| North
American Division (NAD)
North
American Division Women's Ministries: 2004 Evangelism Report
Prepared by Mary H Maxson
Atlantic
Union Conference
Evangelistic Training Institutes will be held in various areas of
the union.
Columbia
Union Conference
Allegheny West Conf --For the year 2004, there have been 2 evangelistic
meetings held by women. For Oct-Nov, the women will be using the
DVD New Beginnings Evangelistic Series for area churches.
New
Jersey Conference
Yearly leadership and evangelistic training will be throughout
the year in their area events.
Lake
Union Conference
Evangelistic Leadership event – The Passionate Leader will
be held union wide in training women. This is leadership training
for the churches for chaplains, women elders, women ministries directors
and conference directors within the Lake Union.
Mid-America
Union Conference
This fall the pastor’s wife and Bible Worker for Kansas City
Central church will be doing a series of evangelistic meetings.
The Union WM will be sponsoring this project financially. They will
be using the New Beginning DVD Program.
North
Pacific Union Conference
Washington Conference – January they had an evangelism
training event by Nicole Brisee. There were some Indonesian women
there who will be translating the materials into Indonesian and
those women will be training other women this summer. After the
evangelism training, they will hold an evangelistic series. Eighty
women attended the Washington training event. They held a mock evangelistic
series on site where women came to the Lord during the practice
series. – Wilma Bing, WM Director reported.
Pacific
Union Conference
Northern California Conf – had 80 women attending
a leadership and evangelistic training event-- the first leadership
event provided for the local church women's ministries.
Southern
Union
The following evangelistic activities have been planned by the Women’s
Ministries Evangelism Teams in the eight conferences:
Carolina:
- Three evangelistic
training events for WM leaders throughout 2004.
- Three evangelistic
meetings to be held throughout the Carolina’s.
Florida:
- Spanish
women held an evangelism training session and will be conducting
a series in April.
Georgia-Cumberland:
- Women will
conduct an Evangelistic/Mission Project for Appalachian women
during the summer of 2004.
- Hispanic
women will conduct evangelistic meetings in 2004.
Gulf
States:
- Two evangelistic
series for three weeks within our conference.
Kentucky-Tennessee:
- Women are
being trained to implement “SMALL GROUP – Bible Study”
ministries.
- Evangelism
will be the emphasis for the leadership training planned for 2004.
- The WM Dept.
is developing in-depth Bible lessons to be published by the fall.
South
Atlantic: Women of Fire Crusades
- Ongoing
with Bible Studies now- will start evangelistic meeting in May,
2004.
- Women are
teaming up with Adult Youth Ministries to conduct VBS & Bible
Studies in addition to workshops and seminars on various topics.
The departments will partner in coordinating evangelistic plans.
South
Central:
- Women will
conduct 2 evangelistic series.
Southeastern:
Women will conduct several evangelistic crusades March
1-28 & June 5-19, 2004.
- Women will
conduct 4 evangelistic crusades
NOTE:
The Southern Union Conference President and his wife Gordon and
Cheryl Retzer ( WM Advisor) will conduct an evangelistic meeting
during 2004.
Southwestern Union
Heart Call Reclamation evangelistic outreach, has been very effective
in the conferences. There is an active training event in many of
the churches using Friendship Evangelism Heart Call within the union.
This outreach is specifically designed to reach Adventist women
who no longer attend church.
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North
American Division Ministries and Events (NAD)
Ministries
Worship
Basket Ministry
Women’s Ministries in the Charlotte Church (Michigan Conference)
prepares worship baskets for newly baptized women. The baskets have
a women’s devotional book, a journal, a Bible promise book,
a church directory, and more. This group is even preparing age-appropriate
items for teenager.
Weekly
Exercise Class
The Charlotte Church also sponsors a low-impact, walking/aerobic
class using a video, “Walk the Walk” by Leslie Sansone.
This video stresses total health—mind, body, and spirit—and
provides old hymns for background music. Each class begins and ends
with prayer. The class is open to the community also.
Quilts for Abused Children
The Fenton Women’s Ministries has making quilts for abused
children. Already 35 quilts have been made. (The original goal was
6!) Quilts were given to shelters and used in Church Christmas baskets.
“Just to know e had a small part in wrapping a child in a
soft quilt reminded us of Christ wrapping us in His love.”
Said Jean Bidelman, Women’s Ministries leader. Making the
quilts also made for a wonderful social time for the ladies as they
learned to cut, baste stitch, and use the sewing machine.
Mother Love Program
The Glendale Women’s Ministries team is planning to juncture
with St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis in a program that
will pair church members with high-risk mothers and their babies.
The goal will be to form relationships with the mothers during the
stay in the hospital, offering love and care to the babies. When
the mothers leave the hospital, business card s will be given to
them with information on how to reach caring women in the future.
This group also desires to visit women in other areas of the hospital
who never receive visitors during their stay.
Mentoring
Women’s Ministries at the Voice of Hope Church in Michigan
City, Indiana, has teamed with Youth Ministries to have a twice-a-month-youth
church. The women have mentored many of the youth and actively helped
them create this program. IN addition, they nurture the young people,
phoning them and encouraging them to come to church—whether
it’s youth church or the regular worship service. The Women’s
Ministries group also gives Bibles and literature to these youth,
demonstrating care and concern for their souls.
Previous 5 segments from the Lake Union Herald,
August 2004
Welcome
Basket Ministry
The Women’s Ministries Department of the Barrie SDA Church
in Canada has initiated a “Welcome Basket Ministry”
to welcome their new members. A large cellophane wrapped basket
presented to the new member helps them celebrate their union with
the church family in a special way.
Info from August 2004 Messenger
Events
Christian
Charm in Oberlin, Ohio
A Christian Charm Course was held at the Park Street Seventh-day
Adventist church in Oberlin, Ohio. Lessons on feminine beauty and
the beauty of God’s love were shared with participants ranging
in age from 5 to 18. In addition to several presentations in self
esteem, safety awareness, diet and exercise, and the Christian walk;
a cosmetologist demonstrating techniques to enhance personal appearance
and various hairstyles; etiquette guidelines, including setting
a formal table; and sampling different fashions and choosing colors
suitable to their complexions were highlights. The first lady of
Oberlin, personal pictures were taken with each graduate.
Info from August 2004 Catch the Vision, Allegheny
West
First
Hispanic Women’s Retreat Held in Ohio Conference
A one-day retreat for Hispanic women was held in Mount Vernon, Ohio
recently. The day was packed—continental breakfast, inspiring
music, worship, seminars, and team activities. The theme was A la
Casa del Alfarero” (at the potter’s house). Attendees
were given a broken pottery piece and at the end of the morning
presentation, metaphorically brought their broken piece to the feet
of Jesus. Decorator clay pots were on each table and each women
took one as a memento. Due to the overwhelming positive comments
of the women, a weekend retreat may possibly be held next year.
Info
from August 2004 Visitor, Potomac Conference
Celebrating Women through Healthy Living in Houston Smyrna
Church
A Women’s Ministries weekend at the Houston Smyrna Church
featured Chris Rucker, author of “The Seventh-day Diet: How
the Healthiest People in America Live Better, Longer, Slimmer—And
How You Can, too.” The morning and afternoon sessions contained
Bible principles concerning God’s ancient people and their
application to women today. Healthy, taste treats, provided and
prepared by Rucker, were included. A Mother’s Day breakfast
on Sunday gave more opportunities for the women to learn about taking
care of their bodies.
Info from Southwestern Union Record
Young
Ladies Getaway Emphasizes Purity
Twenty-five teenage girls attended the first Young Ladies Getaway
sponsored by the Dakota Conference Women’s Ministries. Ways
to live God’s plan for their lives was presented. There were
weekend sessions on love, speech, faith, conduct, nutrition, room
decorating, and appearance Dos and Don’ts; the girls also
had a group prayer-walk. A “purity” banquet was held
and the young ladies were given “purity” bags—a
book of Bible promises, small tokens, and a purity pledge card to
remind them of what they had learned during the weekend.
Info from Women’s Intuitions, Spring
2004
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An
Herbal Tea Party (NAD)
 |
"An
Herbal Tea Party." What an excellent way to embrace friends
and non-members to enjoy a lovely evening of fellowship. The
setting was on a lovely lawn, under a beautiful white tent,
on a sunny-breezy afternoon. The Women's Ministries Department
of the Oberlin, Ohio Park Street Seventh-day Adventist Church
embraced their friends.
There
was much laughter and fun over a pot of Tea. The event gave
opportunity to spiritually inspire and motivate each other
to a level of excellence for the Lord. Everyone wore a hat
and brought their cup and saucer and joined in the fun. |
|
Deborah
Hill, an elected Councilwoman in Cleveland, Ohio, and also a Seventh-day
Adventist, presented a short, but powerful message of challenge
and inspiration. She shared God's blessings of achievements and
opportunities in a very dynamic way. Her involvement in the Democratic
National Convention, and lunch with the former First Lady, Hillary
Rodman Clinton, was exciting and inspiring to each one present.
Poems
and Bible scriptures surrounded a delicious meal. Hearts were
encouraged and motivated to use the talents and energies God
has given uniquely to women to reach out and serve others.
The attendance was 70% non-members, which shows the opportunity
to fellowship can open the door to evangelism.
Information
from Barbara Davis, WM leader, Oberlin Park Street Seventh-day
Adventist Church, Oberlin, Ohio
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