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Women’s Rally in the Valley planned April 23
By LINDA M. LINONIS
COlumbiana
The mission of Women of His Vision aims “to see women’s lives transformed through Christ.”
The nonprofit organization formed with the goal of sponsoring an annual Women’s Rally in the Valley. The event planned April 23 at Victory Christian Center, 3899 McCartney Road, Coitsville, will be the fourth annual.
Recently, Mary Ann Dickson, president; Judy Nelson, vice president; Kay Johnson, secretary; Darcy Casey, treasurer; and Judy Schenker, board member, discussed the upcoming rally before a board meeting St. Jude Church. Others involved are Debbie Derflinger, treasurer, and Danetta Claybrook, board member.
Dickson said this year’s theme of “The Heart of Mercy” is based on 2Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.”
The women said they discuss passages of Scripture that may be possibilities. “After prayer and discernment, we picked this passage,” Nelson said.
“Everyone needs mercy and should give it, too,” Dickson added. She noted it was only after the group picked the mercy theme that she realized Pope Francis had designated this as the Year of Mercy. “It must have been divine intervention,” Dickson said.
The women’s rally came into being after Dickson talked with Bing Newton, organizer and founder of the Men’s Rally in the Valley. She said he talked about how men were transformed and she wanted women to have that experience. Women of His Vision was formed with the purpose of “planning, praying and visioning” a women’s rally.
Nelson said the rally presents “dynamic speakers who have a message.” “I have a heart for bringing the love of Christ into women’s lives. It’s about their destinies and what God has in store for each of them,” Nelson said.
The rally, Nelson continued, provides a day for women “to take time for themselves.”
“We want them to hear the messages and be energized,” Dickson said. “Whatever God asks of them, He will equip them.”
The women noted the event is interdenominational; the message transcends different denominations with women finding a commonality.
Nelson said, “I think it is God’s heart that we would all be one and come together.”
Schenker said this is the second year she’s been involved. “I want to see women better themselves ... this event is uplifting.”
Johnson, who has participated since the beginning, said she “helps out where I can” in different areas. An important contribution is the message bracelets she makes and donates as prizes. The message is about God’s love and conveyed through beads.
She said she never did anything with jewelry previously, but this idea just clicked in her mind. “I think this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” Johnson said.
For Casey, she said she “felt God was telling me to be involved.”
“I think the rally gives women a sense of community. There is so much support there ... you share a meal and pray with and for one another,” she said.
The women noted that the rally also features a variety of vendors and door prizes. There also will be “prayer intecessors,” a team available to pray with women who seek it. There also will be interpreters for the hearing impaired.
Rally T-shirts will be sold for $10 and pink canvas tote bags with Women of His Vision logo for $8.
Sponsors also are being sought. Dickson credited volunteers with making the rally possible.