National Women’s Ministry Forum, Arbanasi, Bulgaria, April 28-30, 2023

The last worship song to conclude the Sabbath service is about to start. I am listening to the tunes while struggling to structure all my thoughts and everything I just heard about the women of the Exodus. Nothing familiar in the tunes. The title - “Miracles”, also doesn’t say much to me. The song starts: I hear the lyrics, the tunes, the music…. It all comes so close to me. Suddenly, I stop thinking of anything else and just want to absorb this final song. The song is over, but it has all just begun to make sense to me. The whole idea of a National Women’s Ministry Conference, the very real role of the woman in society, in church, in the family, my place there, the purpose of this ministry, the miracle of that simply being there wherever I am.
This weekend gathered over 170 women, a few men and a bunch of children, to an event that I think was much needed to happen right here, right now - April 28-30, 2023, in the village of Arbanasi, surrounded by mountains, situated near the historical city of Veliko Tarnovo (former capital of Bulgaria). The sermons the night before “Being Enough” and on Sabbath morning - “The women of the Exodus”, brought so many questions to my mind (and certainly to the minds of others) that I still reflect on them in my everyday actions. Dagmar Dorn, leader of the “Women’s Ministry” Department at the Inter-European Division shared God’s Word with us and also her personal experience of not being enough and being too much. On Sabbath, she focused the attention of the audience on those special women of the Exodus around the story of the Prince of Egypt, Moses. “Today, we are those women of the Exodus, waiting for the Prince of Peace to deliver us.” Bulgarian Women’s Ministry Department leader, Bilyana Valchinova, addressed the audience with a series of provocative questions: “Is it enough to just gather good memories from this event? What happens when you all go to your own churches? What will you do?” And then she shared that the mission of the national department is to encourage and support the local women’s ministries groups and to pray for God’s wisdom and guidance in doing so.
On Sabbath afternoon and Sunday morning, it was time for the interactive parts of the event when six women and one man led six different workshops. Each participant could join three workshops, out of the following:
1. To win him without words;
2. An interview with a Bible girl;
3. To leave or to stay;
4. Intimacy and long-term relationships;
5. Emotions prevention in crisis;
6. The Cherry of the Forum.
The discussions continued around the table; in the garden; after dinner and in between sessions. The air was filled with life, laughter, and prayers. Witnessing of what God has done through them and in them, those women of faith had called Heaven on Earth.
Why “Ladle and Heels to Borrow”
This is a program of the Bulgarian Women’s Ministry Department for the 2023 year. It emphasizes the communication between women, which gives personal support and is the core of the organized ministry. The name of the program refers to the female nature, needs, and everyday life in a personal, as well as a social aspect.
The ladle, personally, is a symbol of routine, everyday tasks, motherhood, and housekeeping. In the social aspect, it presents the mission work organized by women and their ministry for the benefit of society.
The heels symbolize personal care, personal development, vision, the feminine tune, self-esteem, relationships with the opposite sex, and in the social aspect - the organized care by the department to meet the women’s needs.
To borrow: the exchange of accessories, items, services, and ideas is typical for the female world. It is also a symbol of support, assistance, acceptance, and cooperation in the organized ministry. On a more global scale, the name of the program addresses the big issue of balancing “the ladle and the heels”. Personally, this is the constant choice we have to make between time for personal care and between time for the care of others. In general, for the ministry, this is the balance between I reach and outreach.
A Charity Project to share - “A bazaar with a cause”
This is a project of the Bulgarian Women’s Ministry Department for 2023. It is a typical women’s form of service, which naturally combines the “ladle” and the “heels” - the two opposite sides of female nature, needs, and everyday life. The project aims to raise funds by creating and exhibiting and selling second-hand good quality items, which women usually possess. It creates a friendly environment allowing for closer communication. Its purpose is to provide finances to benefit a particular cause and to bring much joy to both the donors and the beneficiaries. All steps of how to organize and implement such a project on a local level and how to request the necessary equipment from the National department have been detailed in a brochure which was shared with each participant.
“I hope this event will be repeated soon”, shared Tanya, one of the participants. To the question “What would you say to those women who could not make it to the event this year?” Dagmar Dorn naturally exclaimed: “Come next time!”
As reported by Tsvetelina Tsvetanova, Communications Department, Bulgarian Union