Surprise! It’s a snow day! Even that didn’t daunt 300+ women from
attending their Spring Enrichment Day.
This year it was held on Saturday, April 20th at Tavistock
Mennonite Church. Yes, it was cold
outside, but so very warm and welcoming inside.
We began our morning with coffee and muffins, and a lot of
socializing. During the get acquainted
and registration time, guests also previewed the display from Mennonite Women
Canada, while enjoying a chance to speak with Liz Koop, the president of that
group. Meanwhile at the Women of
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada table, I too had a chance to meet some people
while I handed out the Church Rep’s information packet. These contained WMCEC’s Annual Report Book
2012, the 61st Annual Report Book 2012 for MW Canada and a copy of
Connections Vol. 3, Issue 1 – April 2013.
Any that weren’t picked up that day were taken to MCEC’s event the
following Saturday. Failing to connect
there, they would have been mailed. By
now, all should have been received.
Terri J. Plank
Brenneman was the featured guest speaker.
She is the author of the Bible Study Guide entitled Wonderfully Made;
Women, Faith, and Self-Care. Terri
broke her topic into two sessions 1) Remembering God’s Story, 2) Remembering
Our Story. The following recap cannot do
justice to this spiritually uplifting day, but I will try my best. I truly wish you could have been there.
Terri’s message
began with a reminder that we are
the resource for the world. Each of us
is uniquely qualified to touch specific lives.
She challenged us to list the Lord’s attributes as seen in various parts
of the Bible: Genesis 1 as the Creator,
Genesis 2 as the Parent, as the Promise Keeper to Abraham & Sarah, as the
patient Teacher, as the Deliverer, as the Law Giver, etc. Of the adjectives/descriptors generated
record 6 words that best describe God to you.
Record them on a bookmark for later reflection. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the
Lord alone. Love your God with heart,
soul and strength!” was the mantra for the morning.
The afternoon
session’s mantra changed to “Hear, O Women of Mennonite Church of Eastern
Canada! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your
strength. Learn to love your neighbours
and yourself. Trust in God’s plan for
you and your uniqueness!” With these
powerful words, Terri encouraged us to write down 6 attributes, talents, or
abilities that we possess on the reverse side of the bookmark begun in the
morning. Those are gifts that come from
God. She reminded us to embrace our own
legacy and tell others of our faith stories. Not only will you fed and inspire
yourself, but you will transform others, even as they transform you with their
stories. We are “nourished and flourished by life.” Hear, O Women of Faith!
Acknowledgements and
gratitude go out to the Tavistock Mennonite Church for being such gracious
hosts, the ladies who prepared and served all the yummy food and beverages, the
participants for braving the weather to attend, the hands that typed and copied
the program, the pianist – Charlene Zehr, the song leader – Ruth Steinman, the
devotional leader – Patricia Wagler, the special music group – Close
Connection: Linda Holst, Brenda Wagler, Shirley Yantzi; WMCEC – Florence Jantzi for Welcome,
Invocation and Scripture reading, Kathryn Good for chairing the business
session, Lisa Blackburn for Annual Financial Report, Marie Assad for Personnel
Committee Report and introducing Dorothy Hamm (Program) and myself, Linda
Wiens (Secretary), MCEC – Brian Bauman
for greetings, MW Canada – Liz Koop MW
Canada Report, MSCU – financial
assistance and, of course, our guest speaker - Terri J. Plank Brenneman.
WMCEC Executive from L-R: Florence Jantzi, Lisa Blackburn,
Linda Wiens, Dorothy Hamm, Marie Assad, Kathryn Good
Submitted by Linda Wiens
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