NASHVILLE, Tenn.—As Jaime Jamgochian performs concerts and leads worship around the country, she communicates to teenage girls messages about modesty, purity and self-worth.
“I really want young girls to be who God created them to be and to believe that they are fearfully and wonderfully made,” Jamgochian said.
“That really comes out of being true to who Christ says we are and our identity in him. Modesty, purity and self-worth really come into the light when we really know who Jesus says we are, and we experience the hope and love that he has to offer through a relationship with him.”
Musician Jaime Jamgochian designed the popular "Modest is Hottest" T-shirts and started a conference that focuses on teaching young girls how to dress in the latest styles while maintaining modesty.
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During Jamgochian’s junior year at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., her life completely changed after a classmate explained what it meant to have a relationship with Christ.
“At the beginning, I kind of thought she was crazy. But I got to see the life that she lived. She had this joy and peace without surrounding herself with the typical college party scene,” she said.
After she graduated, she felt a calling to ministry—to lead worship, write songs and minister to young girls.
“The Lord was restoring so many areas of my life and renewing hope, and I really wanted to share this with others,” she said.
As Jamgochian began leading worship and telling how God had transformed her life, she was asked to team with the Girls of Grace conferences, hosted by the musical group Point of Grace.
While leading worship for these conferences, Jamgochian was inspired to design a T-shirt with the slogan “Modest is Hottest” to help young girls remember the valuable lessons taught at the conferences.
Not long after, the overwhelming support and response from both students and parents prompted Jamgochian to establish her own conference, which would focus on instructing girls on how to dress in the latest styles while maintaining modesty.
“After I started selling those shirts, I realized that girls weren’t just buying it because they wanted a cute T-shirt or a souvenir,” Jamgochian said. “They really wanted to support that it’s possible to live a life of modesty that pleases God and still look cute and trendy.”
As Jamgochian leads worship and speaks at the Modest is Hottest conferences, she desires to share the gospel with teenage girls in a fun and relevant way.
The conference is offered as a one- or two-day event and includes praise and worship music, teaching sessions, a fashion show and a concert. During the teaching sessions, Jamgochian talks to teenage girls about how to have discernment in dating situations, family relationships, self-esteem and a personal relationship with God.
“As a teen girl, I was very insecure,” she said. “I was tall with red hair and freckles. I never felt beautiful. It wasn’t until much later in life that I realized true beauty comes from our relationship with Christ.
“I think it’s so easy for young girls to get led astray by the lies of this world and to place their hope in all the wrong areas. I really want to help them realize that there is nothing in this world that will satisfy or compare to having a relationship with Christ. I strongly feel if that relationship is intact, then teen girls won’t be reaching out to the wrong areas to find acceptance and approval.”
At the conferences, Jamgochian and youth leaders spend a great deal of time off the platform, interacting with teenagers and hearing about how God is working in their lives.
“Girls open up and share all kinds of things at these events,” Jamgochian said. “I’ve heard from girls who lost their virginity at the age of 13 and are asking if God can forgive them. Others have shared about eating disorders, and they are wanting to get to the root of the reasons they are starving themselves or binging.
“At one of the conferences, there was a girl who was struggling with cutting and had been sexually abused as a child. It was remarkable that this girl shared that despite all these terrible things she had been dealing with, she heard a message about the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God.
“She heard the words that she had been desperately searching for—that God loved her and was there for her in the midst of all that pain. It caused her to walk out of that conference so free and understanding who God created her to be. …
“I really stand in awe that God can use someone like me who didn’t grow up in church and didn’t make a lot of right decisions growing up. It shows how the Lord can restore and how he desires to use each and every one of us to bring hope to other people.”