Ministry Highlights: WMU Annual Meeting & Missions Fair
| Ministry Highlights | Amy Hirsch
June Whitlow is the WMU Director for the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association WMU and led the charge to organize this year's WMU Annual Meeting and Missions Fair on April 23. June shares a little bit about the events of the day and how several members of our church were integral to this year's meeting and fair. Contact June to learn how you can get involved with the work of the BMBA WMU.
Wow, what fun we had at the recent Birmingham Metro Baptist Associational WMU Annual Meeting and Missions Fair. We met at Canaan Baptist Church in Bessemer on Saturday, April 23. This was a family event designed especially to teach missions and present opportunities for service. Our theme was "Serving With Joy."
Micah Rich from our church said, “I didn’t know this would be so much fun.” Learning about missions is fun! Sarah and her children, Micah and Abby, were our featured musicians. Sarah, with all her enthusiasm, took center stage and the three of them taught us selected VBS and camp songs about joy. You should have seen the seasoned adults moving up and down and from side to side, making hand motions, and trying to keep up with Sarah and her children. When we finished our fun time, Sarah sang “Give Me Jesus” and the missionary, Dewayne Rembert, bounced to the platform in his tennis shoes and begin talking a-mile-a-minute. He is a missionary from the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions and serves as a church planter in Montgomery. He gave his testimony about being a young boy and going to church with his grandmother. When his grandmother passed away, nobody guided him toward the church and he took to the streets. He reminded us that there are people like him in every corner of a city - even Birmingham. He concluded by telling us how much joy he receives today in serving Christ.
As people traveled toward the gym, they encountered the clown, Jo Wills, along with Pat Ferguson giving away popcorn. They passed the Disaster Relief truck that WMU helped to buy with the 2021 Helen White/Evie Eubank Offering. Inside there were balloons galore and 24 interactive missions displays. Ten missionaries, both active and retired, represented many areas of the world. As people stopped at their displays, they told about customs in their countries and their work among the peoples there. Moving around the gym, guests encountered Bob and Sally Berryhill who served in Uganda and Clarke Skelton who served in Korea. Some of the other missionaries on site were from Japan, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. Retired missionaries shared about their many years serving with joy. A happy moment for Abby Rich was getting a bracelet from a missionary from Southeast Asia. Along the way participants picked up Lottie Moon cookies and a recipe for making them. The awarding of door prizes concluded the Fair. As people left the gym, they were excited to have learned what God is doing in our world today.
