The Coffee Region of Colombia Hosted the Sixth Latin American Women Congress “Amada”

After three years, the Latin American Women Congress “Amada” took place in person again. The conference welcomed 510 Alliance women from all over Latin America with the theme “Woman: Deep Design.”

With the intention of deepening and valuing the role of women in fulfilling God’s purposes, the conference theme invited the participants to reflect on the impact of women in the different areas of their lives: family, church and society.

Sister Yurleidy Méndez of the C&MA of Colombia opened the event held September 26-28, 2022, in the city of Armenia, Colombia, by quoting the key Bible verse of the theme “Woman: Deep Design” in Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” She reminded that all of God’s creations are perfect, including every woman. Yurleidy invited the participants to look at themselves in the mirror in the same way God sees them – as a unique creation.

As a sign of Latin American unity, one woman from each of the 14 countries present at the congress waved her flag, wearing a typical costume of her nation. Sister Luz Marina Álava, a member of the women’s team of the Latin American Alliance Fellowship (CLA), paraphrased Psalm 66:4, referring to the upcoming activities, “All Latin America bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.” To continue the welcoming, a group of Colombian Alliance women performed a typical dance of the region, wearing white skirts, tricolor belts and red blouses.

In his opening sermon of the conference, Pastor David Muthre, the president of CLA, invited the audience to reflect on the question, “What were women designed for?” Through some Bible passages, he highlighted that women were designed: 1) To reflect the image and likeness of God (Genesis: 1:26-28); 2) To reflect the omnipotence of God (Psalm: 139:13-16); 3) To reflect the glory of God (Isaiah: 43:1-7); and 4) To reflect the service of God (Genesis: 2:15-25).

In the services and workshops during the days of the conference, women considered current challenging issues, such as “Designed to leave footprints,” “Femininity versus feminism,” “Preparing our children about sexuality,” “Women and broken relationships,” “Woman: discover your value,” “The family under attack” and “Women who transcend.”

Among the activities, the attendees met other women, exchanged souvenirs of their countries and prayed for each other’s requests. The women also shared cross-cultural experiences, in which they had the opportunity to learn a little more about the countries represented at the conference. Each country set up a table showing flags, costumes, souvenirs, sweets and typical songs.

Sister Olga Sofía Castañeda, the director of Colombia Alliance Women, spoke on the theme “Designed to spread the gospel.” Olga explained that women were designed under a perfect plan and for eternal purposes. They were deceived, however, so that their purpose was not fulfilled, but Jesus brought them back to their original purpose. “Why does Jesus call us back? To spread the gospel,” she assured. Olga ended her message with an invitation to the participants to leave the congress challenged to introduce the Creator to other women who do not know him.

We praise God for this blessed time of worship, fellowship, sharing of God’s Word, and praying for each other.

If you want to watch the evening services, you can do so by accessing the C&MA Colombia YouTube channel or the CLA Facebook page.