by Norma Gunter
Thanksgiving is over and we, wives, mothers, daughters, grandmothers (all women) enter into the most busy season of the year. The first thing in December at FBC is the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering, our fourth and final American Baptist Churches USA offering this year. Our ministers and missionaries have given their lives to serve the Lord and this offering is a little over and above gift at this time of the year. My good friends, Rev. Bill and Cora Withers are gone now but this offering brings back to me memories of their service to the Lord and their friendship. Bill sang at my dad’s funeral and Cora went to nursing school with me. I still miss them.
The last Sunday in November I met a visiting older missionary couple, on my way to the elevator, who worshiped with us in the morning service. They said they minister with struggling churches and plant new churches across the US. They are working now with a struggling church in Florida. We never know who we are worshiping with.
When talking to Joyce Mills recently she suggested you might like to know more about the missionary we support, Debbie Mulneix’s, new role. She was planning to retire in 2017 but was offered a new job with ABC USA International Ministries. The following article is from “Mission Matters In The Mountain State” Fall 2017 issue from The Office of Mission Support of the WVBC.
“Debbie Mulneix has been asked to take a new missionary role. As a regional missionary to Asia and Southeast Asia, she will work with Leslie Turley and Ben Chan to strengthen relationships with partners in the region. Debbie’s main responsibility will be to provide training to churches in Asia and in the US to send volunteers and short-term mission teams to enrich this cross-cultural ministry experience and to prepare their hearts and skills to become global servants.” She will also assist the two area directors in providing care and service arrangements to their special assistants, volunteers who regularly travel to specific countries to help with programming and projects, A unique part of her new responsibilities will be to organize small groups to accompany her as she visits each partner. These Groups may be educational groups or work groups, as is appropriate at the time.”
Last week I received a letter from Debbie where she shared about her new job and plans she has. She wrote, “I am so pleased to announce that I have begun my new role as Regional Missionary for Asian Partners. The great thing about the change is that the job is relating to the people I have been working within the past, plus several additional groups! Each time I travel overseas, I plan to take a group of volunteers to meet these partners and experience what it is like to be a Christian in a foreign country. If you have never gone to another country on a mission trip, or if you are starting a new passport because there are no more Visa stamp pages, I would love to have you join me in a trip. There are several of us working on these “Friendship Mission Trips” and we already have 6 planned for 2018. I cannot do this alone. I need people to come alongside me: to partner with me and the rest of the teams in sincere prayer. I’m also asking families to be involved through financial partnership.” This would be a great opportunity for someone from FBC to go on a mission trip.
Well another year is almost gone. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the American Baptist Women of FBC.