Heather-Dawn Small

Director

Heather-Dawn Small presently holds the position of director for Women's Ministries at the General Conference of SDA. 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 she held the position of Children's and Women's Ministries Director for the Caribbean Union Conference located on the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago for five years.

Heather-Dawn loves air travel, reading, embroidery, scrapbooking, and stamp collecting and she enjoys ministry to women. As she travels the world she has 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 has given her in spite of life's many challenges. Her favorite word is "JOY" and her favorite saying is "Don't let anyone steal your joy."

Raquel Arrais

Associate Director

Raquel Queiroz da Costa Arrais presently holds the position of Associate Director for Women's Ministries at the General Conference of SDA. Raquel Arrais is the wife of Pastor Jonas Arrais who is the Associate Ministerial Secretary at the General Conference and they have two sons, Tiago and Andre, and two daughters' in-law, Paula and Natalia. Raquel grew up in a pastoral family and is a third generation Seventh-day Adventist.

Prior to coming to the General Conference Raquel was Women's Ministries and Shepherdess associate director for the South American Division (2000-2003) and Children's Ministries director (2004 – 2005).

For 20 years Raquel worked as an educator and administrator in Brazil. In 1997 she received her master's Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Andrews University.

Raquel 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 has a desire to see more women accepting God's call and being involved with the mission of the church.

Her favorite word is courage and her favorite Bible text is Joshua 1:9.

Rebecca Timon

Administrative Assistant

Rebecca Timon joined Women’s Ministries in February 2012. Prior to this she worked more than 21 years for vice presidents in the General Conference Presidential office. Her married son is a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist.

Educated in English writing, Communication/Journalism, and elementary education, she created the first Women’s Ministries newsletter for Rose Otis, director of the Office of Women’s Ministries.

Rebecca loves learning and then sharing what she’s learned. She shares her passion for Bible study with small groups and through seminars about Bible characters. She reads, writes, and scrapbooks when she should be cleaning house, cooking, and exercising. This might be the single advantage to being a widowed empty-nester.

Her pet Elinor Noel answers only to Kitty. “But my cat’s full name is important," explains Rebecca, "because it begins and ends with el, a Hebrew word meaning God. I desperately need everything to begin and end with God; I cling to the promise that ‘In Him all things hold together’ (Colossians 1:17b, NIV), since most of the time I feel like I’m hanging onto life with broken fingernails.”

Judith Mwansa

Judith Mwansa joined Women's Ministries as departmental Secretary in February 2006. Before coming here Judith worked in the South Africa-Indian Ocean Division with the Treasury Department and was Shepherdess Sponsor.

Judith comes from Zambia and is married to Pastor Pardon Mwansa, vice president of the General Conference. She is the proud mother of three: two sons, Paul and David, and daughter Maggie.

She enjoys traveling, gardening, baking, collecting sea shells, spending time and praying with pastor's wives, and loves working with orphans. One of her favorite texts in the Bible is Philippians 4:8.

Judith is good natured, soft spoken, a willing worker, and it is a joy to have her join our team.