That’s why we are excited for you to attend the 2025 Desperate for Jesus Women’s Conference on Friday and Saturday, July 25-26. Although the in-person conference is sold out, we have plenty of room for you via simulcast!
Join conference hosts Chrystal Hurst and Priscilla Shirer for an inspiring experience centered around this year’s theme, LEGACY! With a focus on Psalm 78:4, we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
Click the button below each picture to learn more about each one.
Chrystal Hurst is an energetic, fun-loving “girl-next-door” who loves encouraging others to fulfill their full potential in Christ. With humor and vulnerability, Chrystal tells it like it is but does so with grace, integrity, and love.
She is the best-selling author of She’s Still There and co-authored Kingdom Woman with her father, Dr. Tony Evans. Chrystal reaches a wide audience speaking at conferences, writing for Proverbs 31 Ministries, teaching and leading women at her home church, and sharing regular encouragement via podcasts and blogs at ChrystalEvansHurst.com. She firmly believes God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans that I have for you…” and she desires to help other women believe and apply that truth to their lives.
Most importantly, Chrystal is a dedicated wife and mother of five and serves as the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the Hurst household. Chrystal and her husband, Jessie, reside in a small town just outside of Dallas, Texas.
Priscilla Shirer is a wife and mom first, but put a Bible in her hand and a message in her heart, and you’ll see why thousands meet God in powerful, personal ways at her conferences and through her Bible Study resources. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of more than two dozen books and has had featured roles in movies like War Room (2015), I Can Only Imagine (2018), Overcomer (2019), and The Forge (2024).
Priscilla and her husband of 25 years, Jerry Shirer, lead Going Beyond Ministries, through which they provide spiritual support and resources to the body of Christ. They count it as a privilege to serve every denomination and culture across the spectrum of the Church.
Their greatest joy has been raising three young adult sons: Jackson (22), Jerry Jr. (20), and Jude (16).
The best-selling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time, CeCe Winans has long since cemented her status as one of the most accomplished and celebrated women in modern music history. It’d be easy to look back and rest on such illustrious laurels, but Winans has always had her eyes fixed firmly on the future, so it should come as little surprise that she jumped at the opportunity when her son, Alvin Love III, proposed she record the generation-bridging new album Let Them Fall In Love. Her first in nearly a decade, the record finds Winans returning to the studio with gusto, working for roughly three years to craft her most confident, adventurous collection yet.
Recording and performing as both a solo artist and as a duo with her brother BeBe, CeCe has influenced a generation of gospel and secular vocalists over the course of her astonishing career. Her mantel today holds a staggering 12 GRAMMY Awards, 20 Dove Awards, and 7 Stellar Awards. She’s been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Nashville Music City Walk of Fame, in addition to being named a Trailblazer of Soul by BMI and garnering multiple NAACP Image Awards, Soul Train Awards, Essence Awards, and more. She’s sold in excess of 5 million albums in the US, topping the Gospel charts repeatedly while crossing over with smashes like “Count On Me,” her stunning duet with Whitney Houston from the multi-platinum Waiting To Exhale soundtrack, which sold 2 million copies and cracked the Top 10 on the Pop, R&B, and Adult Contemporary charts. She touched millions more with inspirational performances everywhere from Oprah to the White House, and even showed off her acting chops on television series like 7th Heaven and Doc.
While collaborating with family is nothing new for Winans, the recording sessions for Let Them Fall In Love found the Detroit native working for the very first time with her son in the producer’s chair.
“Alvin shared with me a vision that he had of a record that was bold and a little different than anything I’d ever done before,” remembers Winans. “When I heard the songs he’d been writing, I got so excited. He has great ears and great style and a unique way of writing and thinking things through. It made it extra special that two generations of family were able to come together on this record.”
Bringing together generations is Winans’ specialty, and she drew inspiration for the album from her extensive work with the young men and women who attend the church she and her husband founded in Nashville.
“It’s really important to me to share where I’ve been and to encourage young people to understand that they can go even further,” reflects Winans. “I wanted to make an album that ties us together, something that young people would be able to learn from and be inspired by.”
Written primarily by Alvin and co-produced by Alvin along with Winans’ long-time collaborator Tommy Sims (Garth Brooks, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt), Let Them Fall In Love was mixed by Dae Bennett (Tony Bennett, Amy Whinehouse, Olivia Newton John) and Jimmy Douglass (Pharrell Williams, Micheal Buble). The album, recorded both in Nashville and New York City, finds Winans more confident than ever before, merging eras and genres in a glorious blend of past and present that simultaneously recalls the heyday of Motown and still sounds undeniably modern. Big band horns meet strings from the Nashville String Machine as Winans’ soaring voice hits new heights, fueled in part by the encouragement and motivation of her son.
“Alvin was hard on me in the studio,” remembers Winans. “He’d really work me during the songs, and I knew that was a good thing because it meant he was pressing me to get the best performances possible. Now I listen back and I know he was right. It was so important to get the right interpretation of each song.”
Winans is able to inhabit each song on the record so fully in part because she’s lived their stories. She describes album opener “He’s Never Failed Me Yet” as “my personal testimony,” “Run To Him” as her frequent act of refuge, and “Marvelous” as a musical embodiment of the black church. On “Hey Devil!,” she’s joined by fellow gospel powerhouses The Clark Sisters for a playful rebuke of temptation, while “Peace From God” is a prayer for light in an increasingly dark world, and “Lowly” is a lesson about pride and humility aimed at the young men who might need it most. Winans’ eclectic ability shines through on the pedal steel country waltz of “Why Me,” a song she discovered when she was invited to perform it live with its writer, Kris Kristofferson.
“I ended up getting sick and I couldn’t perform it with him at the show, but my son heard it and knew it would be perfect for the album,” explains Winans. “It’s so different for me in this whole new field of country music, but it spoke to my heart and I felt like it was written just for me.”
On the album’s other cover, “Dancing in The Spirit,” Winans is joined by Hezekiah Walker and his choir for a jubilant celebration, while “Never Have To Be Alone” finds her taking a far more somber approach, singing to the young members of her congregation. It’s the album’s closer and title track, though, that seems to light Winans up more than any other.
“That was the first song for this album and I knew right away that I wanted the record to be named Let Them Fall In Love,” she explains. “I told my son that it had to be the heartbeat of the album. There’s a lot of different styles and a lot of strong messages on there, but all of them are to bring us to this point. It’s why I came back and recorded another album, to express my heart and my desire that people young and old can listen and fall in love with the higher power, fall in love with love, and fall in love with faith and joy and peace.”
At the age of 2, Naomi Raine sang in her first concert, and by 7, she had already written her first song. Since then, Naomi has taken the gifts and talents God has given her and uses them to bring Him glory wherever she goes. Born in New York on April 9th to Lawrence and Marissa Felder, Naomi carried the torch passed down by her parents to spread the gospel through song. Standing on the word spoken over her parents that “their seed would bless the earth,” Naomi has traveled the world sharing the message of Jesus Christ with thousands.
Now a 5x GRAMMY Award-winning artist, Naomi has performed on the GRAMMY Awards two years in a row, the BET Awards, The View, Fox & Friends, and more. In addition to her 9 GRAMMY nominations over two years, Naomi has won NAACP Image Awards, Stellar Awards, BET Awards, Billboard Awards, and Dove Awards.
Whether songwriting, singing, or playing the guitar, Naomi has always found it easiest to communicate through lyrics and melodies. Her passion for uniting and empowering the body of Christ fuels her drive to create music that inspires others to worship God. This passion was evident in her viral single, “Pour Me Out,” which resonated deeply with a young audience yearning to live a surrendered life. Naomi continues to amplify this message through her projects, including her 2022 album Journey and her live record Cover The Earth, released on June 2, 2023.
Naomi has been featured on countless projects with some of the most acclaimed artists in Christian music, including Todd Dulaney, JJ Hairston, Bethel Music, Jonathan and Melissa Helser, and Israel Houghton. She is also a beloved member of Maverick City Music, a collective that has touched generations through songs like “The Story I’ll Tell,” the award-nominated “Jireh,” and “Promises.” Together, they have taken the world by storm, leading the masses to the heart of God. Naomi also made her film debut in Christmas with The Chosen alongside Maverick City Music.
In addition to her work as a solo artist and with Maverick City Music, Naomi has expanded her reach as the founder of ReFraine Records, a label that nurtures and amplifies other talented artists, including Enrique Holmes and Refresh Worship. This new endeavor reflects her commitment to creating space for creatives to share their God-given gifts with the world.
Naomi’s heart for ministry extends to her local church, Fresh Start Christian Center in Mount Vernon, NY, where she serves as Worship Pastor. She is devoted to her family and to her three amazing children. When she’s not leading worship or creating music, Naomi enjoys exploring her culinary skills as a “secret chef.”
Above all, Naomi’s greatest desire is for God to be glorified—not just through her music but through every aspect of her life. She remains passionate about mentoring others, building community, and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.
Niya Cotton was born into music. With her dad as an original Richard Smallwood singer and her mom as a professional drummer, Niya was destined to find music as a way to communicate. Niya began singing at age 2 in her church youth choir and has never looked back. Niya graduated as salutatorian from Duke Ellington School of the Arts high school in Washington, DC, as a dance major in 2000 and later graduated from Hampton University with a B.A. in Vocal Performance in 2004.
Upon graduating from Hampton, Niya moved to Los Angeles, CA, and worked in the TV Music department at Warner Brothers in Burbank. She even had the opportunity to write with television and film composer, Kurt Farquar, and have music placed on several television shows including King of Queens and Just Jordan.
Niya has lent background vocals for Michael Bublé, Tasha Page-Lockhart, Tamela Mann, Chance the Rapper, Ledisi and was featured on Kirk Franklin’s song “Over” on his 2015 album Losing My Religion. Niya has worked and traveled with Kirk Franklin and the Fo Yo Soul family for several years as a reference artist and background vocalist for several projects including the 20th Century Fox movie, Hidden Figures, and Tori Kelly’s Gospel album, Hiding Place.
Niya Cotton is the CEO of The Whole Tone LLC, a lifestyle brand that prioritizes wholeness in the areas of art, education and entertainment. Niya is a worship leader, creative director, artist, educator, mentor and speaker. Niya and her husband Roy are the proud parents of three amazingly hilarious children, “Rocco,” Eric Stone & Nyla Jade Cotton and reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Participate in workshops to empower you in building a lasting legacy.