Need current missions information? Does your church need a fresh approach to missions? Do your youth and children need to learn about missionaries and what they do? Is God calling you to do something new in missions? If so….this day is for you!

Saturday, August 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30, the annual Missions Lifeline event will be held at Calvary Baptist Church in Greenfield. Sponsored by Indiana WMU, the day’s activities will enhance your church’s missions emphasis.

The event features guest missionaries, a mini kids’ Missions Day Camp, breakout sessions, and the annual election of Indiana state WMU officers.

The day will be filled with mission activities, current information about praying for and giving to missions, and breakouts deigned to help your church fulfill its missions mandate of making disciples for Christ.

Lunch will be served, and participants will enjoy the Missions Rally’s upbeat music and motivational missions speakers. Plan now to attend! Register online on the state convention website.

As a special  project, attendees are encouraged to bring items for two Indiana church planters who are featured as Christmas in August recipients. These items will help their ministries with homeless and college students:  school supplies for backpack distribution, $10 gift cards to Kroger and McDonald’s and travel size items for homeless hygiene kits. Items will be collected and given to the church planters.

Plan to attend; bring others with you; take advantage of the children’s Day Camp; enjoy a day full of missions challenges!

It would be great if Indiana Southern Baptist churches supported Chris Cook in Bloomington with Christmas in August donations!

Christ serves as lead pastor and church planter at Embassy Church. The church has ministries on the University of Indiana campus and in the large homeless community in the area. Let’s join together to encourage these ministries through our donations to Christmas in August.

Here are the items Chris requested:

• $10 McDonald’s gift cards
• $10 Kroger gift cards
• Travel-size wet wipes, deodorants, dry shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Nail clippers
• Large bandages
• Wool socks
• Wool gloves
• Breath mints

Mail to:

Chris Cook
2419 E. Oakmont Drive
Bloomington, IN 47401

Monday Missions Projects – Schedule a regular weekday morning for mission projects such as preparing healthcare kits for a crisis shelter, packing backpacks for needy school children, or stocking the shelves of the church food pantry.

Prayer Walking Upgrade – Ask adults in community groups to adopt an area near your church to do prayer walking: the neighborhood school, community facilities like the police department or city hall.

Benevolence Ministries – Some churches use benevolence funds as an opportunity to talk with recipients, counsel them, and share Christ. Decide as a group to volunteer a specific day once a month.

Adopt a Church Planter and Family – Community group members can introduce church planters to influential community leaders, politicians, business owners, and local craftsmen who may be of help to the planter as he and his family make community connections. Get current information on planters from SEIBA’s office.

Befriend a Church Planter’s Wife – Take her to lunch, remember her birthday, pray for her, and encourage her as she helps her husband establish a new church.

Friendship Food – Cook extra lasagna or ham and deliver it to a senior who is unable to get out due to illness or care giving responsibilities.

Be Creative in Outreach - *Bake cookies for a high school sports team who has a weekly meal in your church’s gym.  *Invite young mothers in the neighborhood to tea and share the gospel with them.  *Knit or crochet prayer shawls for patients or those grieving (patterns on Pinterest)  *Make receiving blankets for a crisis pregnancy center.  *Write to recovering wounded soldiers (address on Pinterest).  *Pray for missionaries on their birthdays (monthly list in Missions Mosaic Magazine. Order at www.wmu.com/curriculum).

If your church is holding VBS this summer, consider using “Tell the Story” as an additional resource to help you minister to children and their families in your neighborhood and community. Produced by Woman’s Missionary Union, this resource contains stories and a story cloth that can be adapted for short-term mission trips. User friendly, it will help you customize your summer outreach.  Go to wmu.com/catalog for more information and how to order. This packet is also available in Spanish.

Missions Mosaic, the monthly missions magazine for adults, contains valuable information about current mission efforts, ideas for promoting missions offerings, testimonies from groups about their projects, a calendar of missionary birthdays for daily prayer, Bible studies, and spiritual growth in missions features.

The magazine is available in print or digital form and can be subscribed to by going to wmu.com/missionsmosaic.  Order your copy today and begin an exciting missions journey!

Transformed 2021 is happening! Two events are planned:

   March 13 – Graceland Baptist Church, New Albany

   April 10 – Northside Baptist Church, Marion

This year’s events will be very different in structure in order to meet COVID-19 restrictions. 

The one-day events will be main stage only with no breakout sessions. “Awestruck” is the theme and guest speakers and virtual breakout leaders will address the Psalm 140 theme scripture.

Virtual breakouts will be available for viewing to those who attend the live event or elect to attend virtually. A list of topics will be posted on the SCBI website. Go to scbi.org/Transformed to register and for specific information about the events.

Transformed Registration Scholarships for SEIBA Women:

Three registration scholarships are available for the southern event held March 13. The deadline to apply is February 24. Contact Linda Clark at lclark1213@hotmail.com for information.

Wives of senior pastors are given free registration. Visit the SCBI website for more information.

Everything has drastically changed during the last several months, hasn’t it? Being involved in missions-related activities has not remained untouched. Following are a few ideas that might help you plan what you can do during this time.

#1 – Consider that contributions to existing ministries may be down. You and your group may decide to focus on purchasing needed supplies rather than volunteering as you’ve done in the past. Don’t abandon the ministry! Make a list of needed supplies, gather the items and ask a non high-risk member to make a doorstep delivery.

#2 –Quilting and sewing projects can be done individually. Knitting and crocheting for pregnancy centers are always welcome. Go online to Pinterest for sewing patterns.

#3 – Focus on what one person can do alone. Make a concerted effort to pray for missionaries (use Prayer Patterns in each issue of Missions Mosaic for specific requests and lists of missionaries on their birthdays). Writing notes of encouragement is a solitary activity. Cook dishes for someone living alone or families in crisis and make porch deliveries.

#4 – Begin a one-on-one online mentoring emphasis. Two women meet at agreed days and times; watch the enthusiasm for missions and spiritual growth increase!

#5 – Take advantage of national WMU’s online mini courses on WorldCrafts and Human Trafficking. As a group decide how you can help your church become aware of poverty and human exploitation issues. 

#6 – Encourage group members to listen to the podcasts by Sandy Wisdom-Martin (national WMU Executive Director) and special guests as they discuss a variety of topics of interest during this time of social distancing. Go to wmu.com and type “podcasts.”

#7 – Local projects: *homemade cookies for first responders   *birdhouses or posters for senior care facilities   *sidewalk chalk messages to delivery persons   *gift frozen cookie dough to neighbors to bake when wanted.

Woman’s Missionary Union has an amazing legacy and unwavering focus of making disciples of Jesus who live on mission. Many words could be used to describe this missions arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Here are just a few:

*trustworthy      *compassion ministries     *committed         *community       *tell about Jesus  *Mission Friends    *evangelism    *creative     *Acteens     *connected   *biblical worldview    *encouraging    *gospel-focused   *Girls in Action   *diverse      *pray for missions     *relative   *Royal Ambassadors             *Women on Mission    *do missions      *teach missions     *support missions    *Pure Water,Pure Love    *faithful    *leaders     *online learning      *Adults on Mission    *mentors   *church-based       *cultures    *Children in Action    *mission projects      *relevant      *invested

You get the idea, don’t you? WMU has focused on creating missions awareness in Southern Baptist churches for 131 years. Just as many churches are reflecting on their ministries in the face of COVID-19, WMU has been impacted by the restrictions caused by the pandemic. While methods have changed, the laser focus on making disciples has not. WMU remains committed to sharing the good news with the world, it is dealing with the financial impact the pandemic has had.

This crisis has negatively affected WMU’s bottom line but has positively amplified its mission. WMU has responded with children’s online missions sessions, online leadership training, podcasts on current issues, and resources to help churches continue educating members about missions. WMU has never received funding through the Cooperative Program, but has promoted giving throughout its history as an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention.        

With sharply reduced income, the need is critical. Please consider giving to the WMU Vision Fund to support national WMU above and beyond your current tithes and offerings. Pray about joining others with a contribution of $100, or any amount God leads you to give. Your gift will help WMU get beyond this financial crisis as it seeks to continue the current level of kingdom work in every state and 39 countries.

You can give online at wmufoundation.com/vision or by mailing your check to: WMU Foundation Vision Fund, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242

WMU has urgent needs…will you give to advance God’s mission?

You only have to look around a corner here in our association to find needs that you can meet as an individual, family, or church. The pandemic has intensified many needs related to daily life issues, and at this time of year as the holidays near, we can extend God’s loving hands to others in tangible ways.

Consider these projects that your community group or family can do:

1. Contact Re: Center Ministries in Louisville about projects to assist the work done at the ministry center on Jefferson Street. Email Corey Bledsoe at: cory@recenterministries.org for information.

2. Hunger ministries in local communities face greater needs during colder months. Contact local agencies or SEIBA’s hunger ministry project leader through the associational office.

3. Provide food items for backpacks for children during school holiday breaks.

4. Prepare Thanksgiving food baskets for families needing extra help. Include special items for families with children.

5. Contact a juvenile facility or country jail about donating socks and other items if needed.

6. Create a neighboring movement in your church. Ask members to discover neighbors’ needs and meet them during the holiday season. Keep pandemic restrictions in mind and use limited contact and porch deliveries as you minister.

October is World Hunger Month and the offering that is featured provides funding for several hunger ministries here in Indiana. There is a little-known fact about this offering and its benefits: funds are given to our state based on the number of churches that participate in giving!

Rather than funds being awarded according to the amount given from any individual state, hunger ministries are assisted according to how many churches give to the offering. That means if our Indiana churches’ gifts come from only a few churches, funds given back to us will be very limited.

Hunger funds have been decreased in recent years because fewer churches are participating. Let’s pray that the number increases this year! Even if your church does not promote giving, you as an individual or family can give and designate your gift for World Hunger relief.

Hunger relief is a great way to enable our missionaries to share the gospel with others as they provide food through on-going ministries.