Ladies Ministry- UPCI

From the President
January 2004

CONGRATULATIONS ON 30 YEARS OF SERVICE!

Gwyn Oakes has served Ladies Ministries for thirty years. In the Arkansas District, she served as Ladies Auxiliary secretary for one year and Ladies Auxiliary president for nineteen. She was then elected to national Ladies Auxiliary (now Ladies Ministries) president, an office she has filled for ten years. At the recent General Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sister Oakes was re-elected to a sixth two-year term.

Under Sister Oakes’ leadership, Ladies Ministries has developed several new ministries. Women of Worth (WOW) ministers in particular to the widows of our deceased ministers—to help them realize that they are still a vital part of the kingdom of God, to help them through their grieving period, and to assure them that they are “Women of Worth” to the general body of the United Pentecostal Church.

Daughters of Zion (DOZ) is a focused prayer ministry committed to the spiritual preservation of this generation and beyond, and the spiritual restoration of previous generations. Committed women join together on the first Monday of each month and pray focused prayer for their children and the children of the local church and community.

The More to Life Bible study series, written by women for women and designed with the needs of women in mind, was developed under the direction of Sister Oakes and the Women of the Word Commission. Reflections magazine was enlarged from sixteen to twenty-four pages, and subscriptions continue to increase.

Gwyn Oakes is a member of the United Pentecostal Church of Bald Knob, Arkansas, a church that her husband, L. G. Oakes, pioneered. Her ministry as a teacher, writer, and Ladies Ministries leader has included extensive travel to North American churches and those in foreign countries. She serves as chair for the Women of the Word Commission, and is a member of the Family Relationship Commission as well as the Superintendent’s Commission on Global Evangelism. She also serves on the World Network of Prayer committee, and is a board member of the Lighthouse Ranch for Boys. She has four children and three grandchildren.