GC Women's Ministries Newsletter February 2002
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Editorial . . .The Importance of Mentoring |  |
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Joy Butler Women's Ministries Director South Pacific Division |
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The importance of mentoring became very clear to me during a recent visit to Samoa, the beautiful islands in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean.
The Samoan women throughout the nation have long been very organized with Women's Committees and they keep up a very high standard of cleanliness and order in the villages. Women's Ministries builds on this.
I was privileged to speak at 9 different locations in the Samoa Island group. At each location, the churches from nearby gathered and in each group there were beautiful brown-eyed young women. These young women were anxious to know about Women's Ministries and responded to everything that was presented. During every presentation, I shared the importance of mentoring our young women, explaining that if we lost these young women, we would ultimately lose our church. We identified and gathered the under-30s together in a group, the older women and mothers surrounding them holding hands. We committed these lovely girls in prayer to our Heavenly Father. Then I presented each one with a small gift.
The response to this small ceremony was very enlightening and most encouraging. The young women in many churches said they felt special, they felt that someone cared and in nearly every place, young women came and told me they wanted to join Women's Ministries. Others asked how could they become leaders and how could they train to be WM leaders in their churches and missions. Some young women committed to remaining pure until marriage and to be available for God to use. During the program the women divided into groups to discuss the history of WM and their dreams for the future. In most groups young women became the reporters for this.
These are some comments gleaned from the reports:
"Thank you for what you are saying about young women—this encourages me for my church."
" We must include young women—we mothers have neglected our part as mothers—we need to instruct the young girls."
"Instruct young women—give time to share in church, give chance to young mothers to preach and share."
"This is my first time to stand in front and speak (I'm scared). God will give me courage to stand and speak today."
"Now I go away feeling very special about the value of myself as a young woman. I felt special when prayer was offered for us. This helps us to refocus today."
"We want to expand the ministry and mentoring of young women."
"We want to treasure our young women."
I believe so much in mentoring our young women and I know some wonderful young women all over this Division now.
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Fill My Cup Lord! International Women's Day of Prayer is set for March 2, 2002. The theme for this year is "Fill My Cup Lord" and has been authored by Hepzibah Kore and Louise Driver. This
is a special day for prayer emphasis in Women's Ministries. The
two areas of prayer focus are: Women's Ministries leaders at the
local church level and three of our division leaders: Inter-American
Division, Waveney Martinborough; South Pacific Division, Joy Butler;
and Southern Asia Division, Hepzibah Kore. You can access this material
on our web page at http://wm.gc.adventist.org or |