WM Congress in Seville, Spain

The second Spanish-Portuguese Women’s congress took place in Seville September 21–23, 2018. The motto was “Be Light” according to the letter to the Ephesians (5:8). 120 women and a few men participated. Dr. Julián Melgosa, a native of Spain, psychologist and assistant Director of education of the General Conference presented interesting topics like how to increase your emotional intelligence, how inter-personal relationships can succeed among others. The Sermon on Sabbath morning was presented by Heather Dawn Small, Women’s Ministries director of the General Conference. She emphasized our value in God’s sight. When we ourselves recognize that value we can reach out to our neighbour and be the light he wants us to be. In the afternoon a sightseeing tour through Seville was offered, which gave the opportunity for the participants enjoy each other’s company get to know others better and develop contacts. A highlight was the male quartet “Sol Mayor” of the Voice of Hope who gave an inspiring concert that was well received. On Sunday morning Heather Dawn Small, Dagmar Dorn and Amalia Reta presented reports from Women’s Ministries around the world, the EUD and Spain respectively. These showed how women meet the needs in their churches and communities in various and creative ways. For five women with hispanic background who had come from Italy and the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, it was a special moment when they received their Certificates from Andrews University for the completion of the four levels of leadership certification courses.
The congress was organized by Amalia Reta and Paula Amorim, Women's Ministries directors for Spain and Portugal, who put in a lot of work and effort to ensure that the event would be a blessing for all participants. At the end they thank God that the participants returned to their homes filled with good encounters and many blessings received.