The ABW Ministries of Wyoming held its annual conference at First Baptist Church of Lander on June 8 - 9. Gathering for a second year under the national theme, "Born Again to be Wild About Jesus," this year's conferees engaged in a passionate focus on mission. Conference coordinators Linda Roller and Bonnie Willhelm, who served in this capacity for a two-year term, welcomed a total of 45 American Baptist women from across the state to the event in Lander.
Kris Gutierrez, International Ministries missionary to Nicaragua, was the main speaker. Kris is currently on home assignment and resides in Columbus, OH. She spoke about her work in Nicaragua, where she teaches at the Baptist Theological Seminary. As an educator, she also spearheads projects for the Baptst Convention of Nicarague, the Evangelical Council of Churches, and the Baptist University in Managua. Her ministry is, in her words, "to work myself out of a job, as a good American Baptist missionary does." She trains chaplains, empowers women, and equips local leaders for evangelism and discipleship. She is a teacher at heart, and her classroom skills were evident as she led the women through an interactive Bible study on Peter's use of the term "born again." In her other presentations, she shared her passion to help the Nicaraguan people progress in their Christian walk and become skilled leaders in the church of Jesus Christ.
President Barbara Vinzant (above left) presided during the weekend. Musicians included Deanna Dyer (above right)
as leader, and Dani Galitz and Ingrid Dvirnak as soloists.
Four workshops were offered to attendees:
In addition, Ronna White taught two craft projects to those who wished to participate, and Jeanette Dickinson guided conferees on a tour of Sinks Canyon, a local point of interest on the Popo Agie River.
Margaret Prine installed the officers who will serve the AB women of Wyoming for the coming year. They are as 
follows (and pictured at right):
The state project for the ABW Ministries of Wyoming during the past year has been to raise money to purchase new tables and chairs for the dining hall at Camp Wyoba. In addition, they bought a large coffee pot for the camp kitchen, and made additional funds available to the Wyoba kitchen staff to buy miscellaneous needed items. During the business session, the group voted to make Murrow Children's Home in Muskogee, OK the state project for 2007-2008. They further voted to allocate accumulated funds from the treasury as follows:
When it was reported that there were no applicants for the Mabel Bolle scholarship this year, Kris Gutierrez offered the name of a Nicaraguan woman as a possible recipient. Before Kris returned to the United States for her current home assignment, a seminarian told her that she needed a scholarship to help her in her pursuit of a seminary degree. Kris reported that the amount of $500—the designated amount of the annual Mabel Bolle scholarship—would meet the seminarian's need for an entire year and possibly longer. The AB women of Wyoming enthusiastically agreed to award this year's scholarship to an overseas female seminary student, and Kris will eagerly follow-up to make the application form available to the student in Nicaragua. God brings people together for a reason, and this serendipitous experience during the 2007 business session is just one more example of the wonderful way God works among us to help us discover our passion and realize our mission.
