IDWM looking for Quadrennial Assembly Coordinator

Disciples Women are gearing up to begin planning for the 2010 Quadrennial Assembly to be held in Greensboro, NC, June 23 to 27, 2010. If you or someone you know are interested in applying for the QA Coordinator position, download a job description and application form from the Internet at www.discipleswomen.org. The deadline for application is April 30, 2007

South American Immigrants

Immigrants from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Poland receive assistance from the Immigrant Ministry of Second Christian Church, Bronx, N.Y., under the leadership of the Rev. Angel Bonilla.

DHM's Refugee and Immigration Ministries supports this ministry.

Women's Action Web 4
Central Rocky Mountain Region experience transforms lives!

Following are edited excerpts from messages received in the Office of Disciples Women following last year's WAW 4 journey from participants Leah Dewey, a Pacific Southwest Region college student, and Olivia Bryan, a young ordained clergy woman from Colorado, and the keynote speaker for the Women's Luncheon at the 2005 General Assembly:

"There are many different steps that one will take in life,"wrote Leah Dewey. "Taking this trip with the Woman's Action Web moved every woman to a different step in their life. Each woman arrived thinking they knew who they were and what they expected. But each woman left changed and knowing she is a daughter of Christ. Personally, this was a very powerful and difficult life changing experience for me. As the daughter of two ordained pastors, the life of the church has always been something I've known. But I have had to learn and grow in my faith along with everyone else.

"Mission work is scary and it takes a lot of time and commitment. During this [journey], we were taught to overcome that fear and plan anyway. After a few days we realized how mission is accomplished. Someone or a group of people look at an issue that's important to them and act as if time and money weren't an issue. We learned that this is how we are called to act, not just with mission work but with every step of faith we take.

"I hear from so many of my peers that trips like these are a waste of time and are not going to be worth the time and money I have to put into it. But what I learned and what I know now was totally worth everything I did to get there. I can now say where I stand spiritually and the plans I have for doing God's work. I could not do that before this trip and that was worth it all to me."Meanwhile, Olivia Bryan had this to say. "In a modern world of anxiety and impersonal interactions, the women in the church have amazing ways to find peace, serenity, hope and heartfelt relationships. Whether they are sent into the kitchen with dirty dishes or across the ocean to a hungry child, the women listen to God's call and go. Who would not want to be a part of this amazing story of the generations?

"I have been abundantly blessed to enter into the realm of Disciples Women. I have been challenged and embraced in the same moment, as only women can do. ... Many of these women are older than me. They look to me with hope and questions about the future. ... Their looks have somehow called me into action.
"Disciples Women offer something sacred (and sometimes tasty). [The] empty spaces [within women's ministries] can be easily filled if young women open their eyes and those on the inside open their arms. Women have done this for generations, and it will continue with God's help."Visit www.discipleswomen.org to learn more about Women's Action Web.

NAPAD Women seek to develop more leadership opportunities

NAPAD women in the Pacific Southwest Region gathered in early January to hold a listening conference in an effort to grow their ministry. Those attending the meeting included Adonna Bowman, executive director of Women‘s Ministries, bringing greetings from Dr. Geunhee Yu, executive pastor for NAPAD, and Pauline Choi, representing NAPAD, brought greetings in Korean. Meeting outcomes included a desire to improve communication, develop more leadership opportunities in NAPAD's women‘s ministries, do God's work, and share their faith in Jesus. Similar events are planned for Mid-America and the Southern States.

DWM Leadership gather and plan at site of 2010 Quadrennial

Leadership from the International Disciples Women‘s Ministry gathered in January at the site of the 2010 Quadrennial Assembly in Greensboro, N.C., for their biennial Cabinet meeting. More than 100 women representing the United States, Canada, and Disciples constituency groups, including the Hispanic Conventions, NAPAD, the National Convocation, the current class of Leadership Apprentices, gathered for spiritual enrichment, leadership development, networking and fellowship. The opening speaker, Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale, implored women to live into their full potential as followers of Jesus Christ.  The all-inclusive Spirit-led, Spirit-filled worships offered a tapestry of styles and languages.

Women contributed $1,420 in offerings with a 10 percent tithe being sent to DMF plus $320 from Blessing Box offerings from the event. Working groups created an outline for an environmental study and brainstormed for the future of Disciples Women‘s Ministries, and made plans for General Assembly. Visit the Disciples Women Web site at http://www.discipleshomemissions.org/Women/index.htm for more updates.

Historical Society names Exhibit Hall after former DHM trustee

The Disciples of Christ Historical Society (DHS), Nashville, Tenn., has announced that its Exhibit Hall will be named in honor of Oscar Haynes. A layman who has given his life to service in the church, Haynes will become the first African-American Disciple to be honored by room-naming in the Thomas W. Phillips Memorial headquarters of the Historical Society.

Haynes, the nearly 100-year-old Tennessee native, is past president of the National Convocation and former trustee of Disciples Home Missions. Mr. Haynes has also served on the Board of the Historical Society. He has been named a Diplomate of the National City Christian Church Foundation and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, the Reverend Joan Bell Haynes, an ordained Disciples minister.

Glenn Thomas Carson, president of the Historical Society, said Haynes is the "perfect match"for such an honor. "Oscar Haynes is a true servant of our faith and he is a model Christian who spurs all of us along in our own discipleship,"said Carson.

Plans for dedication of the refurbished Exhibit Hall are set for 2008 or 2009. The Historical Society is receiving contributions to secure the honor for Haynes. Inquiries can be addressed to mail@discipleshistory.org or 1101 19th Ave., S., Nashville, Tenn. 37212.

For more information about DHS, visit www.discipleshistory.org.