Church holds women’s conference on prayer

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GREENVILLE – “We need to pray,” Cindy Crawford said.

Crawford, of Pitsburg, is Media Arts Coordinator and Women’s Ministry Liaison for the Evangelical United Methodist (EUM) church. According to Crawford, prayer was the reason for having the “Cry Out” Women’s Conference, that took place January 20-21 at the EUM Church.

“Today is Inauguration Day and things are changing,” Crawford said. “The world is kind of in a mess and we need to be praying. Our families are a mess, schools are having trouble with our kids and heroin addiction is out of control. We feel like the answer to all of these external problems is Jesus. If we allow Jesus to work on our hearts, he can fix those issues, and that takes prayer.”

Crawford expected about 70 women from seven different denominations to attend the conference. She wanted to open it up to everyone, she said. The two-day conference was an attempt to spike a revival across the nation, of prayer. According to Crawford’s research, On Sept. 23, 1857, Manhattan businessman Jeremiah Lanphier hosted a prayer meeting at noon. While only six people showed up, within a short period of time upward of 10,000 people were meeting in various churches for daily prayer at noon. In a like manner, the hope is to instill prayer into people at the EUM conference and to have that prayer spread throughout their families, communities and out into the world, as it did back in 1857, according to Crawford.

EUM Women’s Ministry Member Mindy Trick said she felt like God had laid it on their hearts to have the prayer conference. Some members of the Women’s Ministry group attended a live conference in Indianapolis, in September. The speakers from that conference were videotaped for replay at the “Cry Out” conference, Trick explained. The Keynote Speaker for the event was Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. In addition to the speakers, other activities on the conference agenda included prayer, live worship, music and eating.

“It’s a huge time commitment for women – this is their weekend,” Trick said. “And yet I feel like it is so worth the sacrifice of time. When people leave here, one of our prayers is that this will multiply out from this one event, hearts will be open, women will be more drawn to building relationships with other women, so that we can draw women into a relationship with Christ.”

EUM Executive Assistant Janie Detling, of Pitsburg, has been a member of EUM for 16 years and on staff for 12.

“I’m here because prayer is vital to our relationship with God,” she said. “It’s vital to have that connection and he wants to meet with us and I’m here to just grow in that.”

According to Crawford, prayer is simple, but people often make it more difficult, she said.

“People seem to think we have to pray in a certain way,” Crawford said. “We don’t have to use a certain set of words or follow a format. We just want people to know they can just ‘Cry Out,’ and pour their hearts out to God.”

For more information, visit http://eumchurch.org.

A member of the EUM Church Women’s Ministry Team Mindy Trick addresses the crowd during the “Cry Out” Women’s Conference at EUM Church, in Greenville, Ohio, Jan 20.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2017/01/web1_EUMPRINT1-1.jpgA member of the EUM Church Women’s Ministry Team Mindy Trick addresses the crowd during the “Cry Out” Women’s Conference at EUM Church, in Greenville, Ohio, Jan 20. Carolyn Harmon | The Daily Advocate
EUM church holds women’s conference on prayer

By Carolyn Harmon

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The writer may be reached at 937-569-4354. Join the conversation and get updates on Facebook search Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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