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The picturesque resort town of Tryavna (Bulgaria) hosted the women’s annual forum from October 10 to 12. Labeled “Her Story,” it presented the stories of four ladies and their battles with life’s unexpected challenges – and their grip of God’s hand.
During such forums, we usually had a foreign guest speaker. This time, the organizers opted for another format. Four ladies – with four heart-rending stories. Lots of tears. Lots of laughter. Lots of praising the Lord for His intervention. And the realization that we have no excuses when God calls us. We often talk about what we believe. Now we wanted to show how we live this faith. Many Adventist ladies brought along their non-Adventist mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. The main purpose of this format is to convince them that the shortest way to approach God is through prayer.
We kicked off with the youngest speaker – Gabrielle and her story: “I put words into your mouth.” At just 22, she was called to preach an evangelistic campaign! And she related her deal with God to sort out all the problems that came her way.
Then we listened to Ralitza and her contemporary version of the Bible story “Who touched My robe?” It wasn’t 12 years, just 1 – but that was hard enough. She shared her utter conviction that nothing can stop us from receiving our prize from God, even testing Him with definite terms. Ralitza says: “I fully trusted Him in that moment when there was just me and Him.”
Vyara is convinced that “Everything works for good” and as a mother, she was ready to do just everything for her child. She recounted her story about an addicted son in a foreign country – and her battle to save him from himself. Vyara is certain that even in the valley of the shadow, with God, there is always a way out. And that’s because our children are not just ours, they are God’s children as well. As strange as it may seem, her trust in God arose from her trying out tithing!
Bilyana went to “God’s hairdressing salon”. She was not new to hearing the diagnosis “cancer” in her life: Her eldest son, her mother, had experienced it, and then she herself. She wasn’t as shocked as she had expected. But losing her hair was quite a blow.  For her, it was a struggle to surrender all. It wasn’t an easy or an overnight decision, she had to traverse a long and difficult road. Bilyana wanted to stress the importance of prevention and appealed for understanding of cancer patients. And most importantly, she showed that there is hope for a life after this horrible diagnosis.
Four interesting workshops added to the valued of the Forum: “The Home of Emotions” (What we don’t know about the link between the body and the mind); “Spirituality styles – strengthening and enthusing our spiritual passion”; “The Silence that Cries (family wounds and Bible lessons) as well as a very practical workshop on making our beauty loom!
During the forum, a new web platform was also presented, implemented by the Women's Ministries in Bulgaria, Radio 3:16 (AWR), and Hope Channel. The website www.her-story.eu contains two sets of stories: the living stories of real people and the eternal stories inspired by Scripture. First-person stories about infertility and motherhood, about losing a partner and the courage to continue, about experiencing violence and a second chance, and dozens of other stories that bring pain, strength, and hope – each in its own way. However, the platform consists not only of stories, but also of contacts of different specialists – psychologists, therapists, consultants, artists, and other professionals ready to assist and support in various ways. All women who want to share their path, as well as specialists who wish to join the support network, were encouraged to contact the ladies of the Women's Ministries in Bulgaria.
All the ladies got as a special gift “Women in the Bible and me” set – stories of biblical women for both personal and group study.
Ivan Nikolov, one of the attending pastors and workshop speakers, summed up his impression in this way: “More and more men should attend Women’s Forums in order to better understand women.”
And Hristo Stanev, Bulgarian Union secretary, shared the same line of thought: “I think all the pastors should be required to attend! Today, you can be women of influence because each and every one of you has her story.”
In the end, the summary of the forum boils down to several points: God has a purpose and a plan. So trust Him completely. Inspire faith in others. Surrender everything to the Lord so He can give you back even more!
Meeting old friends. Making new ones. And experiencing God’s blessing in ways unthinkable.
According to a report by Ivalina Ilieva