Orlando, Fla.–On Wednesday morning, the women of the Church of God gathered together to celebrate Faith, Fire, and Freedom at the Valencia Ballroom of the OCCC.
The 77th International General Assembly of the Church of God is meeting this week in Orlando, Florida.
Leslie Ruiz opened the worship service, followed by a video greeting from General Overseer Timothy M. Hill. Dr. Hill highlighted the accomplishments of International Women’s Ministries, as well as announcing the upcoming Celebration of Faith, Fire, and Freedom in Israel in 2020. Paula Hill, president of International Women’s Ministries, welcomed to the stage Theresa Arwood who, along with her husband, Joel Arwood, will be leading the event to the Holy Land.
First Lady Hill read the opening scripture, Luke 1:36-37, and asked the audience: “What is it that is barren in your life that needs to be resurrected? God wants to resurrect those things in your life. With God nothing is impossible.”
The service continued with the members of the International Women’s Ministries Advisory Council, Peggy Culpepper, Joyce Stephens, Fernanda Ramírez, and Debbie Childers, joining Sister Hill on stage for the presentation of Women’s Ministries awards. The ‘Hope Released’ Project award was presented to Rosalba Pérez, director of Provisión de Amor, for her dedication to the safe house she founded to rescue young girls from the streets of Cota, Colombia.
There was also a presentation of the state/regional directors of Women’s Ministries who raised the most money per capita for the ‘Hope Released’ Project. New York and South Carolina were the top two winners. In total, the women of the Church of God raised $535,000 to support the Cota project.
Paula Hill announced the new project for the following International General Assembly period: City of Refuge: House of Cherith. Bruce Deel, director of City of Refuge in the city of Atlanta, Ga., presented his daughter Kelsey Deel, the director of The House of Cherith, a program to rescue women from sexual trafficking. Sister Hill announced that the women of the Church of God will focus on building a safe house for women with children who need to be rescued from human trafficking.
The service continued with the energetic participation of Angela Primm, Jonathan Sawyer, and the Faith, Fire, and Freedom Singers. Evangelist Joyce Rodgers brought the sermon titled, “This is Your Season of Breakthrough.” The whole service was a true celebration of freedom in Christ.
By Déborah Ortiz