Blog items tagged with "missions"

When? Saturday, August 13

Where? Calvary Baptist Church, Greenfield, IN
                1450 W. Main Street

Time? 8:30 a.m. – 3:00

What is Missions Lifeline?

This missions event is for the entire family! It’ll be a day when you can meet our missionaries and learn how to engage your church in missions. You’ll experience a variety of breakouts that will help you discover ways to involve all ages in learning about and supporting missions efforts around the world.

Children (birth – 6^th grade) will journey to the Philippines and learn all about how God is at work through our IMB missionaries serving there. They’ll enjoy crafts, snacks, games, and stories about the Philippines.

Attendees will be able to enjoy missions exhibits that featuring ideas for missions for the entire year. This is a fun-packed day so don’t miss it! For more information contact Allison Kinion at the state convention office.

To Register: Go to SCBI website. Registration is $5.00 per person and includes on-site lunch.

August is a great month to participate in this annual project to support Southern Baptist missionaries in North America.

You can find more information along with missionaries’ names, mailing addresses, and lists of supplies you can provide to help their work.

Go to: www.wmu.com/chritmasinaugust

The annual January Board Meeting of Woman’s Missionary Union was held January 8 – 9. The following information comes from various reports on the previous year of missions-related activities initiated by associational, state, and national missions organizations to fulfill WMU’s purpose of proclaiming the good news of Jesus to all nations. 2021 was a great year for missions-related activities as WMU partnered with the following agencies and entities:

North American Mission Board

Kevin Ezell, President of NAMB, reported that an all-time giving record occurred last spring when $66.5 million was given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. He stated that even during the pandemic, 36 new churches were planted. The theme for this year is “United” and the offering goal is $70 million Sadly, only ½ of Southern Baptist churches participate in this annual offering. 

International Mission Board

The president of IMB, Paul Chitwood, gave an encouraging report on what was accomplished with God’s grace during the past year. Here are some of the statistics he provided: 91% of IMB missionaries are engaging unreached people groups; 144,000 new believers were reported; 8,700 were baptized; 18,000 new churches were planted; and 12,000 pastors were trained. He said, “The nations are waiting and we must go.”

WMU Continues to Provide Quality Resources

Many age-level missions-related materials which can be viewed and ordered online at www.wmu.com Compassion Ministries offers a series of mini-online courses on refugees, poverty, human trafficking, and others. Online blogs and articles provide training tips, current information about missionaries, and project ideas. Training for Christian Job Corps is now offered online. WorldCrafts catalogs are available online also. Many resources can be downloaded and printed: Compassion Ministries Prayer Calendar, Starter Packs information and others. New “Missions in a Box” continue  to be produced. They are now available for Japan, China, and Nigeria. Especially written for families, these are excellent materials for families that home school or want to promote missions in their homes.

It’s time to begin thinking about how your church will promote and participate in the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions! Free materials can be ordered from the Indiana State Convention offices. A promotional packet will be sent to every church in Indiana that includes sample envelope, poster, and prayer guides for North American missionaries.  Videos for use in worship services can be found online at namb.net 

It’s time to order your free offering promotion items from the Indiana State Convention, WMU Office! Posters, prayer guides, and offering envelopes can be ordered to assist your church in setting and reaching a goal for this important season of missions giving.

Contact the State Convention at: 317.481.2400

For information about international missions:  www.imb.org

For information about North American missions: www.namb.net

For information about missions education/discipleship resources: www.wmu.com

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!

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!

Dan and Chris Conrades are church planters at Crosspoint Church in Richmond, Indiana. The story of their call to church planting is told in the October issue of Missions Mosaic, a monthly missions magazine for adults. The four-page article gives readers a good idea of the challenges they face and the blessings they’ve experienced as they minister side by side. Their passion for sharing Christ is evident as they use creative ways to reach out into their community.

The Conrades moved to Richmond out of First Baptist Church, Charlestown where they were active in missions and church leadership. Chris stays busy as she serves with her husband and home schools their 4 children. She has recently written children’s missions curriculum for national Woman’s Missionary Union. We are blessed to say they are “ours!”

Compassion Ministries

The Compassion Ministries of  Woman’s Missionary Union directly helps those who suffer every day.  Together the 4 ministries work to bring relief to those living in poverty, offer hope to those involved in human trafficking, help refugees around the world, support orphans and children in foster care, and provide resources for humanitarian relief.

• WorldCrafts develops sustainable, fair-trade businesses around the world to provide income for women and men as they are introduced to the Light of the world.
•  Women’s/Men’s Job Corps equips participants with life skills and job skills training in a Christian context to help them break the cycle of poverty.
• Pure Water Pure Love was established to provide missionaries with water filters, provide water wells for the people they serve, and mission teams with filters to use while on their trips.
• ProjectHELP: Refugees helps to raise awareness of refugees’ needs and to address global refugee crises. Information is available to assist churches in responding to refugee needs.

For more information and for ideas how your church can become involved go to wmu.com/connections

We’ve been on lockdown, learned how to social distance, and are “doing church” in ways we’d never dreamed of before COVID-19 hit. The impact consumes our news reports and has filtered into the very fiber of all that we do as believers. We don’t need another list of all that has changed nor the problems that have arisen because of those changes

However, the impact of the pandemic on our churches and their giving cannot be glossed over. Because of the giving process of Southern Baptists, every ministry and agency has been hurt by the fact that giving on the church local level has dramatically changed. Giving online has become the norm; churches are re-aligning their budgets; state conventions have cancelled events that created income and downsized spending. The support of missionaries on the field and concern about decreased giving to special missions offerings has meant our two mission boards have made tough decisions about allocations.

Is there a solution to the financial issues caused by the pandemic? We in the local churches must continue to be faithful in giving our tithes and offerings. We need to encourage staff and leadership to commit to the same level of giving through the Cooperative Program to enable our agencies to continue to support and expand evangelistic efforts around the world.

The Indiana state missions offering is emphasized in August and September, so as soon as promotional materials are available (contact our SCBI office for information), set a church goal and begin to make  your congregation aware of how crucial this year’s offering will be. Begin making plans to promote the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, realizing that 50% of the IMB budget comes from the gifts to LMCO.

We can help our ministries and agencies survive and support missionaries who are proclaiming the good news of Jesus in difficult places around the world!