By Christy Mesaros-Winckles
Women’s Ministries International held its conference Tuesday, July 12, one day before the official start of General Conference 2011.
WMI is a Free Methodist auxiliary organization that places women at the forefront: organizing, supporting and creating new ministries to share the gospel and help women around the world.
The WMI conference included the election of new officers and celebrating advancements in WMI ministries. Newly elected officers include Julie Bolin who will be the international promoter. Connie Buterbaugh moves from vice president of ministries to become the WMI secretary, and Lucia Grullon moves from secretary to become vice president of ministries.
One of the conference highlights was the presentation by Neddy Dingili, a pastor and the wife of Kenyan Bishop Nixon Dingili. She spoke about the impact of WMI’s Kenyan widows project. Last year, for the first time, WMI held a conference in Kenya to help widows deal with grief and find resources for employment.
The WMI conference drew 20 delegates from around the United States and 20 guests, including international visitors from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Malawi, Congo, Philippines and Kenya. According to WMI leaders, the strong turnout and excitement for WMI ministries shows the organization is growing and developing new leaders among younger women.
“We’re really excited to have younger women as part of the executive board. We’re looking forward to getting more younger women involved in WMI and being able to fulfill all the projects we have at hand,” Grullon said.
For more information on WMI, visit fmwmi.com.
