They visited shut-ins, sang to nursing home residents and delivered food to the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries (ABCH). Along the way, children in some of the state’s Baptist churches learned firsthand how missions can impact the lives of others.
The occasion was the launch of the first Children’s Ministry Day (CMD) Feb. 16, a ministry the national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) envisions as a means of teaching children how they can serve the less fortunate.
Mitzi Eaker, children’s ministry consultant for national WMU, described CMD as an opportunity for Girls in Action (GA) and Children in Action (CiA) to be involved with missions.
No final count has been tallied on how many participated, but Eaker said 1,400 churches ordered planning kits for the event.
“It was a great success. We have seen churches from all over north America reporting all kinds of projects,” Eaker said. “It is amazing the outpouring of ideas that have come in on how to reach those that are hungry.”
Nancy Glover, preschool and children’s minister at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Hueytown, in Bessemer Baptist Association, said that the day’s purpose was not only to teach children to serve other people but also to find joy in serving.
“If we don’t teach our children to minister and serve, who is going to teach them?” Glover asked.
This year’s theme was Hope for the Hungry, chosen as part of WMU’s focus on poverty through its Project HELP ministry.
About 40 children from Pleasant Ridge Baptist worked with the church’s WMU to collect items such as diapers, baby wipes, baby food, blankets, baby clothes and booties for The Lovelady Center, a treatment and recovery center in East Lake that houses women and their children.
Several of the children also helped deliver the five large boxes of items.
In Calhoun Baptist Association, children brought cans and staple foods to the associational office to be used in Calhoun’s Baptist Service Centers. While there, they learned about the service centers’ purpose — helping meet the needs of others.
Teaching service in Christ’s name was also the motive for participation for North Shelby Baptist Church, Birmingham, in Shelby Baptist Association.
“Our goal was to show how even the smallest can reach out to show Christ’s love and can be used to bring a little hope into people’s lives,” said Joan Hicks, GA director at North Shelby Baptist.
Hicks, who also works as an administrative assistant for GA, Mission Friends and the student team at national WMU, said about 30 children from the church visited shut-ins and took them fruit, along with bringing cookies to nursing home residents.
The children also delivered meals to two elderly members of the church and food, paper products and other items to the ABCH for use in group homes.
Eight children from Vestavia Hills Baptist Church and 28 GAs from Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham, delivered canned goods donated by fellow church members to Birmingham Baptist Association’s Ministry Center at Green Springs, which reaches out to the poor and multicultural communities of Birmingham.
Along with decorating grocery bags for families to use in carrying home their canned goods, the children from both churches learned about poverty and helping those in need.
“The Bible says to help one another,” said Nancy Akins, minister to preschool and children at Vestavia Hills Baptist. “We learned about people who need help and one way that we can help them.”
For children at New Beginnings Family Baptist Church, Birmingham, in Birmingham Association that involved taking desserts to residents of a local adult living center.
Terri Moore, children’s director at New Beginnings Family Baptist, said about 20 children from the church’s CiA program delivered more than 300 desserts made by church members, including cakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins and even sugar-free sweets for diabetics. Children sang songs, prayed with residents, served the desserts and gave them other sweets to eat later.
“I think it was an excellent hands-on lesson, because one of the things that our pastor teaches us is that church is a doing thing — it’s not a sitting thing,” Moore said. “We have to get out and do things. We have to get to those people who are lost and broken and show them Jesus.”
Scheduled to coincide with Focus on WMU Week, CMD is held annually on the third Saturday of February. In 2009, CMD will be held Feb. 14 with a theme of Loving Hearts. The emphasis will be on providing health care ministry to those in need, with resources for planning and promotion available in November 2008.
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