw myself perform an act of kindness, just a simple act of unselfishness, and I saw the ripples go out. The friend I had been kind to was kind in turn to one of her friends, and the chain repeated itself. I saw love and happiness increase in others’ lives because of that one simple act on my part.” (EBTL, pp. 113-114) As each of us who knows the truth of God’s unconditional love shares unconditional love with others, the positive influence we can have in the world as individuals is truly beyond our comprehension.
Tonight, we have 39 W.A.V.E.S volunteers in attendance from throughout the U.S. and Canada, and, in fact, our musicians are all W.A.V.E.S volunteers. You might be surprised to learn that they had their first practice session together as a group just this afternoon. I’d like to introduce them to you: We have Henrietta Atkin of Chicago, Illinois on piano; Jim Fly of Wisconsin on guitar (Jim is also the Editor of our W.A.V.E.S Newsletter); Barbara Diaz of New York on flute; and vocalists Debbie Waithe of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Stan Zenk of Placerville, California.
Behind every W.A.V.E.S volunteer is a personal story of how the message of Embraced by the Light touched that individual’s life. While most good books you read hopefully provide you with some enjoyment value, very few books seem to have the profound effect on people’s lives that Embraced has had in the thirteen years since it was first published. We have a WAVE volunteer with us tonight who would like to briefly share with you how Embraced by the Light impacted her life and why she decided to become a WAVE. Her name is Donna Fairbanks of Provo, UT. (Donna shares her EBTL experience.)
If anyone would like to know more about W.A.V.E.S, please visit Betty’s website at http://www.embracedbythelight.com. One of my favorite quotes from all of Betty’s books is from The Ripple Effect, where Betty says: “To learn to love more fully is the reason we have come to earth.” My hope is that each of us here tonight will take something away from this speaking event that will help us love more fully in our own lives so that we may live out Jesus’ highest vision for us: that above all else, we love one another. Thank you, and enjoy the evening’s program.
