I just got home from our yearly lady’s seminar. This year, it took place in the city of Belo Jardim, about a three-hour drive from Recife. Most of the 250 women came by bus, others by car, and some by plane. A few came as far as six hours by plane.

The Women´s Seminar was conceived thirty-two years ago. Its goal is to encourage women from the Northeast region of Brazil. It takes place once a year and is held in different cities of the area.

During our four days together, we usually have six to seven messages, several small groups with various themes, and free time in the afternoons to visit with sisters we have not seen in a long time. It is also a perfect time to get to know new sisters from different congregations. The women love this time. They help each other with their struggles, tell their life stories, laugh a lot, and sometimes cry and receive needed comfort.

I had the opportunity to teach about the passage of Ezequiel 36:26-27 where God promises to change our stone heart for a heart of flesh and to implant the Spirit in this new heart. I described what a heart of stone and a heart of flesh looked like and warned them not to harden the new heart again (Heb 3).

In the pulpit, I looked at all those women and felt a sense of gratitude and amazement that was hard to describe. I thought about the humble beginning of the church in Belo Jardim; I thought about the first seminar they held with only about ten local women. I remembered other years when we slept on mattresses on the floor, and we had to stay in these old public school buildings; the kitchen was improvised in the backyard, and many times, we had no water for showers and had to bring buckets of water in, the chairs were very old and very uncomfortable to sit on. But that did not seem to discourage anybody. They were so hungry for fellowship and learning that it was all worthwhile.

We have come a long, long way. Now, the seminars are held in much better facilities, usually with comfortable beds and air conditioning, plenty of water, a sound system, complete kitchens, and much more. Thank God for this. Women from fifteen to over eighty years old can now enjoy this time so much more. It is amazing to be a witness to this spiritual and physical growth.