Posts by "System Administrator"

If you missed Missions Lifeline this year, you missed a great blessing! First Baptist Church of Charlestown led a mini missions day camp, and several North American and international missionaries participated and their presentations were motivational. The annual missions event is sponsored by Indiana Woman’s Missionary Union/Women’s Ministries and is designed to inform and equip all ages to be on missions and make disciples.  The 2020 event is already being planned, so watch for the date. Begin planning now to encourage your church members to attend!

Linda Clark is participating in calling all the pastors in SEIBA to gather prayer requests. This is an effort to support the calling and vision our churches have under their pastor’s guidance. If you have not received a call as yet, please call or text Linda with your requests. 502.595.8473 (Of course, all requests are confidential)   Linda is available for consultations to help SEIBA churches be on mission and educate members about how they can become personally involved through praying, giving, and going. She can be contacted via email, text, or phone. Lclark1213@hotmail.com

The annual MK (missionary kid) Re-Entry retreat will be held next August at Highland Lakes. Every year incoming college students from all over the globe gather for a week of activities and speakers on topics that will be of interest to their adjustment to life in the United States. Because many of them were born overseas or have lived most of their lives there, this event is critical to help them face the challenges that will arise due to their unfamiliarity with American culture. WMU needs the support of Indiana churches to make this project a reality!

The estimated cost per student is $400 and your church or individuals can send donations to the state offices designated for “MK Retreat.” We are co-sponsoring this event with Kentucky WMU and must do our part! Contact Linda Clark for additional ways your church can be involved in this important event.

What does the number 131 have to do with missions? If you attended the annual Woman’s Missionary Union meetings in Birmingham last month, you got a glimpse of what can happen when missions-minded women, men, and children come together to celebrate! 2019 is the 131^st anniversary of WMU and no effort was spare for the 2-day event that culminated in a day with 131 (yes, 131, count them!) different missions activities.

Held at the national WMU building on Missionary Ridge, the activities were held inside and outside and there was something for everyone! Guides dressed in historical clothing told the story of Southern Baptist missions and WMU. Ministry projects for Baptist Global Relief, packing meals for hunger relief, and making tee-shirt jump ropes were hands-on experiences. The new Walk of Faith made from bricks given in recognition of missions advocates or in honor of individuals who supported mission causes was featured. There were gutter sailboat racing, banana boats, and porcelain painting under the outside canopies. Breakout sessions included Baptist Nursing Fellowship info, the Baptist Friendship House in New Orleans, how impoverished women survive, and witnessing to friends.

It was hot on Monday, June 10. It was crowded. And, it was a great time of learning, encouragement, and fellowship!

In just one month fill a bulletin board at your church or an entire wall with pictures of people doing personal missions projects. Challenge families and individuals to choose a project in their neighborhood or community to reach out to others with the love of Jesus. Take pictures of your project and make a copy of the best one to put on the bulletin board. Here’s how to make this happen:

• Make a list of missions project ideas and post them on a bulletin board, include them in the church bulletin, online, etc.
• Promote the summer projects each week.
• Projects can be done by families, Sunday School classes, or missions groups.
• Challenge the church to fill the bulletin board with pictures before the month is over.
• Create a slide show for a Sunday worship service.

This emphasis could be a great launch for personal missions involvement. NOTE: This missions idea was written up by Indiana WMU Vice President, Chris Conrades, Richmond, IN. Thanks for the great idea, Chris!

The state WMU leadership team has launched an effort to contact every pastor in Indiana for prayer requests for him and his church. Requests will be gathered through our associations as the team is composed of representatives of each association. It is our goal to reach every pastor by August 1. What a challenge!

An email was sent to each pastor of SEIBA on July 2 with an introduction by Gary Yochum. With our renewed emphasis on evangelism of our nine-county area, we know that prayer is a critical element in reaching the goal of reaching residents who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior.

If as a pastor, you feel it will be difficult to reach you via phone due to your schedule or travel, don’t hesitate to text me with your requests! Text to: 502.592.8473.  I look forward to talking/texting with you!

The annual women’s Transformed events were held in March and April. Approximately 600 Indiana women gathered for a time of learning, inspiration, and fellowship. Keynote speakers and seminar leaders focused on the theme for 2019: Endless Joy. Joy was in the hallway! And, in the worship  sessions! And, in the conference sessions!

One hour-long track on Saturday featured various missions-related topics ranging from missionaries sharing about their place of service, ministering to victims of human trafficking, finding your missions/ministry niche, counseling those in need, praying for political leaders, and beginning missions in churches. Special guest, Kay Bennett from Baptist  Friendship House in New Orleans, lead sessions on ministry to women who have come out of human trafficking and homelessness.

Two missions projects were sponsored by Transformed this year. Donations of shampoo, lotion, diapers, and other supplies were given at the Seymour Transformed event for the Jackson County clothing center. The Marion Transformed event collected gift cards for backpacks that will be given to women coming out of trafficking in the New Orleans area.

Indiana women are blessed to have these statewide events. Encourage the women of your church to plan to attend the 2020 Transformed events!

Have you ever wondered what the church planters in our association might need? Do they need things like housing, sustainable incomes, and medical care? Of course they do! Our churches can be supportive in providing some of these needs, but there are some things every church planter needs that cannot be purchased at the grocery store or through a healthcare system.

Church planters need our prayers! Here are some ways you can lift them and their needs up in prayer every day:

• Pray for them to connect with families in their neighborhood.
• Pray for their communities to respond as they demonstrate God’s love.
• Ask God to keep them from becoming discouraged. Progress in planting a new church is usually slow, and it’s easy to feel no one is interested in the gospel message.
• Pray that the church plant will reflect the demographics of the neighborhood.
• Ask God to provide others who will invest in the church plant.
• Pray that the church planter will be creative in his outreach to unchurched people.

Here are some suggestions of things your family can do this summer. Warm weather is a great time to branch out and connect with neighbors and your community.

• Make brownies and deliver them to an unchurched family in your neighborhood.
• Help the children make holiday or get well cards for homebound neighbors and deliver them as a family along with baked goods or a small gift.
• Teach children how to prayer walk. Prayer walk your local school and around your neighborhood. You can do “prayer driving” too!
• Using a large world map, locate where missionaries serve and pray for them during your family devotion time. A list of missionaries and their birthdays is in the monthly missions magazine, Missions Mosaic, available from WMU (www.wmu.com/curriculum).
• Collect canned goods for a local food pantry. Deliver them together and arrange for a tour of the facility if possible.

If you haven’t ordered envelopes, posters, and prayer guides for the Week of Prayer 2019, it’s time! Contact the Indiana WMU office at 317.481.2400 or go to: www.scbi.org/ministries/missions/woman’smissionaryunion  to order materials online.

This designated season of prayer focuses on prayer for Southern Baptist North American missionaries and their ministries. Annual prayer guides feature a week’s worth of missionary snapshots of individuals, couples, and families who are proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ through a wide variety of ministries. Named for Annie Armstrong, an early missionary, this missions offering and week of prayer is the major avenue of financial support of more than 5000 missionaries, chaplains, and volunteers.

Go to www.namb.net for various resources with multiple language translations, videos for your church, social media package, and printable resources. 100% of all gifts go to the mission field. Our cooperation as Southern Baptist churches and individuals makes this work possible.