By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) – Andrea Lennon, a Little Rock, Arkansas-based writer and speaker, will challenge ladies attending the upcoming Louisiana Baptist women’s missions and ministry celebration to embrace their God-given purpose.
Scheduled for March 20 at First Baptist Church in Pineville, “Embrace” is an event for women of all cultures and generations to realize their God-given value and purpose.
“Embrace, like most everything else, has been reinvented several times since last year’s canceled event,” Louisiana Baptists women’s missions and ministry strategist Janie Wise told the Baptist Message. “But I am convinced that we must have presence and that presence must not only center on Bible study, worship, inspiration and a gathering, it must be a time for the individual woman to have opportunity for spiritual growth and personal development.”
This year, because of COVID-19 protocols, Embrace will be a hybrid experience that will allow participants to attend in-person or via livestream.
Following the March 20 event, the experience will continue with pre-recorded breakout conferences available online March 22 through April 30 for all registered guests.
Breakout sessions will include such topics as spiritual growth, personal development, setting and maintaining spiritual goals, mental health and wellness, contentment and thriving in ministry during difficult times.
The event kicks off at 8:15 a.m. with registration, though a Baptist Nursing Fellowship breakfast for nurses and other health care professionals will take place at 7:15 a.m.
Embrace will include general sessions featuring prayer, music, testimonies, Bible study, uplifting messages, a panel featuring missionaries and the state Woman’s Missionary Union business session.
Alayasia White, the worship leader from Grace Community Church in Baton Rouge, will lead times of praise. Her husband, Titus, is the GCC pastor.
For those unable to attend the event in-person, the conference will be livestreamed. Visit https://louisianabaptists.org/event/2021-embrace/ to participate online.
“Embrace” is sponsored by Louisiana Baptists’ Women’s Missions and Ministry and partially funded by the Cooperative Program.
The registration deadline is March 11 and includes lunch. The cost to attend in-person is $30, live-stream for $20 and an additional $10 for the breakfast.
For more information, e-mail wmm@louisianabaptists.org or call 318.448.3402.
