Philadelphia Women's Conference
Philadelphia Women’s Conference, Athens 2006
Eleni’s Report on the Philadelphia Conference
My Dear Sisters,
I pray my message finds you doing well. By God’s grace this last Sunday the women of the Omonia congregation as well as visitors were found together to be encouraged and uplifted in fellowship with our Father and each other.
This was the fifth year that – by His grace – I undertook the organizing of this meeting. It all started five years ago over the occasion of Yvonne McKee, a beloved sister from Jacksonville, Fl., who came over with twelve more sisters to visit Greece and the Omonia congregation.
The “Athens Acropole Hotel” conference room hosted us again for the fourth consecutive year. We are deeply thankful and appreciative to everyone who helped this meeting become a reality.
Special thanks go to the Hillsboro Church of Christ in Nashville, TN. who supported the event in every way. Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, kind words, support and love you invested in this meeting. Every sister received a tea cup with a tea bag in it as a visual of physical comfort. In that cup there was also a frame with our theme scripture, John 14:18 – made by Lee Burgess of Hermitage, TN. – even in the Greek language!
Thanks to Alex you can see the watermark picture of the cups and invitations in different languages that all women received during the meeting.
I give thanks to God for all of you, for your continuous encouragement and love that keeps me going with inspiration and energy.
By His love and powerful hand the room was full. There were over eighty-five women who came with open hearts to receive what the Father had ready for them. A good number of sisters from the Evrou Street congregation honored us with their presence – one more special blessing to me.
I am so grateful for the way in which God made Himself present on this event. All women who were invited responded lovingly and honored us with their presence. I had prayed for many of them by name to respond and their presence was God’s faithfulness to me that morning. There were ladies from Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, the United States and the Philippines. Our main speaker was once again Katerina Lenhert of Abilene, TX, who shared with us thoughts and events according to our theme: “The Power of God’s Love Through the Comforter”.
June Peeples of Double Oak, TX, gave a drama presentation – “Mary’s Reflections At The Cross”, joined by two Harding University students, Samantha and Caitlyn. June was also our houseguest – we enjoyed her stay very much. Six young students of the Harding University acted in silence two nameless women stories from the New Testament.
Debbie Poss of Dallas, TX. led our singing and praise with some very special presentations that touched everyone’s heart. On her trip from Texas, Debbie was accompanied by her mother Margaret, her aunt Dorothy and her sister Peggy. Their group arrived a few days before the meeting and they all worked very hard to help us put the final touches.
Debbie Roussos decorated the tables very tastefully with compositions of pomegranates and matching colors. Mary Giagia and I presented a theme, called “Nameless Women of the New Testament” referring to the way God fills our emotional gap when we seek Him. Groups from the Russian, Bulgarian and Greek assemblies sang hymns in their native language.
All these excellent visuals allowed us to draw closer to our Father and bond closer to each other. We enjoyed coffee and cake as we arrived at 11:00 am and a wonderful lunch at 2:00 pm. Our meeting came to an end at about 5:00 pm and then we all joined the worship services at the nearby Omonia congregation building.
Upon return to the Church that evening one of the Russian sisters confessed: “…Let us close our eyes and live again today’s event…” This is exactly what happens when we are in His presence and we can feel it – we want to live it again! In meetings such as this women get the opportunity to encourage and uplift each other and hold it as their sweetest memory of a blessed spiritual fellowship.
We look forward to our next year’s meeting. We are already praying and ask God to bless us with wisdom and directions as to the theme and all the other necessary details. It is never too easy to be responsible especially “in the eye of the cyclone”, since the Adversary fights such occasions.
I am asking you to cover me with your prayers and encouragement as I find the most unique and fulfilling joy in serving my Father through events such as this. I commit myself to His service once more. I want you to know that despite the distance that separates us, you are in my heart and mind all the time.
We invite you to join us next year in any way God will allow to you. We will also love to have you present in thoughts and prayer.
I pray that His presence may be visible in your lives and that you may always find joy and peace in His arms. Let us continue to serve Him, being assured that He finds pleasure in His committed children.
With a grateful heart
Eleni Melirrytos
Read a report from Debbie Poss, a sister who attended the Women’s Conference in Athens.
Read a letter to Hillsboro from Debbie Poss.