Hispanic Women's Retreat Themed "Nothing to Fear"

“Nada que Temer!” – “Nothing to Fear!”— was the theme for this year’s Kansas-Nebraska Conference Hispanic Women’s Retreat held in Junction City, Kansas, April 29-May 1.

Leticia de los Santos shared a variety of hope-filled messages with our ladies:

• “When we put ourselves in God’s hands, His plans for us are fulfilled.”

• “All of us go through many difficulties, but God is always there to help us.”

• “When we recognize our fears, and ask God to help us, He is willing to help.”

• “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

• “Life is full of difficulties that we can’t avoid, but God is the only one who can help us in times of fears.”

Of the 218 ladies in attendance, 33 were teen girls. The teens enjoyed their own special sessions with their speaker, Jennifer Silva. Jenny shared some alarming statistics regarding Hispanic teen girls which showed that they have the highest rates for low self-esteem, teen pregnancy, intimate partner violence, mental health issues and suicidal ideation.

Jenny shared the story of Esther, and how she was brought to the palace for “such a time as this” when her people were facing great oppression. Jenny challenged the girls to look at these statistics with the same faith Esther had and to believe that perhaps they were called for such a time as this, in order to be used by God to bring the needed changes to their own families and people.

To conclude the weekend, Jenny encouraged the girls to seek Christ daily, and to not remain silent, just as Esther was called to speak out. She encouraged them not to go it alone but, to find a trusted mentor to talk over the things they were experiencing. She also encouraged the girls to find strength within each other by becoming involved in their youth groups and becoming leaders within their own local churches and communities.

Jennifer Silva encourages the teens during the retreat.

Courtesy Kansas-Nebraska Conference

Sue Carlson is Women’s, Children’s and Family Ministries director; Miriam Dovald is administrative assistant for those departments.