As I write my last message for our website, I want to thank you for your wonderful support and encouragement over the last seven years. God has grown me and used me, and you have been precious to me in the process. I have made the decision to step down from the director's position for C-NY, and I am confident that God has someone in mind to take our fine district on to the next phase of His plan. The executive committees that I have worked with have been such a blessing, and they will continue as you support them in prayer. Please plan on coming to our 40^th Annual Central New York Wesleyan Women Convention on May 31, 2008 at Grace Lee Wesleyan Church in Beaver Dams, NY. A registration form is available to be downloaded here, and each church has received a mailing of promotional and registration information. The deadline is May 20 so that we may have enough food prepared. More information is below from our Outreach Director, Bonnie Wood.

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All Wesleyan Women in the Central New York District are cordially invited to attend this year's Annual Convention to be held on May 31, 2008 at Grace Lee Wesleyan Church on Chambers Road in Beaver Dams, New York. Our theme this year is: "Kindle the Eternal Flame...passion for keeping Women's Ministry alive and strong!" We will be looking at the first forty years of Women's Ministry one decade at a time.

Decade I: 1968-1978 will be emphasizing our beginnings,

Decade II: 1979-1988 will focus on our vision,

Decade III: 1989-1998 will challenge us to look at changes, and

Decade IV: 1999-2008 will point us forward to blazing trails

We are inviting all of our leading ladies to attend and share thoughts from their time in office. Forty years of Wesleyan Women Ministries is a milestone, a red banner moment, a hallelujah jump up and down, praise the Lord day! When I think back to my childhood days, I can remember the faces of these women. I am honored to have known them and to be able to follow in their footsteps; following Jesus as they did. Women like Gladys Newberry, Elsie Turvey, Reba Wright, Winifred Straub, Barb Patrick, Joan Swanson, Debbie Hyde, and Diane Bailey. Where would we be if these ladies had not answered the call to love and follow our Lord Jesus? When Jesus walked this earth he had a band of women that followed him from place to place. Women held prayer meetings in their homes and offered love and support to all that came. Jesus asked them to take care of His children, to feed the hungry and clothe the poor; to welcome strangers and to pray for sinners. Our calling today is very similar to that of days gone by. The Wesleyan Church was a forerunner in fighting slavery, in fighting alcohol and tobacco use. As Christian women we are called to take care of the body as the temple of God. We are to reach out and share God's love, encourage the depressed, feed and clothe the poor and hungry, and to free anyone who is being forced to do evil against their will.

If you have a prayer request or ministry that needs prayer support, please send it to the C-NY District Wesleyan Women Executive Committee; so we can be in prayer with you. We are concerned for our district women and we want to be better equipped to lift you up in prayer.

Prayer brings us closer to God and closer to each other. Let's be known as women who pray. Save the date: May 31, 2008 and plan to meet us at the Annual convention this year to learn from our past and plan our future together in God's Amazing Grace!

Prayerfully submitted by Bonnie Wood 2008

2008 40th Annual Wesleyan Women Convention And Ladies Day Apart Registration Form

Thank you to:

• Carol Wagner, Elmira Zone Leader, for a wonderful breakfast event on March 1 - and to all ladies attending for their generous Chambers Camp Nursery donation!
• Sue Kithcart, Binghamton Zone Leader, for hosting the brunch and craft day on March 29. Good fellowship was a highlight of the day!
• Kathleen Spencer, Canisteo Zone Leader, for a great luncheon and the opportunity to be ministered to by her friends from the Brooklyn Tabernacle on April 5. Thank you, all ladies, for your generous offering to the Chambers Camp Nursery Project!
• Roberta Davis, Rochester Zone Leader, for a fabulous luncheon and wonderful day of fellowship and ministry on April 12!

• Claudia Hurne, Pulaski Zone Leader, for hosting both the Pulaski & Syracuse zones at Mallory Wesleyan on April 26. We enjoyed a wonderful day of teaching and fellowship! Thank you ladies, for your donation for World Hope's Human Trafficking ministry!