On Saturday 12th February The Peoples Church, Newtownabbey hosted a 'Heart2Heart' conference for 'Release: Women', the women's ministry of Release International. The theme of "Love, St Valentine" was used to highlight the plight of Christian women suffering hardship and persecution, often due to the imprisonment or martyrdom of their husbands and loved ones. The conference aimed to raise awareness of the problems these women face and to provide an opportunity for women to prayerfully and financially support our suffering sisters in Christ.

The two hundred ladies who attended the conference enjoyed a special day of fellowship as they worshipped, prayed, studied the Bible and enjoyed a meal together. In the morning, Emma from Release International gave moving accounts of women who daily bear the cost of suffering for their faith in Christ in countries such as Pakistan, Eritrea and Egypt. The ladies, deeply touched and inspired by these real situations, responded through prayer and by writing cards to encourage our persecuted sisters, reassuring them that they are not forgotten.

In the afternoon session the ladies watched a video presentation of "Sarah's trail of blood" which tells the story of a young Chinese woman's imprisonment and abuse because of her love for Jesus. For many the highlight of the event was when Sarah addressed the conference in person.

Many of the ladies who attended the conference agreed that they had been challenged by all that they had seen and heard. A spokeswoman for Release: Women said "I thank God for an amazing day. What a challenge to hear first hand what our sisters in Christ suffer for their faith and what an encouragement to see two hundred women respond in prayer. The love and hospitality shown to us by the ladies at the Peoples Church Newtownabbey was outstanding and I thank every one of them. We prayed that God would be glorified and I believe that He was."

Release women would like to thank The Peoples Church and the PCN support team who helped in contributing to the success of the day.

For more information on Release International please visit their website http://www.releaseinternational.org