Baptist Women SHINE “A

rise, shine,” was the theme of the Baptist Women’s Leadership Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, from July 18-21. Attendees participated in four

days of meetings marked by vibrant singing, worship, creative displays and presentations with warm and cordial fellowship. Approximately 600 persons from 57 countries registered

for the event. On the opening night, 820 participants were in attendance. A five-year series of studies, ending in 2020, will be based on

the theme “Arise, Shine,” focusing on community, unity, justice and service. The 65th Anniversary of the Baptist Women’s World Day

of Prayer was celebrated, highlighted by a 19-minute video of testimonies about the Day of Prayer from former officers of the Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department (BWA WD). The Day of Prayer began in London during World War II when Baptists attempted to put an end to their differences and recognize the need for fellowship and reconciliation. Conference activities included discussions on the eight

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) developed by the United Nations in 2000 to be achieved by 2015, which helped to inform the programmatic ministry of the BWA WD. The MDGs were to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. Presenters and participants shared experiences and information

on issues affecting women and children around the globe with respect to the MDGs. Of concern was “gendercide,” the killing of female children in some parts of the world, where having a daughter was seen as wasteful and uneconomical, “like watering your neighbor’s garden.” Continental unions affiliated with the BWA WD gave reports

of work being done in their respective regions. The Asian Baptist Women’s Union constantly reaches out to the displaced, abused,

Top left: New logo for the BWA Women’s Department

Top right: South African presentation at the Leadership Conference in Johannesburg

Right: Ksenija Magda of Croatia, new BWA Women’s Department President

Far right: BWA Women’s Department Executive Committee

16 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

single mothers and teenage mothers. The European Baptist Women’s Union seeks to equip new leaders and build a Europe- wide fellowship of women, uniting women in mission and ministry. Other reports were presented by the Caribbean Baptist Women’s Union, the Latin American Baptist Women’s Union, the North American Baptist Women’s Union and the Baptist Women’s Union of the South West Pacific. Several heartbreaking

testimonies were heard at the meetings. Rachel Lateju, executive director of the Baptist Women’s Missionary Union of Nigeria, not only reminded the gathering of the fate of the more than 200 girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in April 2014, but of the many other children killed by bombs and other attacks by the same group. Kidnapped girls, many of them Christians, were forced into marriage and were made pregnant by their captors or by those to whom they were sold. “The girls are raped, abused physically, emotionally and sexually,” said Lateju. One young lady was beheaded because she refused to recant her Christian faith. Boko Haram, a terrorist Islamist militant organization, has

wreaked havoc in sections of Nigeria, killing some 15,000 and displacing 1.5 million Nigerians. A highlight of the conference was the instillation of Ksenija

Magda of Croatia as president of the BWA WD, succeeding Raquel Contreras of Chile, who was the conference Bible Study presenter. Magda is professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Zagreb in Croatia. Kathryn James of the US was elected secretary/treasurer, succeeding Donna Groover, also of the US.

Rachel Lateju of Nigeria reminded the gathering of the fate of children attacked by Boko Haram.