enditnow® Emphasis Day is August 23, 2025. Please see download links below for the 2025 English packet.
Fourth Sabbath of August
enditnow® Emphasis Day
enditnow® is a worldwide church initiative
enditnow® Emphasis Day is on the world church's Calendar of Days and Events and falls on the fourth Sabbath of August. General Conference Women's Ministries (GCWM) coordinates the production and distribution of the enditnow® Emphasis Day resource packets with contributions from six additional co-sponsoring departments of the General Conference: Children's Ministries, Education, Family Ministries, Health Ministries, Ministerial Association, and Youth Ministries.
August 23, 2025
“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”
The Bible teaches us to care for and show respect to aging people. In some cultures, it is a must, but, unfortunately, in others, it is a forgotten value. The elderly are often ignored, mocked, pushed to life’s margins, or left to themselves by their children and friends. This is not how God planned it to be. Let us refresh our knowledge on this issue and advocate for respect, care, and the involvement of elderly people in our lives.
The documents for this year include a children's story, sermon, and seminar scripts in MS Word | Sermon PPT | Seminar PPT. We encourage you to use these resources in your church's enditnow® Emphasis Day program.
ZIP FILES
ENGLISH | SPANISH | PORTUGUESE | ROMANIAN | ITALIAN | HUNGARIAN
Packet authors
Heather-Dawn Small passed away January 2, 2024. At the time, she held the position of director for Women’s Ministries at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Heather-Dawn is the wife of Pastor Joseph Small and the mother of a daughter Dalonne and a son Jerard. Prior to coming to the General Conference in 2001, Heather-Dawn held the position of Children’s and Women’s Ministries director for five years for the Caribbean Union Conference, located in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Heather-Dawn earned a master’s degree in Leadership with emphasis in pastoral care to women. She was a candidate for a doctoral degree in Inter-Cultural Studies. Heather-Dawn loved air travel, reading, embroidery, scrapbooking, and stamp collecting and she enjoyed ministry to women. As she traveled the world she had three passions—to see more women involved in evangelism, to encourage women to be involved in ministry to others—especially young women, and to share the joy that God had given her in spite of life’s many challenges. Her favorite word was joy and her favorite saying was “Don’t let anyone steal your joy.”
Raquel Arrais is the Women’s Ministries director as well as the Children’s and Family Ministries director for the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. She formerly was the Women’s Ministries Associate director at the General Conference for about 17 years. She has two sons, Tiago and Andre, who are both pastors, and daughters-in-law, Paula and Nathalia and four grandchildren. Raquel grew up in a pastoral family and is a third-generation Seventh-day Adventist. Raquel is a teacher at heart and is currently writing her thesis in Islamic Studies for the Middle East University in Lebanon. She loves reading, walking, playing the piano, and collecting pictures of women’s faces. She enjoys spending time with women, ministering to them, and learning from them. She desires to see more women accept God’s call and become involved in the mission of the church. Her favorite word is courage, and her favorite Bible text is Joshua 1:9.
Deena Bartel-Wagner is the owner of Verbal Oxygen Creative Services. She has worked as a freelance writer, editor, and journalist for 35 years, authoring hundreds of articles that have appeared in Adventist and other Christian publications as well as in secular publications. Deena, currently, is the publications editor for the General Conference Department of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries and oversees the production of two quarterly journals, The Adventist Chaplain and For God and Country. Deena simultaneously earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and an Associate of Science Degree in Radio Broadcasting from Barton County Community College. She has lived and worked in Thailand, the Marshall Islands, the Chuuk Islands and the Republic of Congo. Deena is married to Gary, a retired pastor, and the Southeast Asia Regional Director for Gospel Outreach. Their family includes their three children, Justin, Ashley and Jordan, their daughter-in-law Ashley, and three granddaughters.
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