From May 5–7, 2023, the 11th Women's Ministries Conference took place in Strážovice, South Moravia, Czechia. The guiding principle was the motto "Love yourself so that you can love others."
On Friday, with beautiful sunny weather, all participants were welcomed in the comfortable surroundings of the Selský dvůr Hotel. The organizing team prepared everything necessary to ensure a smooth process for registration as well as the whole congress.
Special guests were Renata Balcarová, prison chaplaincy president, and Pastor Soňa Sílová.
After the common dinner, Jakub Chládek, director of the Family Ministries department, welcomed the women to the conference, emphasizing the importance of women, their work, and especially their need for rest.
The vocal group, led by Lenka Kogutová, created a good atmosphere while all the participants sang well-known and lesser-known songs together. During the whole conference, they provided spiritual songs and praise to the Lord.
On the first evening of the conference, participants heard pleasant stories from the lives of the two main guests, who revealed fragments from their childhood, showing how the character and direction of a child are formed. Both agreed that in their respective childhoods, they had several strong role models who introduced them to the adult world.
On Sabbath, Pastor Sílová reminded participants of the biblical woman Tamar, who, like many other biblical women, had to fight against the adversities of her surroundings.
Balcarová opened the topic of domestic violence, which is behind many problems in families; and unfortunately, this problem also exists in the church. She referred to many experiences of domestic violence occurrences she had seen during her time as a prison chaplain.
The photographer, Dara Kužmič, discussed the problem of self-acceptance with the participants. By Sunday, the women were very reluctant to say goodbye, and the thoughts, texts, moments of sharing, and prayers will accompany and encourage them for a long time. Everybody thanked God for providing these opportunities to encourage and support women.
The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-European Division website.