On Saturday, women gathered at Grace St. Paul's United Methodist Church, located in Penn Forest Township, for their annual Rose Breakfast. The Rose Breakfast is an ecumenical event for women to gather together for breakfast, fellowship, music and to listen to a special guest speaker.

Around 65 women, from eight different churches in Carbon County and surrounding areas, attended the event.This year's speaker was Suzanne Geiss of Schwenksville.Geiss spoke about her and her husband Richard's mission work and outreach ministry. The couple co-founded 'Because We Care, Ministries.'She explained that their ministry shares the "Good News" and brings comfort through "Woofi," the missionary puppy.Woofi is a plush puppy given to children or any person who is in need. Geiss said they have given out over 40,000 of the plush puppies in 42 states and in over 40 countries.Geiss told the gathering that their first mission trip was to Germany to minister to servicemen's families. She also spoke about their mission trip to Romania, where they first introduced Woofi.She said that not only does their ministry help children, but they have aided all age groups for many different reasons.Through their missionary work, the Geiss's have built a dormitory in Ko-Wo-To-To, Kenya, Africa. They are also currently working on a project in Tinca, Romania, to help the village send children to school."I am being lead by God to help others and I am open to His leading," said Geiss.The Rose Breakfast also featured music by David Westrip of Jim Thorpe.Grace St. Paul's UMC has been hosting the Rose Breakfast in Penn Forest Township since 2010. The United Methodist Women (UMW) sponsors the event.The church started the Rose Breakfast in 2005 when it was located at 5th and Center streets in Jim Thorpe. The breakfast had been coordinated by Pat Rowe. It was held at St. Mark & St. John Episcopal Church in Jim Thorpe the following year.In 2010, after Grace St. Paul's moved from Jim Thorpe to Penn Forest, the UMW began hosting the Rose Breakfast again.For the past two years the Rose Breakfast has been coordinated by Barbara and Dottie Mumma."The Rose Breakfast is a great way to meet new people," Dottie Mumma said. "The Rose Breakfast gives us a great opportunity for fellowship.""The breakfast is also a way to share the love of Jesus in our community," Barbara Mumma said.The Mummas expressed their gratitude to the Geisses, Westrip, the women from Grace St. Paul's who helped sponsor the event, and all the women who attended.At the breakfast all of the women were given flower pins that were hand sewn by Dottie Mumma.