Tears filled the eyes of many of us gathered around Ava’s chair. We reached our arms to touch her as we prayed for her and committed her to the Lord’s care. Ava was leaving. She was getting on a plane that would take her to her new home, her new assignment in the Lord’s service.
There is a lot of pain in such a moment — a kind of finality to the physical separation. But that emotion is tempered by the joy of knowing that one is obediently following the Lord’s leadership.
That is the case for Ava. Early in her life she felt her first tug to international missions while serving through the local church during her high school days. State-sponsored youth camps, evangelism training and more were a part of who she was becoming.
In a Baptist college she discovered personal strengths and developed vocational skills that equipped her for vocational service as a missionary. She learned how to be a leader among her peers. More importantly, she grew in her knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Ava anticipated going straight from college to the missions field but that door closed. Instead God led her to a Baptist ministry in Alabama where she invested herself for seven years. It was during that time that those of us gathered around Ava’s chair came to know her.
Every week Ava touched missions through her Alabama ministry. Every week she encouraged Christians. Every week she shared what God was doing through Baptists at home and around the world.
And every week Ava demonstrated exceptional skills and abilities. She was soon a resource for others working in similar ministries across the nation. Her personality endeared her to those whose paths she crossed as well as to her co-workers. It was not long before other ministries offered her positions with more responsibility and more rewards.
But Ava stayed with her Alabama ministry and with her ministry friends. That was God’s will, she said.
Ava stayed until God again stirred the call to international missions and this time God opened the door for appointment. The process was tedious and demanding. The orientation was arduous. But Ava completed it, and the morning of this writing she boarded a plane headed west, the first step toward her new home, her new ministry.
One can only imagine the reaction of the ticket agent when she showed up with three oversized and overweight suitcases. Maybe trunks would be a more accurate description.
Given the penalty airlines charge for extra baggage, most travelers do not do that anymore. But the contents inside those containers made up her earthly possessions for the next phase of her life.
The prayer offered by our group pledged continued support for Ava. We promised to pray for her and to stay informed about her ministry through the marvels of digital communications available today. We also promised to support her financially with our offerings through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.
A lot of people argue about the Cooperative Program today. Some complain that churches do not give enough to support Baptist work beyond the local setting. Others complain that state conventions use too large a percentage of what is given for work in their respective states. Others complain about how the Southern Baptist Convention uses the funds it receives. Some want more for international missions. Some want more for North American missions or other causes.
But the fact remains that the Cooperative Program is the primary way Baptists do missions together — not just international missions but all that Baptists do together.
No one knows how God would have worked in Ava’s life had there not been state-sponsored youth camps, specialized evangelism programs for young people, training for those who taught her in Sunday School or led her Girls in Action group.
No one knows how God would have worked had there been no Baptist college in her home state where growing in God was equally as important as growing in vocational skills. It is not an accident that her alma mater has a noted history of preparing Baptist leaders.
No one knows how God would have worked if the Baptist ministry where Ava served for just short of a decade were not there to be the primary source of missions information about work in Alabama, the nation and the world.
But all were there, and God used all of them for preparing Ava for the day she got on a plane headed for an international missions field. And God is using all of them to prepare others like Ava for tomorrow. All are there because through the years Baptists have chosen to make the Cooperative Program their primary source of missions support.
Special offerings make it possible to give directly to particular ministry causes. But only the Cooperative Program makes it possible for Baptists to support all the valuable and necessary things Baptists do together through one regular offering.
Baptists may discuss, even argue, about the Cooperative Program, but standing around Ava’s chair this morning all of that seemed unimportant. What was important was that Ava was getting on a plane obediently following God’s call. It was a time to give thanks for her and for all of the people and ministries God used to prepare her and make this day possible. That includes the Cooperative Program.
When you read this Ava will be in another part of the world. She will be serving on behalf of Baptists to make God’s love and mercy known. Join those of us who gathered around her chair in supporting her and all who serve and will serve with her in prayer and in financial support through gifts to missions through the Cooperative Program.
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