Inter-America: Adventist women challenged to connect with people in their communities
More than 600 Adventist women leaders from throughout the church in Inter-America gather for the church’s historic Women’s Ministries Convention held in Miami, Florida, Aug. 29-31, 2013. Image by Abel Marquez/IAD
September 3, 2013 – Miami, Florida, United States…Libna Stevens/IAD
Community outreach took center stage during Inter-America’s largest Women’s Ministries Convention held in Miami, Florida, last week.
More than 600 Seventh-day Adventist women leaders gathered to be empowered to take the serious challenge of connecting with others outside of their churches, small groups and homes.
Cecilia Iglesias, women’s ministries director for the church in Inter-America appealed to women leaders to continue their vision of letting the world know of Jesus’ love. Image by Libna Stevens/IAD
“We are united by a vision to let the world know about Jesus’ love,” said Cecilia Iglesias, women’s ministries director for the church in Inter-America and main organizer of the event. “You must be a witness in serving those in need wherever you are, clinging to a close relationship with Jesus and doing as He did.”
That message was not only for the select group of women leaders at the convention but one intended to reach the approximately 2.4 million active church women leaders throughout the more than 10,000 churches and congregations spread out across the 22 church regions across Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, West Indies, French Antilles, Colombia and Venezuela, organizers said.
The convention was not only about spiritually nurturing the attendees, recognizing outstanding women leaders, networking, and training, said Iglesias, but also about challenging Adventist women leaders in Inter-America to stand firm to their commitment to evangelize through their ministries and activities.
“We are called to serve and when the Lord calls you to serve, don’t let anyone convince you that because you’re a woman, things are to be different,” said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, as he reflected on the strong women mentioned in the Bible.
“Women bring strength to the mission,” said Pastor Leito. “Don’t let your sensitiveness, your thoughtfulness, your compassionate spirit, your caring attitude, and your strong emotions be seen as a weakness.”
“This is God’s church, this is your church, so never forget to fulfill your mission in this church,” Pastor Leito added.
The mission to bring 40,000 new members into the church is a goal that has women all across Inter-America working towards reaching by the end of the year, according to Iglesias.
According to Iglesias, more than 22,000 new members were brought directly into the church as a result of the work of Adventist women in March this year. More are expected in 2014 as the church around the world moves to focus more on reaching large and small cities everywhere.
That new focus to reach communities and cities will have to be through different evangelistic methods, leaders said.
Adventist World Church Women’s Ministries Director Heather-Dawn Small, urged women to get out of their comfort zones and reach people in the communities.
Image by Libna Stevens/IAD.
“When it comes to evangelism as a church, we are discovering that we can’t always do so the same way,” said Heather-Dawn Small, women’s ministries director for the Adventist world church. “We need to leave our comfort zones and reach out to the people in the community.”
It is about getting out of the building and into the community, emphasized Small.
“God is calling us to touch, not just preach, it is not just teaching, it is not just a Bible study, it is ministering to the people, it’s mingling with the people and sympathizing and then bringing them to Jesus,” added Small.
Mingling with people means identifying with people’s needs in the community, learning what they believe, what their values are and understanding their hurt so they can be helped, explained Small.
Small reminded women leaders of their role to raise awareness and advocate for the end of violence towards women and children through the EnditNow Adventist initiative. In addition, Small encouraged women to inspire others to get involved in literacy programs, community services, health centers, friendship evangelism, and connect with women in their communities.
Raquel Arrais, associate women’s ministries director for the Adventist world church, spoke to women on connecting to God and others in following the call of sharing hope regardless of experiencing many fears as women leaders.
Raquel Arrais, associate women’s ministries director for the Adventist world church encouraged women to embrace their fears, weaknesses, capabilities and unique talents to lead with the heart, with God and His Holy Spirit. Image by Libna Stevens/IAD
“You must be a woman of courage in overcoming tiredness, hurt, doubt, fears of failure in marriage, as mothers, as leaders, as friends and cling to your personal relationship with God,” said Arrais. “Fear paralyzes your potential, so you must continue walking in spite of your fears and follow your mission to share hope with others.”
Arrais challenged women to embrace their fears, weaknesses, capabilities, and unique talents to lead with the heart, with God and His Holy Spirit.
For Maria Lourdes Aleman, embracing her fears and letting God take away her pain as she leads more than 20,000 women in Central Nicaragua has been a challenge during the past five years. Aleman lost her 15-year-old son to illness and admits mourning his loss and surviving through it in her marriage and her two other children. She was only able to survive by clinging to God’s promises in the Bible. Yet Aleman feels that it’s more than that as she reflected on Arrais’ messages.
“We need to let the Holy Spirit work in us and through us so we can lead more effectively as we touch others,” said Aleman. It’s a discovery, Aleman said, one that through the pain and sorrow she went through has helped her minister with her heart to many who have suffered the loss of a loved one.
Delegates from North Mexico pray together during one of several prayer sessions during the convention. Image by Libna Stevens
The convention included seminars for women on strengthening their homes, reaching people among different languages and cultures, spiritual revival, ethics and leadership, creating small groups, and evangelizing one person, as well as several prayer sessions.
Norma Villegas, women’s ministries director for the church in North Mexico, was inspired by the possibilities of each one of the 9,000 women leaders she overseas in 14 states connecting with one person each.
“You know sometimes we think of covering so much that by simply connecting with someone in our neighborhood, our community can eventually result in one person joining the church in the long run,” said Villegas. Villegas said that she doesn’t set evangelistic goals with her territory because in the post-modern cities that comprise North Mexico, traditional evangelism does not click with the population much.
Villegas focuses on training women through weekly virtual seminars with her leaders on enriching their spiritual lives and how to connect more effectively with professional high-class women in North Mexico. What has worked in the city of Monterrey is teaching vegetarian cooking classes in restaurants and key locations, said Villegas.
In addition, the convention has motivated Villegas to enlist more women and draw them together with the Dorcas ministries in community service for greater impact in prisons, addiction centers, nursing homes, and hospitals in the territory she overseas.
Evangelist Mildred Robinson (right) from St. Thomas poses with Cecilia Iglesias (leftas she receives an award for her her leadership in evangelism bringing more than 3,000 new members into the church. She was among 44 women who were honored during a special ceremony, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Image by Libna Stevens/IAD
During the event, 44 outstanding women were recognized for their leadership in evangelism.
Among them was Mildred Robinson of St. Thomas for conducting 32 evangelistic campaigns and leading 3,000 new believers into the church throughout the Caribbean and countries around the world. An ordained elder and lay preacher, Robinson encouraged attendees to reach their full potential in spreading the gospel.
In her experience, connecting with the needs in the community such as divorce, violence, and drug addiction has aided in the success of evangelistic campaigns, said Robinson.
“We simply need to be nice with people and get down to meeting their hurting needs,” said Robinson. “We keep so much to ourselves sometimes as a church.”
Keeping things within the church is precisely the message women’s ministries leaders want to stay away from.
“We want it to be known that Adventists are people of love and that we care about people, that we want to help people, and yes we want to see you saved but we want your stomach full, we want to know that your pain is healed. We want to be like Jesus,” charged Small as the convention concluded.
“We can all be witnesses for Jesus, and keep the flame of the preaching of the gospel burning,” charged Iglesias, as she mentioned the upcoming projects of enlisting young Adventist women to work together with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency projects and continue certifying thousands more women leaders for greater evangelistic impact in 2014.
To view a photo gallery of Inter-America’s Women’s Ministries Convention, CLICK HERE