Ardis Stenbakken It has been exciting celebrating the beginning of Women's Ministries in 1898. As we begin the next 100 years, we need to assess where we have been and where we are going.

We have excellent leadership in all our division level departments and the one attached union. At the union level, our records show there are women appointed in 74 of the 94 unions.  In many unions there are almost no leaders at the conference or mission level, which means that many churches do not get leadership or resources. We need to concentrate on getting women leaders at all levels who are paid and have budgets just like the other departments. And we need to concentrate on getting leadership in every local church. All these leaders need training and mentoring. What a challenge for 1999! But, give a woman an impossible task, and she will do it. And do it well. God bless you as you serve Him in 1999.

Lynnetta Hamstra Like all exceptionally good years, it has also been a challenging year. I have been privileged to work with the many dedicated Women's Ministries directors around the world and have learned more about the needs

and the burden for ministry shared by all women. It has greatly encouraged me to see women who are taking an active part in the leadership of their church. As we face the new year, my prayer is that we will look back on our accomplishments of last year and strive to do even better. The force of women is not a stagnant one. We are always improving. There is a great need for more mentoring, nurture and ministry, Bible studies, and literacy among women. Let us be a part of that challenging work that God calls us to. I intend to be right in the midst of it and I hope to see you there.

Iris Stovall Being a part of the Women's Ministries team for three years has been a great learning experience as I've discovered women worldwide committed to training, mentoring, and evangelizing women. I've especially enjoyed working on our monthly

newsletter helping to write, edit and layout the news. Working with the submissions from authors for our yearly devotional book has been rewarding too. In 1999, I want to help enhance the products we offer for use in Women's Ministries programs by becoming proficient in using electronic media, creating graphics, and using photos in our brochures, flyers, and resources. I also want to develop my writing skills further and eventually assume management of a departmental writing project. As we in GCWM continue to help women recognize their abilities, talents and gifts, I pray that every one of us will lovingly and faithfully serve the Lord.

Louise Driver The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. We read and hear of many dedicated women throughout the world field willing to give of their time, energy and talents to accomplish His work. For this we are very thankful.

Recently we met as a team to discuss the ministry for our particular office. As a result, this statement was developed: The mission of the Department of Women's Ministries at the General Conference is to "Support the advancement of ministries for and by women." I became a member of this team about a year ago, and one of my duties is to work with the resources. Currently we are revising some of these resources and developing new ones. Please let us know of any topics you would like. We are here to serve you and empower you with the tools that will be most helpful in your ministries. My goal is to discover ways to serve my Lord better during 1999.

Women's Crusade Held in Florida

The Women's Ministries Department of the Jerusalem French Church in Miami conducted the first evangelistic crusade ever to be held by women in the Southeastern Conference of the North American Division. The women organized and prepared well for this event (See below, How the Women Prepared), and their preparation brought results. The church was filled to capacity every evening during the two week crusade. Eighty to one hundred non-Adventists attended each night.

Nineteen were baptized at the end of the evangelistic series. The crusade, not only brought souls to Christ, but spiritual renewal to the Jerusalem French Church as well. The women at this church felt strongly that God had called women in evangelism to do more than the usual roles in Bible work, music, or other supporting roles. Surely God used them to witness and win souls for Him during this evangelistic crusade.

How the Women Prepared for this Crusade:

Five months prior:
*  Began prayer vigils.
*  Daily "phone-chain of prayer" was started.
*  Group prayer sessions of 30 minutes were held each Friday, followed by a season of prayer in the church from 7:00 p.m. until midnight.

Four months prior:
*  Church members were invited to participate and forms circulated regarding their areas of volunteer service.

Three months prior:
*  Rehearsed for the final event ushering, giving the welcome, helping guests look for Bible texts, how to sit on the platform, etc.

Two months prior:
*  Prepared a schedule informing each participating church member of the date and time of their commitment.

Two weeks prior:
*  Distributed 4,000 flyers door to door to church neighbors; transportation needs of guests were also addressed.

Before the event:
*  A Week of Prayer was held.
*  The president of Southeastern conference, Roy Brown, was invited to give a challenge to the church in support of this first crusade by women. This encouraged the men to support and rally for the crusade.

Day of Prayer Reunites Family with the Church

You never know what program or outreach will be successful, or how God leads in wonderful ways.

In 1995, the women in the Sudan decided they would celebrate the Women's International Day of Prayer. We would think they did not have much to celebrate, but plenty to pray about. But these women, in a very difficult field, carefully laid their plans and advertized their coming program.

Youssef Andreas was the first Seventh-day Adventist baptized in the Sudan in the 1950's by an evangelist sent by Neal Wilson. But because of war and political unrest, he and his family lost touch with the Church and did not even know that the Adventist church had been officially organized in Sudan in the early 1980's.

Then one day as Yvonne Andreas, Youssef's wife, was going about her errands, she saw a poster:

International Women's Day of Prayer  Women's Ministries Seventh-day Adventist Church

She was overjoyed and overwhelmed.

When Rose Otis visited Sudan some time later she had the privilege of meeting Yvonne who was so longing for fellowship and support from her Adventist sisters.

Although Youssef Andreas died in May 1998, we thank the Lord that the family was able to make contact again with the church through Women's Ministries. As you plan for the Women's International Day of Prayer for 1999, you too may be making a difference for eternity.

Public Evangelism in Michigan Highly Successful

Adly Campos, who has held evangelistic meetings around the world, spent the month of October in four Spanish churches in Michigan. She reports that the Lord has blessed and "I know it will bring gladness to your heart."

Adly spent a week each in four Spanish churches with a combined membership of around 300. At the end of the month there were 29 baptisms, or around 10% of the membership. Even better, there are some 150 new interests for the pastors and lay people to follow up.

Ideas You Can Use

Looking for ideas to make a special dinner? Or perhaps a special prayer breakfast? Peggy Harris from the Beltsville Church in Maryland planned a special dinner and called it "Green Pastures Fellowship Buffet."

There were four tables for a fairly simple meal. The first was the "Fruit of the Vine" table with appropriate scripture, punch, grapes, etc. The next was a "Green Pastures" table with a verse from Psalms 23; it was the salad table. The next, having sandwich makings, was the "Open Door" table with the verse from Revelation 3:20. The last table, the dessert table, had a decorated cake that said, "Blessings to All."

Each table was decorated with the theme for that table, and the place settings had fresh flowers with light green paper plates and napkins. There was food for the soul too meditations and scripture to take home were provided at each place.

There was prayer time and time to share prayer requests, all with lovely background music.

Believe It or Not...

The deadline for submissions to the 2001 Women's Ministries devotional book is February 1!  NOW is the time to combat writer's block, get those final inspirational thoughts on paper, and send them to us.

Devotional submissions can be sent to us by: fax (301)680-6600, e-mail 74617.1363@ compuserve.com or Stovalli@gc.adventist.org, or by mail.

You don't have to wait until the deadline to submit your devotionals. Send them anytime but by
February 1.

If you need our Devotional Book Guidelines, call (301)680-6608 right away and we'll send a copy to you.

Prayer Emphasis for 1999 International Women's Day of Prayer

Women's Ministries, its leaders, their outreach and projects in:

North Asia Pacific Division:  Made up of China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Taiwan.

Euro-Africa Division: Made up Southern Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria,  Romania, Angola, Mozambique and the Trans-Mediterranean territories.

Trans-European Division:  Made up of the Middle East, Pakistan, Baltic States, Poland, South Eastern Europe, United Kingdom, Scandanavia, Iceland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.