Hundreds of Nonmembers Engage in Adventist Women Program in Ecuador

The Women Ministries Department in the South Ecuador Mission (SEM) recently launched the Faithful Woman project, an initiative that in 2025 has included meetings and retreats under the theme “Loved by God.” The goal, regional leaders said, is strengthening the spiritual faithfulness of Adventist women and extending this call to those who are not yet part of the church or an active part of the missionary movement.

The project seeks to promote full commitment to God and service, the women’s missionary call, and spiritual and personal life development. It includes meetings and spiritual retreats held at regional and local levels, organizers reported. “At those events they not only renew their faith but can also invite friends and acquaintances who are not church members to experience the transforming message of Christian faithfulness,” they said.

One of the most moving aspects of this initiative, according to organizers, has been the active participation of 299 friends invited by members of the church who, moved by love and mission, shared their experience to other women living in their towns and neighborhoods. Those guests not only attended but in many cases felt impressed by the warmth, the depth of the message, and the way in which the church organizes this type of gatherings.

“We want faithfulness not to be an obligation, but a natural expression of the love that every woman feels for God,” said Celia Olivo, Women’s Ministries director of SEM. “We deeply believe that this issue must be dealt with from the heart, from a living experience with the Lord. He himself tells us, ‘Try Me.’ And He desires to see us walk faithfully with Him.”

Spiritual retreats have been the primary channel for this calling. More than just encounters, they have become spaces in which God sets aside something special for Himself, in which each participant is invited to reflect, pray, and make meaningful decisions, organizers said.

“Women have come out to be not only blessed but determined to start a new covenant of faithfulness with God,” the leaders of the project shared. “That covenant ranges from dedication of time and talents to a faithful stewardship of material resources, learning to be faithful in a little, so that, if the Lord allows it, they may also be faithful when receiving much.”

As part of the movement, organizers distributed more than 5,000 special envelopes as a symbol of each woman’s personal commitment to God. Most significantly, many more women joined, far exceeding that first figure, organizers reported.

The Faithful Woman project has also confirmed that women are the most representative missionary group of the church, leaders shared. “With passion, dedication, and spiritual sensitivity, they not only participate but also lead, invite, accompany, and mobilize other women on the journey of faith,” they said. “This movement has shown that when a woman commits to God through love, the impact does not stay with her, but extends to her family, her community, and her church. The call of the project is not simply to ‘fulfill a duty,’ but to love God deeply and, out of that love, to respond faithfully in all aspects of life.”

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.