The international director of Women of Hope Ministries which operates in 75 different languages and 125 countries, Dr. Peggy Banks participated in a seminar in Istanbul on the problems that people are struggling with.
The seminar was held on March 16, Saturday at KUT (Kadikoy International) Church, within a joint organization of Miras Magazine and Women of Hope Ministries.
The seminar started with hymns and an opening speech of Zülal Arikan, the representative of the Women of Hope Ministries in Turkey. Then Dr. Banks started her speech with the following words: “While singing a worship song, we’ve heard in the words ‘Who am I that you love me?’ As I listened to this chant, I asked online, ‘How come am I here today?’ Thanks to God’s love and mercy, I am here today.”
She said “Competent love drives fear out” and listed the first ten reasons of fear as follows:
- Failure
- Death
- Rejection
- Mockery
- Loneliness
- Unhappiness
- Frustration
- Suffering
- Obscurity
- Losing freedom
After the information given by Dr. Banks, a brief prayer time was given, so that everyone would be able to see their fears and give it to God. After the prayer, a question – answer time was organized about the fear.
After the break, Dr. Banks spoke on rejection and shared a testimony:
“In our radio program, women share their own life stories. One day a 21-year-old girl shared her life story with us. Growing up in a poor family, she started working at 15 years old. She was partially paralyzed as a result of an accident at the factory where she had worked, and she could not be treated because she did not have insurance. What made her sad was the fact that she could not do what the people around she were doing, and the most difficult part was the feeling of being rejected.
The young woman then listened to the radio program of the Women of Hope and said to herself, ’I did not read the Bible. But I can trust God as described here.”
Dr. Banks once again talked about rejection and giving this feeling to the Lord. Finally, the seminar ended with chats and refreshments.
A Short Interview with Dr. Banks
- Could you tell us briefly about yourself?
Hi, I’m Dr. Peggy Banks and I am the International Director of Women of Hope TWDR. I’m a citizen of the United States. I am married and it is wonderful to be in Turkey!
- You are the international director of the Women of Hope Ministrites and your serve women in many different countries. What is it that leads you to this service?
I think it was God who led me to this service. God put in my heart the desire to help women to get hope and healing in Jesus Christ, and I listened to that call.
- You said you know what it means to grow as a conservative as you grew up in a conservative family, but you didn’t know what a real relationship with Christ was. What do you think is the main difference between the two?
My family was a devote family, but so that, we lived with certain routines. We were going to church, celebrate holidays, but we didn’t know Christ, because we were not reading the Bible. We didn’t know Jesus Christ as our personal savior. We didn’t have a close relationship with him. As I read the Bible, I began to see how different and important it is to recognize and live with Him. This is a bit different. (SAT-7 TÜRK / DAP)
