Shepherdess International News

Shepherdess International News

News from around the world.

By the Journal staff and various contributors. 

Euro-Asia Division

Olga Murga, Shepherdess Coordinator for the Euro-Asia Division, reports on the activi­ties of the Shepherdess chapters. The quarterly Shepherdess Inter­national Journal is translated in to Russian and distributed to the Shepherdess Coordinators in the Unions. Olga states, "The pasto­ral wives in our division are good helpers and take an active part in the work, especially in evan­gelistic meetings. Many of the pastoral wives are active in sup­port groups."

Specific news from some of the areas include:

* Nine pastoral wives of Byelorus in Minsk met together for their premier meeting.

* Romanova Angelina host­ed a one-day meeting on "Encouragement" for pastoral wives in St. Petersburg.

* In Northern Moldova Conference, Sazhina Nina was elected the new coordinator. Then there was a discussion on avoid­ing the consequences of stress.

* In Moscow, Mariya Kula­kova held meetings for the pastoral wives on the top­ics of working with children, healthful cooking, and the role of women.

* Tamara Prolinskay con­ducted a seminar for pastoralwives in Kiev, on the topic "Five Se­crets for the Pastors and Their Wives." Olga joined the group and took part in a discus­sion of different problems.

* Podolsk Con­ferencepastoral wives in the Ukrainian Union were treated to a seminar by Olga Murga on "Lady of the Moment."

* In Moscow there were meetings for the Shepherdess Coordinators. Mate­rials were distributed to be shared with pastoral wives throughout the Division.

* Pastoral wives in Byelorus in Gomel met and discussed "The Ladder of Descent."

* The Southern Union Con­ference, in Tashkent, hosted a meeting for pastoral wives, and 12 attended. The women from Tadzhikistan and Turkmenistan could not come because of politi­cal events and the fact that there was no transportation connection. Please remember these pastoral wives in your prayers. Those who attended exchanged souvenirs and welcomed each other to the work of the pastoral wife.

* Anna, a pastoral wife in the Bukovinskaya Conference, endured a severe operation. In several pastoral families, the chil­dren are very ill, suffering after Chernobyl. Please remember these dear little ones in your prayers.

Inter-American Division

The North Caribbean Confer­ence Shepherdess Chapter has begun a quarterly magazine just for pastoral children. Shawna Trotman is the editor of The PK. This exciting magazine is full of varie­ty—enter­tainment, craft ideas, puzzles, and pictures to color. There are riddles and a special "Nature Nook." PKs are challenged to stretch their minds in "Quiz Bowl," and "Ask AuntClaudette," answers write-in questions. A special "Meet the PKs" section helps the children become ac­quainted with each other by publishing pictures, ages, and interests. Congratulations to the pastoral wives for showing such ingenuity and caring for these precious PKs with such a creative resource.

The Colombia Union, under the leadership of Elder Bernardo Rodriguez, president, and Eliza­beth Rodriguez, Shepherdess Coordinator, hosted a week-long retreat for all of the pastoral wives in the entire Union. Almost 300 pastoral wives came together at the church camp in the mountains above Bogota. Sunny days brimmed with fellowship, good food, fun, and seminars by Elder Jaime Castrejon, from the division of­fice, who spoke on Team Min­istry and the example of Aquilla and Priscilla. Dr. Leo Acosta, a gynecologist from Venezu­ela, and his wife, Teresa,pre­s e nted special women's health topics and were available for personal health counseling. Sharon Cress, from Shepherd­ess Internation­al, presented seminars on the blessings and challenges of pastoral life. El­der Rodriguez presented the morning devotionals. Elder and Mrs. Rodriguez are to be com­mended for setting exemplary leadership in the nurture and sup­port of pastoral wives. These pastoral wives were treated to a little taste of heaven on earth. May this convocation be a cata­lyst for many more around the world.

North American Division

Northern California pastoral wives met in April for their annual re­treat at Leoni Meadows. Pollyanna Prosper-Barnes spoke at the meetings. She is the founder of the Fam­ily Breakthrough Un- limited, an organization designed to develop fundamental skills and abilities of parents to help their children ex­perience success in all aspects of life. The theme of the conference was "Committed Connections" and presentations were abou t be­ing a "Whole Person in Jesus."

Minnesota Conference pastoral wives enjoyed a special Sabbath afternoonmeeting chairedby Betty McCormick, a pastoral wife (now from Oklahoma). She led a valu­able discussion on how to support husbands/pastors in their work, especially during difficult times.

South American Division

In February, Shepherdess Coordinators and Ministerial Sec­retaries from all Unions and most of the Conferences met together at the Union Adventist Educa­tional Complex in Peru for almost a week of training, fellowship, and sharing. Inspiring preaching, seminars, idea-sharing, and em­phasis on the pastoral family highlighted the event. South American Division Ministerial Secretary, Alejandro Bullon, and Associate Secretary, Jose Viana, hosted the ministerial secretary meetings with Jim Cress as their guest while Vasti Viana, Division Shepherdess Coordinator, and Sharon Cress, conducted training for all the Shepherdess coordina­tors. Each Union and Conference gave a report on the activities of Shepherdess and Ministerial. They felt encouraged to hear about each other's work.

Pastoral wives from the Rio de Janeiro Conference met for a full-day seminar with Vasti Viana and Sharon Cress at the conference office headquarters in Rio. Every­one enjoyed the music before participating in a seminar on per­sonality and the pastoral wife.

Nair Bessa, a pastoral wife from Brazil, has been a volunteer Bible in­structor in 33 evangelistic campaigns conducted by her hus­band. From north to south Brazil, she visited people up and down the streets, in sunshine or rain, and gave nearly 6,000 Bible stud­ies. Every night before the adult evangelistic session, she told the children stories and taught them songs. Some nights nearly 300 children attended. Nair will never know the full impact of such sacrifi­cial service until she meets the fruits of her labors in the new earth. May the Lord bless her exceedingly.

Keila Trigo Martins, a pastoral wife from Manaus, Brazil, re­cently finished conducting an evange­listic meeting for the Central Amazon Mis­sion. The auditorium was full each night and the audience paid rapt attention to her preaching. Many were baptized as a re­sult of her dedicated work in using her God-given gifts to spread the good news of Jesus' love. Re­member her in your prayers as she contin­ues her ministry.

Southern Asian Division

Pastoral wives in this Division are being rewarded monetarily for their work in giving Bible studies, teaching family life topics, and working with children. Mar­garet Nathaniel, Division Shepherdess Coordinator, re­ports that 225 pastoral wives are now on a stipend for their evangelistic endeavors. Praise the Lord!