Vision and purpose for Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) means holding on to passions defined during the group’s 112-year history but expressing them in fresh ways.
“WMU is a network of a variety of groups, causes and ministries that are united by our commitment to the Great Commission,” said Beverly Miller, executive director of Alabama WMU.
Reporting to the recent Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Huntsville, Miller said that the five passions of WMU are:
- Seeking wisdom
- Touching lives
- Caring globally
- Finding fellowship
- Passing it on.
While Alabama WMU sponsors ongoing ministries such as WorldSong Missions Place and Operation Christmas Child, Miller highlighted the Parish Nurse Project and Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC).
Two Huntsville-area Baptists shared their stories about the ministries.
Eugenia Evans, a parish nurse at First Baptist Church, Huntsville, explained that the Parish Nurse Project is a flexible program that “can be whatever you want it to be. It is a health ministry.”
Miller added, “It is an avenue to evangelism by caring holistically for the individual.”
Linda Baily, a graduate of Huntsville’s CWJC, shared how a women-helping-women program gave her back her life.
“I was depressed and abused,” she said. “There was nothing in my life anymore.” But through CWJC, “I began to dream again and (now) I’m in college,” she said. “I started at age 51, and I’m teaching one of the computer classes at CWJC.”
Miller said Baily is successful because the CWJC program insures that each student has a Christian mentor or prayer partner committed to the student’s spiritual growth and holistic health.
“CWJC’s objective is to bring women from poverty to independence while caring for the physical, emotional, economical and spiritual,” Miller said.
While helping women through CWJC, Alabama WMU is commited to strengthening Alabama schools, according to the state convention’s “Book of Reports.”
In an effort to ensure every Alabama child receives a quality education in a safe and wholesome environment, Alabama WMU has provided resources and training as well as sponsored prayer walks, tutored and adopted classrooms.
Alabama WMU also launched a new Women on Mission Educators Network (W.O.M.E.N.), which will provide professional enrichment and training in a Christian environment. The program is a network for educators to become involved in local and global ministries, as well as a supportive fellowship.”
In other actions this year, Alabama WMU elected a new president — author and conference leader Stuart Calvert of Boaz — and adopted bylaws to strengthen the role of its board of trustees.
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