WMU Slates Array of Mission Training Opportunities for 2005
A number of WMU events will be organized for mission leaders—including pastors, ministers of missions, children's ministers and all volunteer group leaders—or any others wanting to learn more about missions and ministry involvement.
International Initiatives of the Woman’s Missionary Unions will offer several mission trips and tours this year to locations in Europe including France, Moldova, and England. Meanwhile a number of WMU events in the United States will be organized for missions leaders—including pastors, ministers of missions, children's ministers and all volunteer group leaders—or any others wanting to learn more about missions and ministry involvement.
In 2005, International Initiatives launched a new partnership with the Moldovan Baptist Union's women's department. The Baptist Press reports that a team has been enlisted to go to Moldova in May to lead retreats sponsored by the Moldovan Baptist women's ministry for younger women. Another team will go to the European country in November to help church leaders establish missions education through Girls in Action and Acteens organizations.
Also in May, an International Initiatives team will travel to Croatia to lead seminars and conferences in partnership with women's leaders there for approximately 150 women in leadership roles throughout the country. Following the conference, the team will travel to local churches to visit with women's groups.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
WMU and its WMU Foundation are also organizing a July 21-Aug. 2 tour to England for the Baptist World Alliance "Seeing With New Eyes" women's leadership conference. The 13-day trip will include the BWA's Centenary Congress and historic sites in England.
Meanwhile, WMU's International Initiatives will also offer several missions trips, including two trips to Paris to work with International Mission Board field personnel there in direct evangelism from April 30-May 7 and to provide servant evangelism from Nov. 12-19.
And for female college students, WMU is offering two missions trips in 2005. An Aug. 1-15 backpacking and prayer-walking trip through the Croatian islands will focus on ministry to European tourists. Collegiate women may also serve in inner city Houston at the Gano Mission Center July 10-15.
In the U.S., WMU will be holding the “Discover the Joy of Missions” event this fall at the LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C.
Beginning with the Discover the Joy of Missions WMU Conference on Sept. 28-30, participants will take part in sessions relaying numerous ideas for involving the entire church in missions, along with times of worship and testimonies from the mission field.
Following the conference, Discover the Joy of Missions Weekender (Sept. 30 – Oct. 2) will provide participants with a time of "enrichment and challenge through Bible study, ministry ideas, worship and fellowship to broaden their worldview and learn more about living as a committed follower of Christ."
Joyce Mitchell, national WMU's leadership development team leader and organizer of the Discover the Joy of Missions event, noted that attendees "may learn a new skill such as creative storytelling, how to lead a team, how to involve and recruit volunteers, or how to conduct a spectacular missions event.”
“Others may be inspired to share their faith more effectively or deepen their prayer life,” Mitchell told BP. “Still others may have their eyes opened to contemporary youth culture and discover their calling to be a mentor."
"But in addition to this time of discovery and learning, attendees will be provided with tangible resources and practical suggestions for 'next steps' related to their area of interest," Mitchell added.
For hands-on experiences, several three- or five- day pre-planned ministry experiences will offer volunteers an opportunity to partner with Christians in designated cities to support ongoing missions projects and to use their individual gifts to reach out, help others, and share the love of Christ.
According to BP, WMU MissionsFEST and FamilyFEST experiences offer a unique opportunity for adults to model a missions lifestyle to their children, their grandchildren and other young people in working together to serve others.
With each MissionsFEST and FamilyFEST, the types of ministry projects vary depending on the needs of the local community. However, common opportunities include prayerwalking, servant evangelism, light construction and repairs, block parties, health fairs and sports camps.
Kristy Carr, WMU's Volunteer Connection specialist, said MissionsFEST and FamilyFEST attendees "return home eager to learn about needs in their area and do what they can to be on mission wherever God calls them to serve."
"It is such a privilege to see volunteers beam with excitement and enthusiasm as they see God working and realize that He has not only called every Christian to be involved in missions, but He has equipped them for missions," Carr told BP.
Open to adults 18 years and older, MissionsFEST will be offered in New York, April 9-16; Salt Lake City, July 9-16; North Carolina Triad (Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem area), July 16-22; and the Appalachia area (western Maryland and Clarksburg, W.Va.), Sept. 17-24.
Meanwhile, FamilyFEST will be open to anyone in first grade and above and appear at sites including San Diego, Calif./Tijuana, Mexico, June 26-July 1; Salt Lake City, July 12-16; and the North Carolina Triad, July 19-22.
For registration information for the WMU's Discover the Joy of Missions event (WMU Conference and Missions Weekender), visit www.wmu.com/ridgecrest2005 or call toll-free 1-800-588-7222.
For MissionsFEST and FamilyFEST, contact WMU's Volunteer Connection, visit http://www.wmu.com/getinvolved/ministry/volunteer or call (205) 991-4097.
For WMU's International Initiatives, visit www.wmu.com/getinvolved/ministry/International or call (205) 991-4096.
For WMU's trip to England, visit www.wmufoundation.com or call toll-free 1-877-482-4483.
For collegiate women, visit www.missionsinterchange.com.
