A congress held for Seventh-day Adventist women in Africa emphasizing leadership, skills training and activism drew thousands of attendants earlier this month.

Congress speaker Heather-Dawn Small, Women's Ministries director for the Adventist Church, called women to stand up for each other and make an impact in their communities.

"When issues of poverty, injustice and abuse comes up, Adventist women must speak up," Small said during her speech. "We must be at the forefront and be the voice of the hopeless and abused."

The International Women's Ministries Congress, held August 2 to 8 on the campus of Babcock Adventist University in Nigeria, was aimed at women living in the west central Africa region. About 4,000 women attended, representing 25 countries.

"One of the things I really appreciated about this congress was that these women are taking all of the materials and going back to their villages and their communities," Small said. "They're going back to their villages ... and passing on the information."

The Congress was tailored to address spirituality as well as critical issues facing African women: abuse, poverty, health problems, overwork, lack of education and illiteracy, said Women's Ministries director for west-central Africa Priscille Metonou.

Congress-goers chose from workshops in managing small-scale businesses, investments, mental health, family health, leadership and literacy training.

"It is a holistic program; women will leave here empowered spiritually, socially, emotionally and mentally," Metonou said.