Holding up gold pen lights, Southern Baptist
Woman’s Missionary Union members embraced the Great Commission
challenge to shine the light of Christ into areas of spiritual darkness last
week.
Marking a historic point in the mission organization’s
112-year history, the national organization installed Wanda Lee as its seventh
executive director during its annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., last week.
Holding up gold pen lights, Southern Baptist
Woman’s Missionary Union members embraced the Great Commission
challenge to shine the light of Christ into areas of spiritual darkness last
week.
Marking a historic point in the mission organization’s
112-year history, the national organization installed Wanda Lee as its seventh
executive director during its annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., last week.
They also elected Louisiana Baptist church member
Janet Hoffman as president of the missions education agency.
The annual meeting focused on encouraging attendees
to keep “Dispelling the Darkness” in a lost and hurting world.
During a spotlight on international and North American
missions, Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, encouraged
the participants to pray for missionaries “who are sharing the gospel in
places still shrouded in darkness.”
Record missions giving has allowed Southern Baptists
“to penetrate the darkness in those restricted places where Christ is just
now being heard,” Southern Baptist International Mission Board President
Jerry Rankin told women.
“Jesus didn’t qualify the Great Commission
to only send missionaries where they are welcome and can go without risk. God
is going before us, opening the door.”
Rankin urged women to continue praying for missionaries,
even those whose names cannot be listed on prayer calendars because of the areas
in which they serve.
That missions challenge was consistent throughout
the annual meeting.
Despite the doubts of some and the fast pace of a
modern world, Woman’s Missionary Union must not forsake the task of missions
education, Wanda Lee insisted in her first report as executive director.
“How do we challenge people to grow in their
knowledge of God’s work around the world? How do we find the time to do
that?” Lee asked. “The truth is, we can’t afford not to challenge
them. We can’t afford not to call them to accountability for the command
of the Great Commission.”
Lee acknowledged there are those who question if
Woman’s Missionary Union is still viable and who say there is no time for
missions education in such a busy world. But the need to help people grow in
their knowledge of God’s work around the world has not changed, she added.
” We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are
commissioned and called to carry the light of the gospel to a darkened world.
Knowing this truth and (knowing) that many in the world still do not know (Christ)
mandates that we seek new and different ways to challenge the church to make
missions once again a high priority.”
Doing missions is at the heart of what Woman’s
Missionary Union is, Lee said. And the work done for children is essential and
helps lead them to a point of commitment to go wherever God leads, she added.
Lee also challenged women to realize the tremendous
force they can be through the power of prayer. “When God’s people
truly know him and understand his faithfulness to answer our prayers, they cannot
not pray, …” she said. “It is in our commitment to hear only
his voice … that we can find the strength and the courage needed. …
“Hold fast to him and him alone. Serve the Lord
with all your heart, with all your soul,” Lee concluded. “When you
do, his promise is to bless us and guide us for all the days ahead.”
Throughout the meeting, missions leaders thanked
Woman’s Missionary Union members for the role they play in praying and
promoting missions giving.
“Women are the ones who power our missions,”
Southern Baptist North American Mission Board worker David Lema said. He urged
Woman’s Missionary Union members to “keep hammering away, keep praying
and keep being the women on mission that God wants you to be.”
As a tangible illustration of the work Woman’s
Missionary Union is about, Southern Baptist missionary Lynn Latham presented
nine graduates of Restoration House of Orlando. The ministry is connected with
the WMU’s Christian Women’s Job Corp program, which helps needy women
learn to live a Christian life on their own.
The women stood before the crowd, holding in front
of their faces reproductions of the unflattering mug shots taken when they were
last arrested before joining the Restoration house program.
At Latham’s signal, they lowered the photographs
from their old, sin-filled lives and revealed the radically changed, shining
faces that are part of their new lives as Christians. Many in the crowd were
visibly moved by the stark difference between the old mug shots and the women
who stood before them and sprang to their feet to give the graduates a standing
ovation.
Throughout the annual meeting, speakers thanked Woman’s
Missionary Union members for their influence and exhorted them to “keep
on keeping on” in such efforts.
Citing his longtime love affair with Woman’s
Missionary Union, Georgia Baptist pastor Emmanuel McCall declared, “If
one is to grow a strong, healthy mission-minded church, it must have a WMU.”
McCall told of being on a mission trip to Liberia.
On a rainy night when he could not sleep and there was no electricity, he struggled
to find light. He finally located one on a fishing vessel miles away.
“We, too, can become such a beacon of light
to the darkened world, because we are equipped with God’s grace,”
McCall concluded. “The glory of God will be revealed to this darkened world
because WMU members, who have been called and commissioned by Him and have been
faithful to Him all these years, will continue to do so.”
“Joy” and “Janie” also spoke
of their work as Southern Baptist missionaries. Neither was identified because
of the nature and area of their work.
“I depend on you — and all my colleagues
depend on you — to hold the ropes for us, …” Janie told Woman’s
Missionary Union participants. “We are working together in God’s field.
We are laborers with God.”
In their elections, women selected Janet Hoffman
of Farmerville as national president and Yolanda Colderon of Modesto, Calif.,
as recording secretary. Both women were elected to one-year terms and are eligible
to serve a total of five years with annual re-election.
Hoffman has served as national recording secretary
since 1996. In her new post, she succeeds Lee, who was serving as president
when elected executive director.
Hoffman, 64, is a pastor’s wife of more than
40 years. She has been active in various levels of Woman’s Missionary Union
work and previously served as state WMU president in Louisiana.
She and her husband, Harvey, are members at First
Baptist Church of Farmerville. They have three adult children, all of whom are
involved in Christian ministry.
Calderon, 58, is the first ethnic leader to be elected
to a national WMU office. She has served in a variety of positions, including
as state WMU president in California.
Both women were elected without opposition.
Following the election, Hoffman acknowledged the
challenges that await Woman’s Missionary Union could not be met by any
one person.
“(But) There is no task before us so great as
the power behind us, …” Hoffman reminded women. “Together with the
Lord, we can (meet the challenges).
“Together, we must.”