Leslie Leyland Fields + Ann Voskamp
Leslie has been teaching, publishing, editing and speaking for more than thirty years nationally and internationally.
“Speaking for myself and all of the staff, God used you mightily last weekend. We are in awe of your preparation, poise, energy and authenticity. Not a word failed to praise Him, and neither did those words fail to stir us.“
-David Gresham, Navigators International
“What a wonderful day and evening we had with Leslie Leyland Fields. Tell a Better Story, a writing seminar for Cru staff and guests, based on Leslie’s new book, Your Story Matters. All I heard were rave reviews for her presentation, her teaching, the writing prompts, the questions and conversation, the reflections--so good. We are all so grateful.”
-Judy Douglass, author, CRU
“God has given you an amazing gift of being able to teach and lead in such a way that every person feels like they truly matter to you.”
-Marilyn H.
“So grateful for this opportunity to be taught from someone who gets story in a remarkable way.”
-Dayle Rogers
“Thanks Leslie for your vibrant and passionate presence, and for communicating skills, ideas, wisdom in such engaging ways. You’re a lot of fun!”
-Lois (Lake Michigan Writer’s Workshop)
Speaking Schedule:
2025
April 23 - 30 Turkey, Your Story Matters: Women in the Window
June 15 - 21 Kodiak, Your Story Matters Retreat
Sept. 6 - 13, Harvester Island, Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop
2024
February 15 - 18, Chisinau, Moldova
February 20 - 27, Skopje, Macedonia, The Power of Forgiveness
Parenting in Grace and Freedom
March 1, Warsaw, Poland, The Wonder Years
March 2 Warsaw: Your Story Matters Workshop
March 5-6 Krakow: Student Ministry
March 8 Gdansk: Your Story Matters Workshop
March 9 Gdansk: The Power of Peacemaking
April 6. Kodiak: Nearing a Far God Launch and Reading (Islander Bookshop)
April 11 - 13, Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing
April 13 Grand Rapids, MI: Nearing a Far God book launch party
April 18 - 20 Goshen, IN Nearing God Gathering: Finding Our Voice in the Psalms
April 21 Goshen, IN Restor Church: The Power of the Psalms
June 15 - 22, Kodiak, Alaska, Your Story Matters Retreat
August 31 - Sept. 7, Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop
Oct. 28 - 11/4, Cuba, Your Story Matters Retreat
2023
February, Ahuachapan, El Salvador, Your Story Matters
March 9: Tampa Your Story Matters Workshop and Training (Private)
March 14 - 23 Moldova, Your Story Matters Workshop and Training
Chisinau: Women’s Retreat
Chisinau: Women’s Prison
March 25, Lyons, France: Lifespring International: Your Story Matters
April 23 - 26 Washington, Ingalls Creek Retreat Center Your Story Matters Retreat
June 20-24 Grand Rapids, MI, Scriptoria Workshop: https://www.scriptoriaworkshop.org/
July 22 - 29: Kodiak: Your Story Matters workshop
Sept. 4 - 11 Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop
October 12, Marshfield, Wisconsin, Your Story for His Glory Conference
November 17 Kodiak, Alaska “A Radiant Birth” Reading and launch
December 1, Denver, CO, “A Radiant Birth” Reading: Downing House
December 8-9: Dallas, Texas, “The Best Gift Ever: Story Workshop
Christmas Brunch: A Radiant Birth
2022
Jan. 28 - 30 Kampala, Uganda: Lifesprings School of Ministry: Spiritual Formation
*Psalms Alive Seminar
Feb. 26. Orlando, Wonder Years Gathering: Now What? God’s New Life in Midlife
March 3: Pensacola, Fl, Psalms Alive!
March 4 - 6, Pensacola, FL, Your Story Matters Retreat
March 19: Nashville: Mid-South Writer’s Conference (online)
May 8,9: Edmonton, Alberta. Beulah Alliance Church: Sunday sermon:
Mothers Day: What Are Children “For”?
June 8, Karachi, Pakistan, Keynote Women’s Conference
Jun 10 - 17, Kodiak, Alaska: Psalms Alive! Retreat
July 13 -21 Harvester Island, Your Story Matters Retreat
Sept. 3 - 11 Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop
Sept. 24, Marshfield, WI Women’s Conference: Crossing the Waters
Oct. 20: Colorado Springs, CO, Focus on the Family
Oct. 26: Iqaluit, Baffin Island,
Nov. 4 - 7: Bratislava, Slovakia Your Story Matters Workshop and Training
Topics
Nearing God: Praying the Psalms with Our Whole Selves (2 hours - 4 days)
How Can We Love God and Attach to Him More Fully?
Most of us long for a closer relationship with God. We know we fall short. Many of us struggle with believing we are fully forgiven and fully loved. Many of us struggle with meaningful prayer. How can we draw near to this God who sometimes feels so far away? The Psalms will show us!
As the prayer and song book of the church, the Psalms illuminate more than any other book in the Scriptures what it looks like and sounds like to be in an intimate relationship with our loving God. No human emotion, no experience, no story is beyond the realm of the Psalms and the Psalmists, which means that no experience or heart-cry of our own is beyond the ear or heart of God.
In this Nearing God Gathering Leslie will lead us in
*Discovering our own voice and story within the Psalms, as they invite us
*Exploring five different forms of the Psalms—lament, wisdom, confession, creation, and praise
*Practicing transformative writing and prayer exercises that engage our whole brain and body
*Drawing near to God in our best and worst moments, in moments of joyful praise as well as in moments of abandonment and grief
Leslie’s new book and this new Gathering is rooted in twenty years of her own transformative immersion in the Psalms. She desires to lead you where God has led her: into the heart of the Psalms and near to the heart of our Father.
CROSSING THE WATERS FROM DOUBT TO FAITH
(1 - 3 day presentation)
What does it really mean to follow Jesus? Using multi-media from her life in fishing in Alaska and her adventures with fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, Leslie takes you across the waters of time and culture to follow along after those first fishermen disciples in Galilee---and to her own life on the waters of Alaska. She’ll highlight some of the most dramatic events of the gospels--and her family’s life in commercial fishing in Alaska---with storms, bursting nets and sea crossings, revealing fresh truths about Jesus and a life of faith. (Also a RightNow Media Bible Study, filmed with Leslie in Alaska.) In a time when so many are “unfollowing” Jesus and leaving the Church, Crossing the Waters delivers a refreshing encounter with Jesus and explores what it truly means to “come, follow me.” (Based on her award-winning book, Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt and the Seas )
Your Story (Truly) Matters! Writing Spiritual Memoir
(1 – 4 day workshop, in-person or through zoom )
Maya Angelou has written, “There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” We all carry untold stories, stories that yet offer freedom, healing and wisdom in the telling—-if we will only attend. Our stories matter not only to us and to our families, but we’re also charged to pass on to others what we have witnessed in this life: the mysterious, the tragic, the miraculous, the glorious ordinary. How do we accomplish this? In this 1 - 4 day seminar, Leslie will guide participants in this profound means of public witness and spiritual transformation: discovering, writing and sharing our life stories. She’ll present the dynamic writing process she has used as both a writer and a teacher of writing for decades to thousands around the world that is both practical and inspiring, from accessing memory to generating ideas to shaping final drafts and beyond. (Also a RightNow Media course, Your Story for His Glory, with Leslie and Ann Voskamp)
Topics Covered:
*Why Your Story Matters
*Practicing the Three Building-Blocks of Story-Making
*Writing as Prayer, Discovery and Response
* Freeing the Creator; Educating the Editor
*Telling the Truth of Hard Places and Difficult People
Writing that Heals Us (and Heals the World)
Launching Your Work into the World
What IS the redemptive story God is writing through your life? Let’s gather and begin!
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THE POWER of PEACEMAKING
(1 hour to - 2 day presentation [in person or through zoom])
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." "As much as it is possible, live at peace with all men." In this contentious and indifferent world, in a politically divided nation, how do we live as peace makers at home, in our churches, in our communities and nation? Personal real-life narratives are braided around the life of Jesus, who lived in a particularly tumultuous time and culture. Through example and paradox, Jesus will show us the way through conflict to the power of peacemaking.
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Even When No One Listens:
The Beautiful Persistence of Serving God
How do we keep on following and serving God in the midst of trials, struggle, and a hostile world? Where do we find the courage to "keep the faith" when all around us it seems people are "unfollowing" Jesus? I'll share part of my own life story through storms and trials, and will follow as well the life of Ezekiel who was called to very hard things: Ezekiel's response to the call and the shocking outcome gives us a remarkable roadmap for us as we engage with apathy, belief and unbelief in our own families and culture.
THE FREEDOM TO FORGIVE
(Based on her book, Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers." ).
Can We Really Change the World?
Yes, it's possible---through forgiveness. In this intimate seminar, Leslie will lead participants through dramatic story, interactive scriptures and journaling exercises that lead toward empathy, understanding, forgiveness and the healing of broken relationships.
'Successful' Parenting or Faithful Parenting?: What God's Word Really Says about Raising "Christian Kids"
We all know the statistics (ranging from depressing to despairing) about the numbers of young people leaving the church. We wonder, Is it really possible to impart a lasting faith to our children? And if so, how much of this is God’s work and how much is ours? In this provocative session, Leslie will expose some popular Christian myths and cultural assumptions about transmitting our faith and replace them with truths gained from parents in the scriptures that ultimately free us from pride, failure and fear.
Based on Parenting is Your Highest Calling . . . and Eight Other Myths that Trap Us in Worry and Guilt