Wanda Lee announced a search committee will be appointed to seek her successor as executive director/treasurer of national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) at the group’s board meeting Jan. 9–11.
In her report, Lee said no date has been set for her retirement. She pledged to continue to lead WMU until a new executive director is named.
“It’s my desire to ensure a seamless transition as the committee seeks someone with a fresh vision for our future,” Lee shared Jan. 11 at the meeting. “May God bless the new leader of national WMU as He’s blessed me on my leadership journey.”
Lee, at the age of 50, was elected the seventh executive director of national WMU in January 2000. She is the only woman in the history of WMU who also served as national president, an office she held from 1996 to 2000. She also served as president of Georgia WMU from 1993 to 1996.
Lee, who was born in Russellville, has served in church and associational WMU or missions roles since 1973 when her husband, Larry, was in his first pastorate at Gilgal Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa. She and her husband and two children also served as missionaries in St. Vincent, Windward Islands, with the International Mission Board (IMB) from 1979 to 1981.
When elected into her current position, Lee told the WMU executive board members and national and state WMU staff members present that WMU “in the local church and in my association made it possible for me to learn about missions and try my hand at leadership. Because of WMU, I heard God’s call to missions and was appointed. I am who I am today because God was able to use this organization to teach me and create the atmosphere where I could hear Him speak.”
During the January meeting WMU also heard missions reports and addressed ways it is assisting IMB personnel who have elected to take a voluntary retirement incentive. The meeting was at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega.
Board members, along with state and national WMU staff, also heard from North American and international missionaries who are seeking to share the love of Christ to those around them.
Whether serving in Indianapolis like Barry and Amy Rager or in Canada like Susan Booth or across the globe, each missionary who spoke shared that he or she was a product of Royal Ambassadors (RAs) or Girls in Action (GAs). Many first felt called to missions at a young age through these missions organizations.
“By All Means” — the WMU emphasis to be launched in Southern Baptist churches across the country in September 2016 — highlights practical ways to share the gospel in today’s postmodern culture. It is based on the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:22–23: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
At the meeting, much focus was placed on tangible ways WMU is supporting IMB personnel who have elected to take a voluntary retirement incentive since IMB announced efforts to address budget shortfalls.
Lee said, “We have grieved these missionaries coming home as a WMU family, with IMB and with our churches. But the world has come to our nation, and God, in His sovereignty, is bringing home one of our greatest resources — experienced missionaries who know various languages and cultures — and we need to help them during this transition.”
‘Wake us up’
“I pray this (reduction of field personnel) will wake us up out of our complacency,” Lee said, “that we will truly understand the depth of lostness in our world and embrace our responsibility to share Christ. This understanding begins through missions discipleship programs like Mission Friends, GAs and RAs that cultivate a missions heart. Along with providing these learning opportunities, we pledge our strong commitment to promote and support the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO), Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO), Cooperative Program and Global Hunger Relief … those cooperative efforts to sustain and grow support for Southern Baptist missions.”
In other business, the WMU executive board:
- Awarded nearly $184,000 in endowments, grants and scholarships in partnership with the WMU Foundation.
- Approved $155 million as the 2016 LMCO goal.
- Approved $70 million as the 2017 AAEO goal.
(compiled from BP)
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