GC Women's Ministries Newsletter                                                                 January 2001

Editorial. . . Ardis Stenbakken Director General Conference Women's Ministries
More Than Three Wishes

I find that I often think, "I wish...." So as I think about Women's Ministries and the New Year, here are some of those wishes. Maybe you and I can be the someone who can make these wishes come true.

I wish everyone could understand what Women's Ministries is really about. In spite of the thousands of Women's Ministries—What It Is and What It Isn't brochures that have been distributed, articles written, and programs conducted, every time I make a presentation on Women's Ministries people tell me they had no idea that was what Women's Ministries is all about. Women's Ministries is about meeting real needs in a real world, making a difference in Christ for women and the Church. I wish everybody knew that.

I wish I knew better what we can do to reach the almost 2 billion women in the 10/40 window. I am so grateful for the programs that are happening in India, China, and North Africa, but it is still just a drop in the bucket. I wish you would pray with me for this challenge—how are we going to meet this need?

I wish we could make a real dent in the abuse problem. We need to educate, educate, educate. I wish every woman and man who has been abused knew that someone really cares and is trying to make things different.

I wish we had more money for scholarships. Sales of the devotional books fund the scholarships almost entirely. I praise God for this. But we need to sell more books and get more donations because there are ever so many more women who need help.

I wish more women would share with their conference, union, and division leadership about the things that they are really doing. I am amazed as I travel to hear the fabulous stories of what women are accomplishing.I wish more of the church knew about these things.

I wish more women were in Church leadership. That more local churches were choosing women for local leadership and sending women to constituency meetings. I wish that they and the men would see to it that women are elected to positions for which they are qualified in the conference and union offices and included in decision making committees and boards. We need to start thinking outside the box.

I wish that more conferences had at least one woman officer. The conference president where Rose Otis is serving as a Vice President says he had no idea how valuable it could be to have a woman officer.

I wish that all the Women's Ministries directors were treated as are the directors of other departments—paid, given a budget, and included in decision making bodies.

I wish every church had a women's small group Bible study. It makes such a difference when women get together to study and pray. It is different than when there is a mixed gender group although those are very important too. I just wish we all took Bible study more seriously.

I wish that more women who have forms for our databank would fill them out and send them in. We need so very much more information to make our databank more useful.

I wish we had a woman who would do literacy training around the world.

On a more personal note: I wish I could get more accomplished—there are always so many challenges and things to do. Please pray for me and all of us here at the General Conference department that we may be led by God to accomplish that which He wishes for us to do in 2001. Most of all, I wish Jesus would come this year! - end

News from the world of . . .

General Conference:
When we announced the election of Anne-May Wollen as director of the Trans-European Division, we misspelled her name. We apologize for this and urge you to take note of the correct spelling. We are so happy you are with Women's Ministries, Anne-May.

North American Division and Southern-Asia Pacific Divisions:
This is a report of two divisions working together. Because Corleen Johnson, Director of Women's Ministries for the Oregon Conference, dreamed of women doing a series of evangelistic meetings combined with a mission trip, a group of women from The North-Pacific Union went to Kidapa-wan City, Philippines. The result: 433 persons baptized; spiritual lives strengthened; women discovered some of their strengths; and many answers to prayer. The trip began with "home team intercessors" praying for the local Filipinos who did the preparatory work, for the WM group. They prayed for Jan White, the director of WM of the NPUC, who was the evangelistic speaker; and 3 specific team members each day. A prayer group also met each evening before the meeting.

Romulo Toballes, the interpreter and Secretary of Education for the Southern Mindanao Mission, was interested in the prayer coordinator program for the series and before the NAD group left the Philippines, he had already begun prayer ministries programs, in his area.

Besides baptisms, answered prayer included individuals being helped, the director of sanitation for the city resolved to change sanitation practices in the city, and medicine was dispensed to 200-300 people each day.

The NAPU group and friends were able to leave enough funds with the mission president for roofing and pews for 5 new churches; funds to pay for 10 Bible workers to continue for a year; and Bibles for each of the newly baptized members.

Trans-European Division:
Sven Jensen, president of the Middle East Union, reports more than 500 baptisms in 2000 in the Sudan Field and that women have taken an active role in this evangelism. Valerie Fidelia, the Women's Ministries director for the Middle East Union, has just returned from Sudan; she reports that women have been trained in personal, small group and public evangelism but it is in the first two that strength lies as far as women are concerned. She reports that the women in the greater Khartoum area have pledged 100 baptisms during 2001 as a direct result of WM.

Southern Africa Union Conference:
Women's Ministries held a Bible conference at Bethel College on the topic of the Sabbath; it was attended by many new converts. Ivy Peterson, WM director also reports that at a recent Prayer Conference women brought several hundred items of bedding, clothing, and toiletries for a street children's shelter and donated over R1300 (US$215) towards renovation of the derelict shelter. Some of the children from the shelter sang at the conference. This was one of 19 prayer conferences held during the 5 years. During this same time they have had 22 WM retreats with a total Sabbath attendance of 12,480 and conducted 41 one-day rallies. -end