WMU ANNOUNCES VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT PLAN AMID COVID FINANCIAL CRISIS

August 10, 2020

By Julie Walters
National WMU news office

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In response to a decline in sales due to COVID-19, national Woman’s Missionary Union announced Aug. 5 it is offering a voluntary retirement plan to staff.

“We have worked incredibly hard over the past several years to ‘right size’ our organization based on revenue projections,” said Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director of national WMU. “With two difficult back-to-back downsizings and budget cuts, our goal has been to simplify and put limited resources where they can make the most impact for the Kingdom.”

Over the past four years, WMU has cut 34 percent from its budget, which will be $5.2 million beginning in October for 2020-21. Sales of curriculum for missions groups is WMU’s main source of revenue. However, with so much uncertainty related to the pandemic, many churches are not ordering these resources. [Read more…]

WMU PRESIDENT HONORED FOR VOLUNTEER EFFORTS

March 19, 2020

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Outgoing Tennessee WMU president Martha Pitts of Germantown Baptist Church, Germantown, accepts the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s “Light Award,” in recognition of her volunteer service in Tennessee.
— Photo by David Dawson

FRANKLIN — Missions has been an integral part of Martha Pitts’ life since she was a GA (Girls in Action) at Whitehaven Baptist Church in Memphis and was asked to pray at an associational event.

“I was nurtured through GAs,” said Pitts, who will be concluding her four-year term as president of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union during the annual WMU Get-Together scheduled for March 20-22 in Gatlinburg.

And, Pitts never forgot what GAs meant in her life. She served as a GA camp counselor during her teenage years and taught GAs as an adult. “I still love teaching kids about missionaries and the places they serve.” [Read more…]

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

February 27, 2020

Children’s Missions Day gives kids the chance to be actively involved in ministry work in variety of ways

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Although the service projects that were performed across Tennessee this year on Children’s Missions Day were wide-ranging and extensive, the main goal of the projects was precise and singular: Sharing the love of Christ.

Designed and developed by WMU in 2008, Children’s Missions Day provides children, grades first through sixth, with opportunities to become actively involved in mission work in their own communities.

Hundreds of children in Tennessee participated in the annual event and gained “hands-on” experience of what ministry and missions are all about.

“I love that boys and girls are following God’s command to put their love into action (1 John 3:18) as they create projects to reach out to their communities,” said Vickie Anderson, executive director-treasurer for Tennessee WMU. “It is exciting to know that children in Tennessee are joining thousands of others across North America to meet needs and impact lives.” [Read more…]

PARTNER WITH ASSOCIATION TO ADVANCE KINGDOM

October 24, 2019

Editor’s note: The Week of Prayer for Baptist Associations is Oct. 20–26, 2019.

By Sandy Wisdom-Martin
Exec. Dir., Southern Baptist WMU

I suppose he had to be the first denominational celebrity I ever met, though I did not know it at the time. I heard whispers in the halls of our tiny country church when I was a child: “Mr. Whitmer is here today.” Mr. Whitmer was our associational missionary, as the role was called then. He would usually visit our church twice a year.

God uses others to shape and mold us, and my story is incomplete if I leave out the role of the association in my spiritual and leadership formation. Here are some examples: [Read more…]

STILL JAMMING: GA EVENT TURNS 30

October 22, 2019

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector

Tennessee WMU missions and ministry advocate Linda Robbins leads a JAM small group as children learn more about missions.

NASHVILLE — JAM, a one-day mission event for children, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

JAM, which stands for Journey into Adventures in Missions, was started by the Tennessee WMU in 1989.

Originally, the event was only for 1st through 6th grade girls in the WMU Girls in Action (GA) program.

In 2001, the event became open to all children in 1st-6th grade. [Read more…]

WMU MISSIONS DISCIPLESHIP HIGHLIGHTED TO MESSENGERS

June 17, 2019

By Julie Walters
Baptist Press

Jordan Ball (far right, back to camera), a Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) leader, helps RAs and GAs from First Baptist Church Jackson, Miss., and First Baptist Church Alexander City, Ala., remember their motions as they perform songs June 11 during the WMU report to messengers at the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Ala. — Photo by Van Payne

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — WMU Executive Director Sandy Wisdom-Martin welcomed the Southern Baptist Convention June 12 to Birmingham, Ala., where the national missions organization is headquartered.

“This has been our home for the past 98 years, but for the entire history of our organization, we’ve stayed focused on our assigned task,” Wisdom-Martin said. “Our mandate is making disciples of Jesus who live on mission. This is what we do.” [Read more…]

CONNECTION CHALLENGES GIRLS TO PURSUE CHRIST

April 16, 2019

By Juliana Wilson
TN WMU Communications/Childhood Missions Specialist

Attendees participate in an activity during last week’s event.

GATLINBURG — Connection 2019, a missions event for girls in grades 7 through 12, took place April 5-7 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center in conjunction with Get-Together.

The group of 294 girls and leaders focused on the event theme “Unshakable Pursuit” which was based on the key Scripture from 1 Corinthians 15:58.

Through worship, breakout sessions, missionary testimonies and hands-on experiences, the young women were challenged to pursue the God who pursues them and seek Christ in their life even when things do not go according to plan. [Read more…]

BARBIER SHARES KEY TO REMAINING UNSHAKEN

April 16, 2019

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Natalee Barbier speaks to attendees during a break-out session. Barbier’s session was called “Unshaken by Life’s Storms.”

GATLINBURG — Natalee Barbier didn’t say it has been easy.

She just said it’s been worth it.

Barbier, who was one of the featured guests for the “breakout sessions” at last week’s WMU Get-Together, spoke to the attendees about the challenges that she has faced during parenthood. Her session was entitled: “Unshaken by Life’s Storms.”

Natalee and her husband, Jay, the evangelism event specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, have a 15-year-old daughter, Mary-Clare, who has Down’s Syndrome. The journey of raising a special-needs child has been challenging, of course, but has enabled the couple to grow in their faith in ways they couldn’t have imagined. It has shaped the Barbiers’ ministry, and opened doors to sharing God’s love and faithfulness. [Read more…]

TOGETHER TIME

April 16, 2019

WMU event features fellowship, worship, wisdom

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

WMU attendees bow for a time of prayer during this year’s Get-Together and Connection. –Photos by James Wilson, Baptist and Reflector

GATLINBURG — Many tourists travel to Gatlinburg with hopes of relaxing and rejuvenating. But for those who attend WMU’s Get-Together and Connection, the goal is much deeper: To become re-energized spiritually.

The three-day event, which was held April 5-7 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center, featured the theme “Unshakable Pursuit,” and presented attendees with ideas and plans on how to be strong in the Lord, even amid the turmoil and challenges that life so often presents. [Read more…]

MISSION WORK STILL MATTERS TO WILSON

April 2, 2019

By Grace Thornton
Writer, WMU Foundation

Creely Wilson displays her Girls Auxiliary cape which she earned as a member of Girls in Action (GAs). “Being a GA was always very important to me,” said Wilson.

BRENTWOOD — Creely Wilson has been packing recently to move to her next home — a small place in a senior living community. She’s had to downsize a little bit.

But in all of the cleaning out, Wilson was certain one thing wasn’t getting left behind — a small Lottie Moon doll that’s been on her mantle for years. She has other things she loves in life, but missions tops the list.

“I’ve learned a lot from the life of Lottie,” she says of the beloved missionary to China. “She really got women started in missions.”

It’s a legacy that’s kept going with Wilson, says Betty Wiseman, a fellow church member at Brentwood Baptist Church in Tennessee — to the point that Wiseman says without hesitation that Wilson “is our Lottie Moon.”

“She’s revered in our church,” Wiseman said. “She’s a gem, a really special lady. She represents to us what it means to be a woman of God who cares, who gives and who offers servant leadership.” [Read more…]

Children’s Missions Day gives kids the chance to be actively involved in ministry work in variety of ways

WMU event features fellowship, worship, wisdom

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