SPIRITUALITY News:
“Framed by Faithfulness” is the theme for the seventh annual county-wide “Women2Women” mini-conference.
The mini-conference, which seeks to connect Los Alamos women with each other and with God, is 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the Los Alamos Church of Christ, 2323 Diamond Dr.
The morning of Christian fellowship, mutual encouragement, and spiritual strengthening is open to all women of the community. The event is free. Beverages and finger foods will be served.
The church began sponsoring the county-wide conference in 2013 and has followed up every year since. The plan is to study all nine “fruit of the Spirit” as listed in the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Galations, chapter 5, verses 22 and 23.
The 2019 event will focus on how God is faithful and helps His people to be faithful. Three local women will speak on aspects of human faithfulness as aided by God.
Dr. Tera Harmon will talk on “Connecting Faith to Faithfulness,” presenting accounts of Biblical women who were faithful to God.
Harmon teaches online classes in church history at Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Abilene, Texas. She grew up in Los Alamos and has had a longtime affiliation with the Los Alamos Church of Christ. After receiving bachelor and master’s degrees from ACU and her Ph.D. in early Christian history from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., she returned to live in Los Alamos. She is married and has three children.
The second featured speaker is award-winning novelist and nonfiction writer Shirley Raye Redmond. Her talk will focus on “Steadfast Sisters in the Underground Church in China.”
Redmond’s family have been involved in several mission trips to China, including assisting in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, which killed nearly 70,000 people and left nearly five million people homeless.
Hundreds of Redmond’s articles have appeared in a wide range of publications from Focus on the Family to Womanʾs Day. Her 30th book, Cameos in Courage: 50 Profiles of Gutsy Christian Women (Harvest House) will be released in January 2020. She is married and has two children and three grandchildren. She holds a Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Illinois and has served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA).
Dr. Zandree Stidham will speak on “Being Faithful through Life’s Challenges” Her recent seven-year battle with blood- and bone-marrow cancer, which culminated in a bone-marrow transplant, changed her life, awakening her to her childhood dream of being a writer and speaker. She will show how small adjustments in perceptions can change how people live.
Stidham is currently a training specialist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Previously, she was chair of the Department of Communication at UNM-LA. She holds degrees from Hardin-Simmons University and California State University. Her doctorate is in teaching and learning, from the University of California, Santa Barbara
Stidham is the wife of Tony Stidham, co-pastor at Grace Vineyard Christian Fellowship, and is a native of Los Alamos. The couple has four children.
A popular feature of the W2W conference in recent years has been a service project to benefit less fortunate persons. This year women will make reusable sanitary pads to donate to nearby shelters and to send overseas. If possible, attendees are asked to bring fabric-cutting scissors and a bar of “Zote” soap, which is available at Smith’s Marketplace in Los Alamos.
In addition to speakers, refreshments, and service project, the morning’s activities will include worship time, discussion groups, and prayer sessions.
For additional information, call Los Alamos Church of Christ Women’s Minister Tanya Stidham at 505.695.5890.
