Asia Pacific Division
Pastor Ulysses Camagay and his wife, Pleny, of the South Philippine Union Mission, worked together in evangelistic meetings at Talairon, a barangay within the City of Oroquita. As a result of their husband-wife efforts and the work of the Holy Spirit, 80 persons were baptized into Jesus Christ. Each nightly meeting featured a Vacation Bible School for children, health lectures, a Bible quiz, Bible-marking class, a feature on family life, and gospel preaching. The visits that Pastor and Mrs. Camagay made in the homes of their interested students made a great impact on the decisions of many to accept the Lord's invitation for baptism.
Euro-Africa Division
Hannele Ottschofski reports that the Baden-Wuerttemberg Conference hosted all their clergy families to a pastoral family retreat at presumably the best youth hostel in Europe. It is located in St. Gilgen on the borders of Lake Wolfgang in Austria. The program left plen ty of time for personal encounters and excursions, as well as just plain good times. if anybody ever thought pastors are not allowed to laugh, they were proved falsely informed. The atmosphere was relaxing and enjoyable. One afternoon the program included an interesting trip to the salt mines in Hallein. The clergy wives especially enjoyed sitting down to three meals a day with no obligations and, of course, getting to know each other better. It really was a treat that made each one feel appreciated.
Many Shepherdess meetings have been taking place in Germany. The Shepherdess meeting at Marienhoehe was well attended and Dieter Luetert, from Fricdensau, was the speaker on "Charismatic Movements."
A Shepherdess weekend at Bad Kreuznach featured the theme "The Different Temperaments." Waltraut and Paul Gerhard Ebisch substantiated the presentations with practical applications from theirownmarriage and family. The pastoral wives enjoyed a very relaxed atmospherearld returned home feeling they had gained abetter understanding of theirfellow "men."
Euro-Asia Division
Olga Murga, Division Shepherdess Coordinator, reports that the Central Conference sponsored a seminar by Maria Kulakov and Augustine Zuzuline. A special feature on spirituality was given by Lidia Stolya r.
*The Southern Conference had Shepherdess meetings where all, but two, of the pastoral wives were able to attend. The subjects presented were "Personal Spirituality," "Facing Hard Times in the Pastoral Family," and "The Formation of Character."
* The Volgo-Vyatskaya Conference had a special meeting and 14 ministry wives attended. They discussed the reasons why pastoral children do not want to become ministers.
See PDF for pictures
Inter-American Division
Vasti Viana, Division Shepherdess Coordinator, and Sharon Cress, from Shepherdess International, itinerated through the Division and met with ministry wives at several different Union and Conference locations.
In Brasilia, at the Division headquarters, a one-day meeting included beautiful special music, a seminar, and a lovely luncheon at a health-food restaurant for the pastoral families, Jose Viana, Associate Ministerial Secretary for the Division, and Meibel. Mello-Guedes, the Union Shepherdess Coordinator, co-hosted the event.
* The North Parana Conference administration planned a wonderful weekend for all of the pastoral wives. Abeautiful city auditorium was leased and the activities included seminars, special music, and mission presentations. The event was so well planned and attended that the local news station came and filmed the activities, and they gave a very positive report on the evening six o'clock news.
* River Plate Adventist University hosted meetings with the theology student wives and pastoral wives of the area. At a special chapel for the theology students, Vasti Viana and Sharon Cress spoke to the students and answered questions about life in the pastoral family. Felicia Ramos, the Argentina Union Shepherdess Coordinator, hosted the events. All of the local Conference Shepherdess Coordinators met for two days with Vasti, Felicia, and Sharon. Felicia hosted a delightful special luncheon for the coordinators and wives of the University administrators.
* The Chile Union Mission Shepherdess Coordinator, Ruth Castillo, hosted two days of events for the pastoral wives. In the beautiful seaside town of Valpariso, the pastoral families from the Pacific Chile Mission gathered for a full day geared especially for them. On Sunday, pastoral families from the Santiago area met for an afternoon seminar and meeting.
Southern Asia Division
Thirty-four wives of ministers recently completed eight weeks of training enabling them to be employed as part-time Bible Instructors. Subjects completed during the two, four-week sessions included Bible doctrines, life and teachings ofJesus Christ, better living, and personal evangelism. To date, 274 ministry wives have attended the training sessions and are employed part time in 15 sections (conferences). This program is taught by Pastor and Mrs. I. James for the Division Ministerial Association. It has proved to be a double blessing for the work in Southern Asia. Pastoral families receive additional income and the gospel is advanced to many people. So far nearly 500 people have been baptized as a direct result of ministry of these pastoral wives!
Rae Patterson, from the General Conference Office of Mission Awareness, presented seminars to the spouses of ministers during the Division meetings. Over 50 wives of ministers attended for three days. The women enjoyed Rae's messages, devotions, praying together, exercising, and sharing their experiences of God's leading.
