by Norma Gunter
The American Baptist Women’s Ministry Focus Resource circle program for May is See…Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies. The Scripture is Luke 2:1-7. “While it may seem strange to feature a Christmas Scripture around Mother’s Day, the connection is strong. Mary was, after all, a young mother. And due to her status as an impoverished woman and migrant, she gave birth in a stall, in very unsanitary conditions. This month’s theme gives us the opportunity to explore how we can support maternal and infant health. Sunday May 8th is Mothers Day. Our own Edna Nasby is planning to give each family who comes to Helping Hands a Mothers Day gift for as she said, “Every family has a mother and we want to honor them.” The ladies at Helping Hands made up 332 gift bags containing candy kisses to give out the week before Mothers Day. They are tied with a ribbon and have a sticker saying, “HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. GOD LOVES YOU”.
In the February BEAM I reported that our ABW gave $100 to a group of WV Baptist Women going to the Philippines to work with our missionary Debbie Mulneix who works with women caught in prostitution. In the April SEASONS Magazine two of the women relate their experiences with these young women. Liz Stewart, a member of the mission team said, “I am truly overwhelmed that God chose me to be His hands and feet to work with this ministry. It was a true blessing. Even though there were cultural and language barriers, we were all able to come together for the love of our Heavenly Father. I have built lifetime relationships, and through the use of modern technology, I continue to have an open dialogue with many of the women.”
Zola Miller, another member of the mission team said, “There were so many moments in our time with the women I could see God at work. Our team and the women came together to have a time of worship before breaking out into small groups.” One woman, “touched my heart and was an inspiration to me and the other women in our small group.” Ladies I think this was $100 well spent.
In the March BEAM I shared about the new Women’s Camp at Camp Cowen April 1-3. Younger ABW had asked for ways to learn from the more “experienced” ABW so the first-ever Women’s Camp came about. There was 189 women ages 18 to 95 who attended. Had I been able I would have been number 190. Read more about this camp in the West Virginia American Baptist Women’s Ministries publication, Seasons Magazine.
Ladies our next opportunity to learn more about missions is the Women and Girls’ Conference at Parchment Valley Conference Center June 3-5, 2016. Registration is open May 1-22, 2016. Let’s get together and go.