| News from the world of... GC:
Ardis Stenbakken , GCWM Director, and Lynnetta Hamstra, Associate Director,
were both involved in travel and training during the month of March. Ardis was in the
Southern Asia Division for two weeks; Lynnetta spent 10 days in Inter-American Division
(Antilles/Guadeloupe). Their travel schedules have already been established for the
remainder of this year and for much of 2000.
Kari Paulsen, along with her husband, new General Conference President Jan
Paulsen, spoke at a special meeting of GC building employees recently. Mrs. Paulsen was
candid, witty, and charming during her presentation and was very instrumental in setting a
relaxed and receptive atmosphere before her husband spoke.
NAD: Women's Ministries programs in the North American
Division held numerous successful retreats during the fall of 1998.
In the Kentucky-Tennessee, more than 285 women studied, prayed, sang and cried
together as they answered the call to be women of worth. Joann Davidson from the Andrews
University seminary was the keynote speaker for this retreat. Chonda Pierce, a Christian
comedian, brought laughter at the Saturday night "Girls Night Out" event.
"Women on the Move" was the theme for Women's Ministries Day at the
Melrose Avenue Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Deborah Steele (Ross Street church, Danville,
Virginia) was the worship service speaker.
More than 100 women from the Baltimore area praised and prayed at Harper's
Ferry, West Virginia, during the Third Biennial WM Retreat. Worship speaker, Gloria
Singleton, challenged the women to be "Empowered by His Word," the theme for the
weekend.
Keynote speaker Liz Curtis Higgs, with the gift of making people laugh, was
featured at two retreats: the 4th annual retreat of The Whole Heart Women's Conference in
the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, and a one-day retreat (sponsored by Sligo Church/
Potomac Conference) held at the General Conference. Women, encouraged and uplifted by the
spiritual messages, also enjoyed a relaxed, healthy approach to laughter.
The Iowa-Missouri Conference Women's Ministries has been inscribing hundreds of
children's names for special prayer on a prayer banner since 1996. With the inscription
heading "Lord Save Our Children," the banner is prayed over at women's retreats
and at churches in the Iowa-Missouri Conference.
SSD: Linda Koh, director of WM in the Southern Asia
Pacific Division, reports that quite a number of women's training programs are being held
for conducting evangelistic meetings. She further added that 1998 was exciting, with lots
of evangelism and satellite meetings with the women. SSD has plans to set up a literacy
program in Cambodia and also plans to establish several livelihood centers as outreach
ministry. They are targeting central Philippines, central Luzon, Sri Lanka and
Cambodia. |