Debbie Hill has only been a member of Lakewood Baptist Church in Birmingham for about four years, but in that time she has brought back what had been a long-standing program in the church — the Woman’s Missionary Union.
Lakewood Baptist is located in South East Lake, an area just outside Birmingham. From the 1950s until the 1970s, it was a booming community. However, as the suburbs of Birmingham flourished, East Lake families moved and the population became older, with many struggling financially.
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The church had begun mirroring its community, but even with limited resources, Lakewood prioritizes giving to those outside the church due to the missions-minded focus of their pastor, Larry Wimberly. Even so, the formerly thriving WMU hadn’t met in decades by the time Hill began attending.
After Hill started going to Lakewood, she noticed that some members went to Raleigh Avenue Baptist Church in west Homewood for WMU meetings. She asked Wimberly why they didn’t have a WMU there, especially since they were already doing projects.
Wimberly appointed a few women to talk about forming a committee, but the women were ready for action. At their first meeting to discuss it, they just went ahead and organized it and it began the next week.
So on July 8, 2021, Lakewood’s WMU started back as an official organization in the church. They already had several projects going, but with the addition of the official once-a-month WMU meetings, it went into overdrive.
Now there is always a project being worked on. Throughout the year, items for backpacks for children in the Mississippi Delta, shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse and Christmas stockings are searched for by several of the bargain hunters. At meetings those who find great deals share with the group so they can all scour their local stores to get as much as possible with limited resources. The items are stored in two dedicated rooms at the church until they are needed.
The women also provide lunch for Fire Station 19’s firefighters in September each year. It doesn’t take much for them to organize it since they already have a potluck after each meeting.
However, the group’s main focus is the Lovelady Center, a local ministry that helps women who are transitioning from prison, referred by the Department of Human Resources or are on parole.
Full circle of generosity
“I always call [Lakewood] with any needs that the center might have,” said Donna Smith, Lovelady’s in-kind resource director. “I know it’s a small church, but they always, always like to help in any way they can. You know, I overwhelm them because with 500 women and 120 children, our needs are great.
“And in a couple of weeks, I get a call. ‘Come get it. We have it for you.’”
One of their projects meets a unique need. Although the women at Lovelady get food from various food pantries, birthday cake supplies are rarely there. Although not as necessary as food, celebrating birthdays is essential to making loving memories for both the children and their moms.
The birthday cake kits that Lakewood’s WMU make consist of a 9-by-13 aluminum pan, a box of cake mix, a can of frosting, sprinkles, birthday candles and a can of Sprite, which substitutes for eggs and oil. The kits are made with various combinations of cake and frosting flavors to give the women choices.
Not only does the WMU provide kits for Lovelady’s clients, but occasionally Lovelady adds them to their own food distribution site, Lovelady Manna.
Lovelady Manna serves the East Lake area. This means Lakewood gives to Lovelady, and then Lovelady gives back to Lakewood’s community, creating a full circle of generosity.
The 15 to 20 women who attend each month love their WMU.
“It means getting together and learning about different missionaries from around the world and praying for them and giving them our support,” said Jacquelyn Franklin. “I enjoy coming to the church because I feel God’s presence here and God’s Holy Spirit is in my life.”
Giving back
Sonya Cordor appreciates the chance WMU gives her to help others. “It gives me the opportunity to share and to serve the people. I have been in a situation myself where if it weren’t for some good Christian people, my kids wouldn’t have had birthdays or clothes and all when I became a single mother. So this gives me the opportunity to give back.”
“I go to a Methodist church, and I work with missions at my church also,” said Debbie Oden. “I love the ladies. I love trying to get these packages and things out and shopping for them, and I just fell in love with it so I come here every Thursday.
“I come to other events too because I love the people. … It’s a love for the children. They’re prayed over. They’re thought about while we’re working on the projects. We talk about them — the people who are going to receive them — and we know where they’re going and it’s just fun.”
“[This WMU] is what my heart and my soul needed,” said Sophie Arthur.
Larry Wimberly summed it up.
“It’s not like I’ve got [missions] over here isolated. It’s part of everything I do. This is the life of our church.”
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