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Giving Hope and Being Hope

South American Women United in Hope

In April, 2009 women from three unions in the South American Division held their spring congresses in four different venues: Curitiba, Brazil South Union headquarters; Lima Peru, South Peruvian Union headquarters; Rosario, Argentina's Bonairense Conference territory, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Austral Union headquarters.

Working on the program "Homes of Hope," they came together to unify activities and encourage more women to get involved. The programs were organized by Wiliane Marroni, South American Division WM director who challenged each woman to accept God's call for this time and be "hope" to someone in need. The guest speaker was Raquel Arrais, WM Associate director from the General Conference, who talked about the challenges women face today, how to respond to their needs, and how we can minister like Jesus. "It was rewarding to see thousands of women responding positively to God's call and being inspired by how God is using their gifts to fulfill His purpose in their lives," says Arrais.

Hispanic Women's Retreat

North American Division

April 2009: Arizona Conference Hispanic Women's Ministries celebrated "Twenty Years of Victory in Jesus." This retreat marked the 20th year of the Hispanic Conference retreats. The guest speakers included Heather-Dawn Small, GCWM director; Dr. Linda Jimenez, from Mexico; and Ruth Collins from the Pacific Union. The international singing group, "Forgiven," performed.

The leadership felt the retreat was a great success as 20 ladies decided to accept Jesus as their Savior. "What a privilege the Lord has given me to serve Him in Women's Ministries for over 20 years, and the joy to see that many lives transformed; others have discovered their gifts and accepted God's call to serve Him," says Mariafelix Denneny, Arizona Conference Hispanic WM director.

However, Hispanic Women's Ministries is not for adult women only. They have organized mini-retreats for young girls on the topic "Keeping my Purity in an Un-pure world." This retreat was so successful that last year a retreat was held by WM for both boys and girls with 97 attendees.

Bali Evangelism Campaign

Southern Asia-Pacific Division

August 17-23, 2008, the Women's Ministries department of the West Indonesian Union Mission (WIUM) held an evangelistic meeting for the whole district of Bali.

Poppy Lubis, WM director of WIUM, was the main speaker. Each night she presented the Word of God with passion and love; as a result 19 souls came forward to accept Jesus as their personal Savior.

One of the baptized women, Gahani, had been a victim of the Bali bombing in 2002. After her baptism Gahani expressed her joy for the rescue that Jesus gave her during the bomb attack, and now she is praising the Lord again because of the new life through baptism. All her family members are now members of the family of God in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.