"The purpose of Muscat Women's Fellowship is to provide ladies with Christian fellowship and an opportunity to become all God wants them to be. We want to create an environment for women to develop relationships with others and to participate in education programs that will inspire them to grow spiritually. We also want to use our meetings as a vehicle to serve and enrich our community."
I have been involved in MWF since I first arrived in Oman. It has been such a pleasure to meet and get to know all these wonderful ladies. Now this is a picture-taking group! There is no shortage of photos from our meetings. Here are a few from some of our events throughout the time I have been in Oman.
We meet one Wednesday a month, from September to May, in the Bosch Hall of the Ghala church. The church is located across the street from The American International School of Muscat.
March 2013: Christianity Around the World
Everyone comes dressed in their native attire. I think all the Americans present were from Texas, so there were a lot of cowboy boots! We learned about Christianity in other countries. Ladies also brought food from their country. Texas was represented with Blue Bell ice cream, believe it or not.
April 2013: Guest speaker- Lana Packer
We were very privileged to have Lana Packer, second from the left, to come speak to our group. Lana is from Stuttgart, Germany, and is a well-known author and speaker.
My friend, Theresa, in the middle, just happened to be visiting from Texas. She got to come, since I was doing the centerpieces.
Ribbon and flower containers came with me from the US. I anticipated my involvement in centerpieces at some point in time. :)
October 2013: Women's Conference
We had a wonderful conference, headed up by our colorful Florina and Michelle. These ladies did such a great job in planning and organizing this day-long conference!
Julie, Jennifer, and I help with set-up the night before.
Our speaker, Sharon James, came to us from England.
We had over 100 women in attendance. The event was held at the Al Falaj hotel in Ruwi.
Fun ice-breaker game before our speaker began.
December 2013: Christmas Luncheon
The Christmas lunch is one of the most popular events for MWF. We sell 50 tickets, and they go quickly! The event is usually held at this beautiful location, the home of the Bosches.
Dr. and Mrs. Bosch came to Oman in the 1950's, as medical missionaries. They helped establish hospitals and schools in Oman. In the 1980's, they were going to retire and head back home to America. But Sultan Qaboos wanted to honor their long years of service to the country of Oman, so he made the Omani citizens (a rare occurrence) and built them this beautiful home.
We used Indian sari fabric to cover the white tablecloths.
Dress code was white and gold. Mrs. Bosch, however, stands out in red!
MWF holds a Christmas Bazaar in December. Funds are raised for Christmas Joy, an event put on for hundreds of manual laborers in Oman.
Antonette and I are manning the MWF craft table.
There are all sorts of great things for sale. These ladies are selling kurtas, or tunics, from India. I bought two, but wish I had bought more!
There was face painting and other activities for the kids.
I liked the art work this young Omani man was selling, but I also wanted to show his hair. There are some quite elaborate sculpted hair styles among the young Omani men.
I couldn't resist adding this hairstyle either!
February 2014: Valentine Service Project
We collected toiletry items and are bagging them up. They went to some of the safe houses in the city, where women, usually household workers, come to if mistreated or in trouble.
I didn't realize how many of our meetings had dress codes!! :)
May 2014: Aloha Farewell
Last week was my last MWF meeting. Every May, there is a farewell meeting, as most people tend to move during the summer. We were gifted lamps, with a Bible verse attached. Here I am, in my most 'Hawaiian' shirt, with my buddy, Debi.
Debi was in charge of decorations. I had mentioned in the Baby Shower blog post that Debi had been in the US and had brought back a suitcase full of goodies. The leis and other Hawaiian decorations were also in her suitcase. Amazing she was able to keep it within the strict weight limits!
The six of us are scattering across the world! Two to Nigeria, one to Texas, one to California, one to Sri Lanka, and me, to Malaysia. We were supposed to be making sad faces, but didn't succeed. By the way, out of the six, Debi and I will have the shortest stays, at 20 months. Kemi has been here the longest, at almost nine years.
I have been so blessed to be part of this fellowship! If you are in Muscat and interested in joining the group in September 2014, e-mail mwfellowship@gmail.com for more details.
Aloha!
By the way, this is my view as I finish this blog post. Just waiting for the sun to come out in the beautiful Maldives!
I would love to attend this fellowship i pray next friday i could come to. :)
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