The married couple’s seminar, which was held yesterday from 9am to 5pm, at the Sheraton Silver Spring, MD ended gracefully and beautifully with the covenant renewal ceremony!
Who did it! Holy Spirit, who else! He pulled it off nicely!
May His name be praised forever!
Last Wednesday, I got up early in the morning, around 4am. I was very stressed about the whole thing. I tiptoed from my bedroom and went downstairs to be alone with God. I knelt down but didn’t know what to say. My heart was very heavy; I felt so helpless and incompetent. So, I got so emotional and began crying. I felt like Holy Spirit was asking me, “What do you want?”
So I quickly replied:
“What do I want? Oh, Holy Spirit, I only desire one thing, and that one thing is You. So, have mercy on me and the people who are going to be there at the seminar. This is all I’m praying. We all are broken vessels. We all stumbled in many ways; we all broke Your heart especially in the sexual area of our lives. Now our hope is found only in You. So, I invite You to come to the seminar and heal us. You alone I desire to see. You alone I need to have. This is the only prayer I have.”
And I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed before Him.
Oh, my friends, there is a God in heaven who not only hears but answers our prayers!
Holy Spirit gave me the desire of my heart. I felt His presence from the start and end of yesterday’s seminar! Praise God!
Oh, I love You, Holy Spirit! Thank you, God, for everything!
Unlike past events that I get invited to, this was one, the first one, that Appeal For Purity has organized itself. So, even if I wasn’t invited to this seminar, I want to thank many people who have made many sacrifices to stand with me. Yes, God always encourages me by surrounding my life with wonderful people. May His name be praised forever!
I want to first thank my Baby, my Honey Bunny, my Love, my husband. From day one to the end, he prayed for me and supported, encouraged and challenged me in every way. On the day of the seminar, he opened in prayer; he laid his hand on me and gave me over to Holy Spirit; and at the end, he closed the seminar in prayer, asking everybody to stretch their hands towards me to bless me. Yes, I sometimes want to quit but God gave me my Berhan who doesn’t let me quit no matter what. Thank you, my Love! May God bless you!
I also would like to thank, my lovely sister, Banchi, and her better half, Ezekiel, who always stand with me, cheer me up when I am sad and rejoice with me for all my successes. Thank you my sister and my brother. You guys are amazing! I can’t imagine my life without you guys being in it! May God bless you!
I also would like to thank the International Ethiopian Evangelical Church (IEEC) ministers and pastors for encouraging and supporting me in every way I sought your help. Thank you for believing in me! May God bless you all!
The following couples from IEEC stood with me in prayer as well as in helping me in the details of the seminar.
Alem and Getachew; Mehert and Worku and Hayemanote and Nebyu. These amazing couples, I call them, “the Appeal for Purity Team” are just incredible people. Thank you guys for your support and love! May God bless you, your marriage and your beautiful nations (children).
I also would like to thank my lovely video crew; Teddy and his better half, Hewan Woldemariam. You may think that this couple is the one who work for me. No, they are not. They are the third couple who’ve registered online to come to the seminar. A day before the seminar, I called Teddy and asked him if he had extra Canon Camera batteries. He said, “I have and I will bring them all with me tomorrow.” And guess what he did? He came with a giant roller bag, full of lightings, tripods and his top-notch cameras. Then he took it on himself. With the help of his beautiful wife, he stood behind his camera, recording the whole seminar! Amazing! Thank you Teddy and Hewan! May God bless you!
I also would like to thank one amazing person, Riva Neam, the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel Director of Catering and Events. Riva is the person we worked with to pull this seminar off. She was willing to work with us. We openly told her that this was our very first seminar and she asked us what the program was all about. And my husband turned to me and said, “Go ahead and tell her what you are going to teach.”
So, I briefly told her and guess what she said? She said, “You know what? Let’s call this seminar, “Celebrating Love.”” Lovely!
She is a wonderful person to work with. If you have any event you’re thinking of holding in a hotel, make sure you first contact Riva (301-563-3729) and see what she can do for you. Believe me, once you speak to her, you won’t go to any other hotel. She is willing to work with all your crazy and weird situations and variables and address each one of them.
Last but not least, I would like to thank everybody who came to the seminar; people from the local areas Ethiopian and Eritrean evangelical churches as well as Orthodox churches. We had the hotel setup for more than 150 people and almost all seats were occupied. Thank you all for dressing up to the occasion! Oh you beautiful wives, you all looked stunningly beautiful and you made the event that more charming. Thank you for not coming to the seminar with your pair of jeans. Husbands, your romantic treatment of your wives made the event exceptionally unique! Kudos to all of you! May God bless each and every one of you!
I also would like to thank those of you who have registered online. Yes, online registration makes life easy for everyone; so thank you for making our work a lot easier by registering online. Bless you! I also would like to thank many people who haven’t been able to attend the seminar for various reasons but have sponsored couples; some people sponsored up to three couples. Thank you and may God bless you!
O, what a faithful God we serve! Please thank Him for me.
What a joy it is to follow Jesus! What a joy! ///
P. S. Pictures and video clips of the seminar will come up soon!