Thousands of women – and men – gathered for the United Methodist Women’s Assembly last week were called to glorify God as they reflected on the unique contribution of women in spreading the good news of the Gospel of Christ.

|TOP|A colourful pageantry of 15-foot puppets and Gospel music sung in languages from around the world kicked off the four-day assembly held from May 4th to 7th to raise concerns and take action on the plight of women, children and youth nationally and internationally.

Jan Love, chief executive of the Women’s Division, gave thanks to all the “mission mamas” gathered for the assembly in Anaheim, California.

"I learned that in Latin America, they call us 'mission mamas' because of our decades of work in mission with women, children and youth; our commitment to spreading the good news of the Gospel in word and deed," said Ms Love.

The nearly 7000 women at the assembly were challenged by Ms Love to renew and re-energise their commitment to spreading the Gospel and deepen their understanding of their own salvation stories and those of others within supportive communities.

Ms Love also urged the women to drive forward in the recruitment of new mission mamas and find many more women willing to commit to mission.

“Tell them that even though the world can be a really scary place, you belong to an organisation where members surround each other with prayer," she said.

|AD|"Tell them that you belong to an organisation that for more than 137 years has literally saved and served the lives of millions of women, children and youth, and brought salvation to those who have not yet received the loving grace of Jesus Christ."

She added that, “People create an Assembly experience for themselves to deepen their faith journeys,” before addressing key issues of concern to women including poverty, immigration and the war in Iraq.

Women at the assembly were also challenged by Noble Peace Prize nominee and Kenyan global economic expert Wahu Kaara to campaign to world leaders about the economic injustices taking place on a daily basis around the world.

"The greatest challenge in our pursuit of justice is to stand up and speak to power," said Ms. Kaara, ecumenical program coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals for the All Africa Conference of Churches. "Speaking to power is no mean task, but we should be persuaded. The prophets before us did at their time and that needs to be done now."

Ms. Kaara urged women to speak out on injustices.

"Subjugating others to economic and military might in the name of peace and injustices of marketing military hardware in the name of democracy are core in propagating and maintaining our inequality," she said.

One of the highlights of the assembly was the “Fashion Resistance to Militarism” fashion show held to raise awareness among women of the subtle examples of militarism present in today’s popular culture.

Organised by a partner of the United Methodist Women’s Division, the Women of Colour Resource Centre, the fashion show featured camouflage pajamas, T-shirts, cargo pants and toddler clothing designed along the three themes of ‘Militarism in Popular Culture’, ‘Gender, Race and Militarism, and ‘Visions of a Culture of Peace’.

One designer for the fashion show, Mary Joy Duenas, 25 and originally of the Philippines, assembled her outfits to depict the role of the US military in the Philippines and the role of soldiers in violent crimes including rape against Filipina women.

"I want people to understand how the military is affecting communities," Ms. Duenas said. "I think it is great that United Methodist Women have seen this event."