The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng. Psalm 68:11 NIV
"Inspired by His love" was the title of the national program organized by the Women's Ministries Department of the Spanish Union to celebrate Women's Ministries Emphasis Day on June 12. The objective of the program was to highlight the extraordinary ways in which God develops the gifts of women who give themselves into His hands with the desire to serve Him, and how He blesses and directs their ministries, transforming them into powerful instruments to share the gospel.
This included an interesting interview with the Women's Ministries Director of the Inter-European Division, Dagmar Dorn, and also interviews with writer and speaker Monica Diaz from Miami, singer-songwriter Esther Quiles and Dr. Ester Malaxetxebarria, all women from different professional and personal backgrounds who shared their experience with the desire to serve as an inspiration for other women.
In addition, there were inspiring musical performances and reports of activities carried out by different churches during the last year under conditions imposed by the situation generated by the pandemic.
On the other hand, the new team in charge of the Women's Ministries Department, recently approved by the Executive Committee of the Spanish Adventist Union, which will be in office until the next general assembly, was presented. It is composed of four volunteers: Maya Mercier from Madrid, with a Diploma in Social Services and a Degree in Anthropology, Sary Hernandez from Elche, Technician in Gender Equality and Social Integration and a Vocational Training Teacher, Clara Nicolae from Valencia, a Graduate in Psychology with a Master’s degree in Gender Equality and Amalia Reta from Madrid who will continue to collaborate with the new team and support the Department from the administrative side.
The new team Women’s Ministries Team commented on how the department will be organized and how they plan to face this new challenge with objectives that are focused on promoting closeness with women of all ages, ethnicities, cultures and situations, promoting their empowerment and integration. On the other hand, the work of the Platform against Gender Violence and for the promotion of the principle of equal rights and opportunities between men and women will be continued, as a channel of help, support and evangelism for women.
The change in the leadership of the Women's Ministries Department was motivated by the recent retirement of Amalia Reta, after a period of service of forty years of labor and tireless work in different areas of the Union, to whom we expressed our gratitude and our wishes that God will continue to bless her in this new stage of her life.
The program was broadcasted on the Youtube channel of the Adventist Church in Spain and also on the Facebook page of the Spanish Union, reaching all corners of the country and allowing many people to be active viewers, by participating in the chat where they expressed their satisfaction with the fellowship and the reports received.
We thank all the people who made this program possible, the Women's Ministries groups of the churches of Tenerife, Tallers and Sagunto for sharing their work, the women interviewed for their valuable testimonies, the members of the Women's Ministry of Elche and Seville for the initiative, Hopemedia for the support, the public address department of the Church of Elche for the work of video editing and above all, our loving God for giving us the opportunity to be part of this valuable ministry.
We wish that the Lord will bless and direct the members of the new team, and that His grace will abound on all the women who work every day through Women’s Ministries to share God's love with their fellow humans.
Reported by Sary Hernandez
At the same time we from the Women’s Ministries Department at the EUD want to thank Amalia Reta for the great work she has done and all the energy she has invested in promoting Women’s Ministries in the Spanish Union. We are so glad that she will not be retiring from her volunteer work in the WM department and that she will continue to support and help the new leadership team. May God bless all involved.