The General Conference Women's Ministries Scholarship Committee met on February 17, 1999 for the winter scholarship review. The committee had the major task of reviewing 70 applications. This is the largest number of applicants we've ever had for one review. Sixty nine out of the seventy applicants were approved. The applicant that did not get approved was partially incomplete and missing some relevant information that was needed for the committee to review.

The divisions that took part in this review were: AID, EAD, ESD, IAD, NAD, SPD, SSD, SUD, TED, and NSD. The next General Conference Women's Ministries Scholarship review will be in July. For those divisions that did not use up their 1999 scholarship monies, the deadline for you to get the application in to us is July 1, 1999. Any Adventist woman attending an Adventist college at the tertiary level in her home division is eligible for a scholarship. All applications must be submitted through her home division Women's Ministries director.

Scholarship Recipient Active in Winning Souls
Larissa Kholopova, a graduate of Zaokski Seminary and a former recipient of WM scholarship funds has been actively involved in soul winning and nurturing the church in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (Euro-Asia Division). Larissa prepared eight individuals, six women and two men, for baptism. Most of them came from a Moslem background.

1999 Myanmar Graduate Invites GCWM to Her Graduation Exercises
Cing Kop Vung, a recent graduate of Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary extended the invitation to the General Conference WM staff to attend the thirty-second graduation exercises in Myaungmya (Southern Asia Pacific Division). We were honored to be included on her guest list. Unfortunately no one from our office had travel plans in that part of the world at that time, so we were unable to attend. We wish Cing Kop Vung the best as she embarks on a new career. She had previously received scholarship funds from Women's Ministries.

M ission Statement...
General Conference Department of Women's Ministries

The Department of Women's Ministries exists to uphold, encourage, and challenge Adventist women in their pilgrimage as disciples of Jesus Christ and members of His world church.

Our mission is in the larger sense common to all Christians that of uplifting Christ in the church and in the world. But more specifically, we are called to:

• elevate women as persons of inestimable worth because they have been created andredeemed
• enable women to deepen their faith and experience spiritual growth and renewal
• build networks among women in the world church to encourage bonds of friendship and mutual support and the creative exchange of ideas and information
• mentor young Adventist women, encouraging their involvement, and creating paths for them as they reach for their potential in Christ
• address the concerns of women in a global context
• bring women's unique perspectives to the issues facing the world church 
• seek expanding avenues of dynamic Christian service for women
• challenge each Adventist woman with her potential to complement the gifts given to other women and men as they work side by side to further the global mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

that out of the fullness we as women have personally found in Jesus Christ, we may be empowered to share the good news within our families, among our fellow believers, and in ever expanding circles in the unsaved world.

Statement on Women's Issues

Seventh-day Adventists believe that all people, male and female, are created equal, in the image of a loving God. We believe that both men and women are called to fill a significant role in accomplishing the primary mission of the Adventist Church: working together for the benefit of humanity. Yet we are painfully aware that throughout the world, in developing and developed nations, adverse societal conditions often inhibit women from fulfilling their God-given potential.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has identified several major problems, well-documented by research, that often keep women from making valuable contributions to society. Stress, the environment, and increased demands have placed women at greater risk for health problems. Poverty and heavy workloads not only deprive women of their ability to enjoy life, but also impair their physical and spiritual well-being. Family violence takes a heavy toll its victims.

Women are entitled to the God-given privileges and opportunities intended for every human being the right to literacy, to education, to adequate health care, to decision making, and to freedom from mental, physical, or sexual abuse. We also maintain that women should play an increased role in the leadership and decision-making bodies of both church and society.

Ultimately, we believe that the church will fulfill its mission only when women are empowered to achieve their full potential.

This statement was approved and voted by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Administrative Committee (ADCOM) and was released by the Office of the President, Robert S. Folkenberg, at the General Conference session in Utrecht, the Netherlands, June 29-July 8, 1995.

Quotable Women

Florence Nightengale, 1820 - 1910. English. Founder of trained nursing for women.

"I never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself."

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, 1921. American medical physicist, Nobel Prize winner.

"We cannot expect in the immediate future that all women who seek it will achieve full equality of opportunity. But if women are to start moving towards that goal, we must believe in ourselves; we must match our aspirations with the competence, courage and determination to succeed."

Marian Anderson, 1902-1993. First Black woman to sing solo at the Metropolitan Opera.

"As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."

2001 Devotional Book Update

All submissions for the 2001 WM devotional book have been logged in to the database and the authors notified of receipt of their submissions.

On the deadline date alone, more than 80 submissions were received! A hearty thank you to all who sent contributions. Authors will be notified in mid-September regarding the submissions that have been accepted.

Don't forget send your submissions at any time of the year, but before February 1, 2000, for consideration in the year 2002 WM devotional book. Our Devotional Book Guidelines are the same as the past two years. If you need a copy, contact us.

Carole Ferch-Johnson, SPD, Publishes "Women Like Us"

Carole Ferch-Johnson, the Women's Ministries Director for the South Pacific Division, has just had her book Women Like Us printed. The 100 page book recounts the often amazing stories of ten different women who lived and worked in the South Pacific. Most are now dead, but a couple of the women featured are still living. Everyone of them dared to face obstacles and serve God in a special way, using her individual gifts.

According to the book cover, the stories are "based on incidents from the lives of women of faith and courage who have made an outstanding contribution to the mission of the Adventist Church. From the determined strength of Scottish immigrant Margaret Caro to the persistent fortitude of Australian farmer Alice Lowe, their story is told. Some are gentle and compassionate, others bold and dauntless. All loved, feared, failed and overcame. All are women like us."

I have read the book and enjoyed it very much. Carole has done an incredible amount of research and makes each woman real. When I traveled with Carole she talked about Dr. Caro but I had no idea what an interesting woman she was. Whether you live in the South Pacific or not, you will enjoy learning about these Adventist women like us.

The book can be purchased through the South Pacific Division Women's Ministries Department: Locked Bag 2014, Wahroonga, N.S.W. 2076, Australia. The cost is $9.95 Australian, plus postage. Well worth it!

Ardis Stenbakken

Lunch-Time Bible Study Conducted by
Louise Driver

It's always refreshing to spend time learning more from the Bible, and here at the GC some women are spending their lunch hours doing just that. Under the able leadership of Louise Driver (GCWM), eight women meet once a week to study the Word. The lunch-time Bible studies began almost 18 months ago with Mary Maxson, recently elected NAD Women's Ministries director, as the facilitator. Louise has been leading since the end of 1998. Topics have included the Psalms, and now Esther.

Louise, wife of Pastor Don Driver (Beltsville), has much experience in sharing her faith. "It's been a real challenge," she says, "but definitely inspiring and a blessing."

GCWM is proud that Louise is in the driver's seat helping other women study God's Word.

Ideas You Can Use!

A ministry to parents of stillborn babies and those who die as "preemies."

Although still born babies and premature babies who do not live are usually known only to the parents and to the hospital staff, they leave a large vacancy in the hearts of the parents. They have no one with whom to grieve and there is no one who knew the baby to talk about the baby. Very often the parents also have nothing special to dress the dead baby in for the last good-byes or to bury the baby.

A number of women's groups have made these parents the object of their ministry. Previously it has been suggested here that tiny outfits can be made for these babies and that the church can follow up with encouragement and cards.

At the Loma Linda University Medical Center the parents of each deceased infant (fortunately there are not many, but it does happen) receive a photograph of their baby if they want it; most do. They are also given the baby's tiny footprint in quick-drying clay set in a pretty white seashell.

A group of women at the University church also enjoy sewing and knitting for these parents as well as for destitute couples, single mothers, and street people who deliver live babies at the hospital. During the last four years they have made 469 quilts for an overseas baby project, 275 quilts for the local Ronald McDonald House, 199 larger quilts for Christmas gifts for needy families, 346 quilts for the Medical Center babies, 275 stuffed animals, 167 crocheted hats, 233 crocheted blankets, 136 cotton receiving blankets with matching bonnets, 60 sweater and hat sets, 190 gowns, and 87 blanket, gown and hat sets.

And you thought your group was busy! We hope this has given you some ideas of things you could do where you live. There are always needs.

Facts taken from Richard Utt in the Pacific Union Recorder, July 6, 1998.