The movie tells the true story of young surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack, and her return to surfing afterwards.

Well, in the middle of everything else going on last week, I got a chance to talk with Sarah Hill, the young woman who was Hamilton’s youth ministry leader and friend at North Shore Christian Church in Kauai, Hawaii. 

In “Soul Surfer,” Oklahoma’s own Carrie Underwood portrays Hill.

Hill visited Oklahoma City to speak at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s women’s conference  April 15-16 at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center near Davis. The conference was held the same weekend as the Women of Joy conference at the Jim Norick State Fair Arena.

I covered Sarah Palin’s presentation at the  Women of Joy conference and I know there were thousands of women there. I know some of them might not have been able to attend the Baptist conference because of that.

I’m sharing my chat with Hill in Saturday’s Life section of The Oklahoman. I found that she has an interesting story all her own.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor        

I really enjoyed talking with Women of Fatih conference speakers Karen James and Michelle Aguilar. They both had compelling stories to tell and I could have shared much more than we had room for.

Some readers may already know, but for those of you who missed it, The Oklahoman, in partnership with the Women of Faith  conference ministry, has four free registrations to the conference to give away. We are giving them away in pairs so we have two pairs for some duo out there — maybe a mother and daughter, best friends or  two sisters, perhaps.    

The conference is set for Aug. 27-28 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. This year’s theme is “Imagine.”

If you are interested in participating, send your name, address and phone number to Carla Hinton, P.O. Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125 or send an email to chinton@opubco.com.

Deadline for entry is 5 p.m. Aug. 16. The winners will be notified by Aug. 17 — so they can begin making their plans …

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

It’s because Women of Faith 2009 is here … just days away, in fact.

With the theme “A Grand New Day,” the conference will be Friday and Saturday at the Ford Center, 100 W Reno.

Judging from years past, there will indeed be thousands of women flocking to downtown Oklahoma City come Friday.

Women of Faith’s core presenters include Oklahoma native and contemporary Christian recording artist Sandi Patty (at right), Marilyn Meburg, Sheila Walsh, Patsy Clairmont and Luci Swindoll. Lisa Whelchel (pictured below), star of NBC TV’s’1970′s-80′s sitcom “The Facts of Life,” will be one of the guest presenters.

Women from all over Oklahoma and some other states in the region are expected to attend the two-day conference.

See you there …

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor  

TULSA — The “Flying Nun” of TV yesteryear was make-believe.

Here come the real-life tweeting nuns of today.

Calling it “Chris and Barb’s excellent adventure,” two Benedictine sisters with St. Joseph’s Monastery in Tulsa joined Twitter this week to tweet about their experiences on a recent road trip.

Sister Christine Ereiser, the monastery’s prioress, said she and Sister Barbara Austin, left Tulsa earlier this week headed for Chicago, Ill., where the pair plan to attend an annual meeting of Benedictine women from throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

Ereiser said they chose to travel on old Route 66 and wanted to stay in touch with Ereiser’s 87-year-old mother who lives in Tulsa.

Ereiser said she decided to try Twitter as a way to keep Mom informed and also several friends and the St. Joseph’s community.

Speaking by phone Thursday night after arriving just outside Chicago, Ereiser said she enjoyed sending tweets as part of the Twitter social network. The trip through the old towns on the old highway was “meditative,” she said.

“It’s rejuvenating to travel at a slower pace.”

Ereiser, who sends tweets as ChristineOSB, said she had to think a little about what details would be off interest to family and friends following her tweets.

She’s had some return tweets.

“Some people weren’t aware of some attractions that I’ve mentioned. Some people were giving advice to us to get off (the highway) in different places”

Will she continue tweeting now that she’s found Twitter?

Possibly, but probably not on a daily basis, Ereiser said.

“I think it’s important to have something to say.”    

(ABOVE PHOTO BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN: Sister Christine Ereiser, prioress of St. Joseph Monastery in Tulsa, poses for this 2007 photo at the monastery.) 

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Today, thousands across the country marked the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade,  the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in America.

The anniversary, coming as it did on the week of the presidential inauguration of a pro-choice president, has produced a groundswell of protests, vigils and other activities designed to promote the sanctity of human life.

Here’s just a few examples of the types of activities that are now under way or beign planned:

– Pro-life advocates in about 118 cities across 41 states, plus four Canadian provinces and Austrailia, are preparing for simultaneous 40 Days for Life campaigns from Feb. 25 through April 5. The campaign will consist of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of constant, peaceful vigil outside abortion centers and Planned Parenthood offices and 40 days of pro-life community outreach. Incidentally, those dates coincide with the Christian season of Lent, a fact noted in a recent news release.

“Lent is a season of prayer, fasting, repentance and renewal,” Shawn Carney, spring campaign director said. “It’s a perfect match.”

– As part of the Birmingham Letter Project in Washington, D.C., a prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood was held on Wednesday, along with a March to the White House and the Supreme Court. Today a March for Life was held and Friday, the Rev. Alveda King, niece of slain civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will lead a prayer and memorial service in which 1,400 flowers will be laid in front of the White House to honor the 1,400 black children that die every day from abortion. On Saturday, as part of the project (named after MLK’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and coordinated by the Christian Defense Coalition) activists plan to leave pro-life messages and artwork on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

– Members of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign planned to give their personal abortion testimonies at the Washington, D.C. March for Life and at San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast on Saturday. Janet Morana, the group’s co-founder, said men and women who have suffered years of torment because of abortion will stand in front of the Supreme Court and on the streets of San Francisco to “proclaim that the time for healing has begun. To be pro-life is to be pro-woman.”

– Prolife Witness and Pro-Life Unity have joined forces to introduce Organized for Life, a new initiative aimed at taking the abortion and pro-life issues battle beyond the streets and clinics and into the homes of American families. The initiative will include outreach to discuss the abortion issue person to person, door to door, block by block and city by city.

(AP PHOTO: With one woman holding a large picture of the Virgin Mary, a group of about 200 pro-life supporters march on the grounds at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., today on the 36th anniversary of the controversial Roe v. Wade U.S Supreme Court decision on abortion.)

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor 

Now comes the “Tickled Pink: Prayer Devotion (Group Publishing, $7.99),” designed as a personal way for women to connect with God and refresh their heart and mind.

“Tickled Pink” comes in a small box that includes several items: a spinning top, a fan, feather, mini-umbrella and a piece of clay.

I talked to Amy Nappa, senior women’s editor at Group Publishing which created the prayer devotion. She said each item serves to inspire women in various circumstances.

For example, the pink clay calls women to meditate and create art of their own that reflects how God is forming and shaping them.

Nappa said “Tickled Pink” was created after the success of a similar product, “Chocolate Prayer Devotion.”

She said “Tickled Pink” is “the perfect inspiration for women who need to reflect and be uplifted by spending quiet time alone with God or in prayer.

“What’s unique about ‘Tickled Pink’ is that we created it specifically in recognition of women affected by breast cancer — everything inside the box is pink!”

In a news release, Joani Schultz, author, speaker and CCO at Group Publishing, said the prayer devotion is for all women, not just breast cancer survivors, who need to take a moment of pause.

She called it a “mini-retreat.”

Carla  Hinton

Religion Editor