Don't miss the November/December issue of timbrel which will focuses on Global Sisers.  

In preparation for the January/February issue of timbrel which will focus on Women in Leadership, consider:

How does having women included in leadership positions affect the church? 

Send your responses to Patty by December 8. Be sure to include your name and hometown.

Don't forget to add timbrel to your Christmas shopping list. It's a gift that gives all year long. To subscribe to timbrel, send $15 for one year or $13 per person for a group of 10 or more to Mennonite Women USA, 718 N Main St., Newton, KS 67114. You can also e-mail or call 866.866.2872, ext. 34396. We'll start your subscription and send you a bill. 

Virginia Conference Retreat in Waynesboro   

April Gunderson, Associate Pastor of Care and Counsel at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, spoke to women on the theme "More Than Water" at the  Virginia Fall Retreat on October 28-30. Incorporating visual arts and journaling in her sessions, April engaged women in thinking about and discussing a movement from feeling empty to feeling Living Water overflowing in their lives.

The weekend provided an opportunity for women to connect with their sisters in Christ from the Shenandoah Valley, Tidewater, and Southeast regions. A wide range of ages joined in fellowship including a number of mothers and daughters coming together to get away from their everyday lives. Saturday morning women awoke to several inches of snow which caused a power outage. Breakfast by candlelight was an unexpected treat.

The weekend culminated in a meaningful Sunday worship service followed by anointing, communion, and footwashing. Women shared how God was working in their lives through their experiences at the retreat and the ways in which they were leaving refreshed and refilled with Living Water.    

-Melody Musser and Kathy Zehr Rhodes  

Sister Care continues at Ridgeway Mennonite Church  

In February, 2008 six women from Ridgeway Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA attended the first Sister Care Seminar, led by Rhoda Keener.   After our retreat the women expressed interest in establishing spiritual friendships with other women.  (Spiritual friendship refers to an intentional relationship between peers which seeks spiritual accountability and growth.  Participants decide how to structure their time together, including praying together and areas to explore, how to divide sharing time, and how long to continue this committed spiritual friendship.)

 
A total of twelve women were paired in September of 2008 with the understanding that these relationships would last one year with the option of continuing for a longer time. We met again in September of 2009 to share how things worked and to talk about regrouping.  The obvious plus for regrouping is that new women can join, and we have found that new women in the church can be included in these relationships.

Since then our groups have grown. Currently, we are in the process of making new pairings for the year.  We ask for prayer for the process and that women will experience the joy of relationship with one another as they grow in their relationship to Jesus Christ.

-Sharri Kurtz 

Women from Grace Hill Mennonite Church 

Ruth Lapp Guengerich and Rhoda Keener were working in Newton, KS from November 14-16.  While Ruth ordered her lunch at Karen's Kitchen in Newton, a woman dining there recognized Rhoda and began a conversation.  She was part of this group of women from Grace Hill Mennonite Church, rural Newton. They were having a birthday lunch.  After introductions, Rhoda pulled out her camera to take a picture.  One of them called out to an acquaintance at the next table to take the picture with Ruth and Rhoda joining them.  Ruth and Rhoda both discovered friends from this group, and made new acquaintances.  The Mennonite Women world stretches to many places and includes all of us. Who knows, you may meet Ruth or Rhoda when you are having coffee with friends. 

Sister Care Seminar in Southeast Conference   

On October 21-22, 2011, fifty women of Southeast Mennonite churches gathered at Ashton Community Fellowship in Sarasota, Florida to learn how to use the balm of Jesus' love to care for self and others. The goal of the Sister Care Seminar is to equip women with effective caring skills because women are most often the first responder in a time of tragedy, loss, grief and pain.

The women were reminded that as the beloved children of God they must care for themselves in order to spread the balm of Jesus' love to others. This was demonstrated in a skit of the Woman at the Well (portrayed by Sheri Williams-Samuel, right) who received Jesus' love even though she had been rejected by society.  

A second skit was based on the story of friends who carried a crippled man to Jesus, lowering him through the roof so Jesus could heal him (Mark 2). Women were encouraged to spread this balm of Jesus' love further by becoming "stretcher bearers" for those incapacitated by life's crippling circumstances. This caring requires a partnership with other encouraging Christian women. This healing balm of Jesus' love was expressed through the stories of loss and grief shared by several women.

- Fannie Birky  

Upcoming Sister Care Seminars 

Sister Care: Equipping Women for Caring Ministry seminars validate women's gifts of caring and equips them to respond more effectively and confidently to the needs of others in their lives and in the congregation.  Included in the seminar is a 64 page manual integrating biblical truths with life experience and skills for caring and listening.  Presenters:  Carolyn Heggen and Rhoda Keener

Pacific Southwest   January 13-14, 2012

- Los Angeles, California

Gulf States  February 17-18, 2012

- Pine Lake Camp, Meridian, Mississippi

 
New York  March 16-17, 2012

-Rochester Mennonite Church,Rochester, NY

Eastern District and Franconia  March 23-24, 2012

- eastern Pennsylvania

Central District and Indiana-Michigan May 4-5, 2012

- northern Indiana

For information on how to register, or to schedule a Sister Care seminar in your area, contact the Mennonite Women USA office.

Register now for Women in Conversation retreats 

Meghan Good, lead pastor of Albany Mennonite Church in Albany, Oregon, is the keynote speaker.  The theme for the weekend is "Into the Wilderness: the Journey of God's Beloved." Join us as we embrace our identity as God's beloved. You may register online . 

Give to Mennonite Women USA 

Mennonite Women USA's ministry is possible through your generous donations. Contribute on-line. Make a pledge on our website. Or mail your contribution to the office at Mennonite Women USA, 718 N. Main St., Newton, KS 67114-1819. Please consider this ministry in your giving. Gifts are tax deductible.  

Honoring and Remembering    

Mennonite Women USA invites persons to share financially to support this ministry. Individuals are invited to give in honor of, or in remembrance of, significant people in their lives. We recognize that each gift honors or remembers a relationship.

Gifts given by:

Anna Marie Peterson in memory of Muriel Stackley.

Carolyn Locy in memory of Marlin Schaefer.  

Gifts given by:

Last week we were notified that the password for our on-line banking account needed to be changed, again. There was no getting into the account without making the change.

I must confess that composing new passwords for web accounts is not one of my favorite things to do. And I did some complaining. How do you come up with new passwords all the time? And where do you store this list of passwords for the numerous accounts so that they are kept current and secure but available? Keeping all the passwords up to date and recorded could turn into the equivalent to a part time job.