To Melanie Arnold, it’s a blessing when she gets the opportunity to have conversations with people, listen well, look them in the eyes and let them know they matter.
In July, while she and several others from Lineville Baptist Church were in western Europe, she got the opportunity to do that with several people and plant seeds of the gospel when she could.
“[The conversations] naturally flowed out of genuinely caring and looking into their eyes and letting them know they matter,” Arnold recalled.
Taking that approach to sharing the gospel was something she practiced while there, and wants to do more of now that she’s back in Alabama. She said the two IMB missionaries her church partners with in western Europe, Wallace and Dee, did an amazing job of training her team in the culture and history of the city and how to have that kind of conversation.
Arnold said they also taught her a kind of intentional prayer walking she had never experienced before.
“It was so much more than just having instructions to walk around and pray,” she said. “Wallace did a great job of equipping us for the task.”
‘Catalyst’
Now she’s prayer walking her neighborhood in the same way and encourages others to do so, too.
Ben Curlee, pastor of Lineville Baptist, noted the church’s work with Wallace and Dee “has been a catalyst for gospel awareness.”
“Our people are fully engaged in this,” he said.
The partnership started in 2018 when Scotty Goldman, director of the office of global missions at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, told Wallace that God had put it on his heart to connect him and Dee with Curlee. Originally from Alabama, the couple had reached out to Goldman for help recruiting partners to prayer walk.
“We are desperate for people to come here and pray,” Wallace said. “We recognize God working here is tied with prayer.”
Goldman’s role is part of the Alabama Acts 1:8 Connections ministry — to help Alabama Baptist churches develop relationships with missionaries from the state. It is funded in part through the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering and is undergirded by prayer support provided during the Myers-Mallory Week of Prayer, which also assists disaster relief, Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union, church planting and church revitalization.
This year’s Week of Prayer is Sept. 11-18, with an offering goal of $1.2 million. Lineville Baptist’s partnership with Wallace and Dee is featured on Day 5. (See Week of Prayer preview below)
Wallace said they already can see the fruit of the Myers-Mallory offering. The partnership with Lineville Baptist has been a perfect fit. The church has sent teams to prayer walk and encourage them, and he feels “they truly are invested here with us.”
Curlee said partnering with Wallace and Dee also has impacted the church.
“It galvanized our people in ways I’ve never seen in my years as a pastor. There’s been a new concern and desire to see the lost reached.”
For more information about and downloadable resources for the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering visit myers-mallory.org.
Week of Prayer preview
*Day 1 — Introduction
Through the ministry of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, Alabama Baptists can be actively involved in missions by praying for, volunteering with and helping support five strategic areas: Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union, disaster relief, church planting, church revitalization and partnership missions.
*Day 2 — Disaster Relief
Cookie Baker said her work as a Disaster Relief chaplain has brought her in contact with person after person who needs to hear there’s hope for the future. Led by Mark Wakefield, Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers like Baker are bringing that help and hope to places where people are hurting.
*Day 3 — Alabama WMU
For 25 years, Marti Richardson has taught missions to preschoolers at Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery, and she’s seen some of them grow up to be missionaries. That’s exactly the kind of missions discipleship Alabama WMU exists to support.
*Day 4 — Church Planting
Gilliam Springs Baptist Church in Arab wanted to reach their area more effectively, so they began working toward planting a church in the Lincoln Mill area of Huntsville. As they did, SBOM’s church planter training helped them prepare.
*Day 5 — Partnership Missions
Wallace and Dee, an Alabama missionary couple serving in western Europe, said they were “desperate” for partners to come and pray for the people they serve. SBOM connected them with Lineville Baptist Church, and both the missionaries and the church have seen God move in a big way.
*Day 6 — Church Revitalization
The revitalization journey of First Baptist Church in Rogersville had been up and down for several years, so they decided to call SBOM and ask for help from a revitalization consultant. The church has since been able to refocus, make plans and grow.
*Day 7 — Disaster Relief
Ron Culberson says his teams can do a lot more a lot faster these days than they could when he first started serving as a Disaster Relief volunteer. That’s because of a growing fleet of equipment provided by Alabama Baptists. With machinery like skid steers, they’re able to help more people more quickly.
*Day 8 — Alabama WMU
Hannah Thomas, a longtime missionary in Sub-Saharan Africa, says the seeds of her missions call started at WorldSong Missions Place. The camp invests yearly in children, helping them know they can have a relationship with God and share that with others around the world.
Some names altered for security reasons.
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