This is a camp, so dress is casual. Bring comfortable shoes and a jacket for possible chilly weather.

Other suggestions are notebook, camera, flashlight, insect repellant, lawn chair (workshops have limited seating) and rain gear. Some like to bring table games for late night laughs in the game room.

How do I get there?

It is with great joy and honor to welcome back Julie Gariss of Ozark Christian College for the third time at Lake Aurora.

When Julie Gariss takes the podium for the first time Friday evening at the Women’s Retreat, she will be speaking from the perspective of a longtime minister’s wife.

However, it will be another point of view which the Joplin woman will take that night that may endear her even more to the hundreds of women expected for the two retreats at Lake Aurora Christian Camp.

Gariss, a popular speaker for retreats, banquets, seminars and conventions throughout the nation, will open as herself at the first keynote session before introducing another more humorous and creative side to her personality the next day.

Gladys Frump, a comical character that Gariss began portraying two decades ago, will be welcomed to the stage. Frump and Gariss are returning Keynote speakers at Lake Aurora’s women’s retreat.

“I had been asked to speak at a banquet one year and I got to thinking that the women hear speakers from early morning to late in the evening,” she said. “As much as they always enjoy the retreat, I wanted to do something that would have a point and yet be entertaining.”

Encouraged by her husband of 35 years, Randy, preaching minister at College Heights Christian Church, and the retreat committee, Gariss began writing for what turned out to be almost a caricature of an older woman with a unique look at the Christian life.

“As I look back on it, I almost cringe because I didn’t even know for sure how she was going to look, talk or walk until I began dressing for her 30 minutes before that first speech,” she said. “It was either a tremendous leap of faith or plain stupidity to be that unsure of her identity. I was scared to death but, at the same time, had never had so much fun in speaking.”

Gariss, who recently finished writing a women’s Bible study, Living Whole in a Broken World, has not only been a longtime teacher but, also, an encourager and counselor to missionaries around the world.

“While I truly love teaching just as myself, Gladys gives me another outlet,” she said. “To be honest, I can be even more pointed in character because people will take it from Gladys without being offended. Comedy is kind — it offers a cushion when you want to hammer a truth home.”

People are able to see themselves through the popular personality of Frump, which enables Gariss to drive home a serious message via a humorous presentation.

“I can only say that people call for Gladys to speak more than they do Julie,” she said. “It’s pretty pitiful when I get jealous of myself.”

Julie Gariss, Joplin, MO

AKA - Gladys Frump

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Optional expenses: Retreat T-shirt, Offering gift, craft options, Bookstore