Susan Hutchins shared her work in Columbus and Palomas with a slide show. She works with the poorest of the poor in these sister communities. The simplest items are warmly welcomed-blankets, gloves, etc. Women are empowered to begin cottage industry making baskets and other items from donated supplies.
Part of the ministry is the Shoebox ministry at Christmas
gives the Palomas children (1000 last year) a chance to have something special.
Recently she asked diocesan churches for blankets because families in Palomas did not have any. Her living room was filled with donations from across the diocese which she delivered to many families. One touching story was of the way a family handed the blanket down the line to the youngest child because he was the one who did not have anything to sleep under.
The Rev. Susan Collis, of St. Francis on the Hill, shared a series of hands-on ways to
pray in untraditional ways. 1. Write a card to someone you’ve been meaning to contact.
2. Braid together 3 ribbons: you, God, issue while praying about the issue.
3. Use play dough to form an image of your issue and manipulate it to see what happens. Or just play with the dough and see what emerges.
4. Use bubbles as a medium to send your prayers heavenward.
5. Create a prayer plaque or scriptural reminder to place on your desk or in your prayer area.
6. (This last one is a little hard to describe) Take a rock. Hold and pray into it an issue while walking, kneeling, or standing. Offer it to God. We placed ours in a water basin on the altar.
Participants found these prayers very inspirational and shared some of their insights and experiences.
Finally, Cindy Davis shared some ideas for using journaling as a conversation with God and offered ideas for places where inspiration for jounaling can be found, including pictures, quotes, the Bible, music, nature, etc.
To close the day we had a time of brainstorming the future of women of the DRG. This conversation continued in Roswell with the ladies there. Check back for some of those thoughts.