World Vision President Thanks National Women's Conference Held in Seattle

Contact: John Yeager, 253-815-2356; Jenny Lockwald, 253-815-2012, 253-249-8145 cell; both with World Vision

SEATTLE, July 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- At a national conference on June 30th, World Vision US President Rich Stearns thanked Women of Faith for making a huge statement for children in need around the world by announcing that Women of Faith had reached the 100,000 milestone in child sponsorships. According to the latest numbers, 3 million children benefited from sponsorship worldwide in 2006, including 850,000 who are supported by people in the United States.

In an average weekend conference, 300-400 children are sponsored for World Vision.  At this Women of Faith Conference, held in Seattle's Key Arena, more than 1,200 children were sponsored, resulting in a record 15 percent response rate and helping Women of Faith reach the goal of 100,000 children sponsored. More than 3.4 million women have attended over 275 Women of Faith events held in more than 70 cities across North America.

Featured at this year's event were Christian author Max Lucado, singer Nicole C. Mullen and author Carol Kent. Max Lucado is also the Senior Minister at Oak Hills Church in Texas. Lucado made a special child sponsorship appeal to those attending the Seattle conference. Many of the featured speakers at the event have gone on World Vision trips, including their most recent trip to Kenya in January, which was Women of Vision's fifth trip with World Vision.

At the conference, Rich Stearns presented Women of Faith with a small replica of the World Vision Jesus Statue on display in front of World Vision Headquarters in Federal Way, Washington. The statue shows Jesus tenderly holding a child and offering a loaf of bread to the hungry. World Vision works in 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people every year.

World Vision has been a ministry partner for the past ten years and to date they have impacted more children than any single sponsor group. The theme of this year's conference: "Amazing Freedom," the kind of freedom Jesus talks about in John 8:26,

"So if the Son makes you free – you are truly free".

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of a religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.  For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.