By SIMONE JOINER

VIDALIA — Women of the Miss-Lou will gather for worship and fellowship on March 1 and March 2 for the Women of Worship Annual Miss-Lou Conference.

Every year the women of the Miss-Lou come together for Bible study, praise and worship at the conference, organizers said.

This year’s conference will begin at 3 p.m. March 1 and 7 a.m. March 2 at First Baptist Church, 100 N. Hickory St., Vidalia.

All women are invited to attend and cost of the conference is $35.

Women of Worship Miss-Lou conference is made up of a handful of women from various churches in the Mississippi and Louisiana area, said organizers Carolyn Ridley and Cheryl Givens.

“We’re encouraging women to be students of God,” Ridley said.

Each year, approximately 150 to 200 women from different churches participate in the event.

“I’d like to see more women in the community become involved and people not be afraid to go somewhere just because it’s not at their church,” Givens said.

Ridley said her personal experiences at previous conferences have been life changing.

Givens said the conference has a similar effect on other women.

“In fact,” Givens said, “we’ve heard from several women that have said that the conference encouraged them to read and study the Bible more.”

While the event is for women, the message is about Christ, the women said.

“It’s not so much about women of worship as much as it is that we are a Christ-centered, Word-centered conference,” Ridley said. “That is what I think is what is most life-changing. There are a lot of ladies that have left our conferences and their eyes are open to the word of God.”

Givens agreed.

“They took something away from the conference,” Givens said. “With everybody it’s different.”