God’s promise, “for where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20), was realized during the afternoon meetings of the Shepherdess International Coordinators (SI) during the NSD Ministerial & Shepherdess Advisory, March 12-15, 2012. Janet Page, General Conference SI Coordinator, and Lynn Ripley, NSD SI Coordinator, met with 12 SI coordinators from Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at the NSD office.
Our discussion and prayer time was focused around how to better serve pastors’ spouses and families. As a result of our time together, at the Ministerial & Shepherdess Advisory Business Session on Wednesday, March 15, we made the following preamble and recommendation which were unanimously voted on and affirmed.
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Preamble—Our NSD Ministerial & Shepherdess Association provides support for pastoral spouses and families through our network of Unions, missions and Conferences. Our pastors’ spouses represent the largest single group of volunteers that serve the church. The value of their contribution is beyond measure. Our goal is to support and recognize their commitment to our gospel work.
Recommendation—The Shepherdess International Coordinators would like to make a recommendation to our administrators that each Mission and Conference hold a combined pastors’ and pastors’ families event each year.
We anticipate God’s blessing as this recommendation is presented to each Union, Mission Field, and Conference leadership team. Our pastors and their families are a precious part of our witness to our NSD’s 1.7 billion inhabitants.