Our 2013 Kentucky WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting is just a few days away! We look forward to gathering at First Baptist Church, Hopkinsville, on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, for two packed days of missions! If you are still making plans, it is not too late! Preregistration is not required.
For information about the schedule and conferences offered, please review all of the information posted on our web site: www.kywmu.org/annualmeeting.
Our 110th Annual Meeting celebrates the 125th birthday of WMU, the 100th birthday of GA (Girls in Action), and the 100th anniversary of the Eliza Broadus Offering for state missions. Everything begins on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. with an opening session focused on international missions. Rosalie Hunt, Recording Secretary, National WMU, will provide theme interpretations in each session. On Friday morning she will portray Ann Judson, first American Baptist woman missionary, who served with her husband Adoniram in Burma.
The morning session will be followed by three conference times (11 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m.) which will offer a variety of conferences and activities. For a list of options, go to: http://www.kywmu.org/annualmeetingconferences
For those who did not register in advance for a boxed lunch or banquet ticket (Friday), a few tickets may be available from those who were not able to attend. You can check at the ticket table after the Friday morning session. OR, just bring a sack lunch on Friday! You may eat your lunch in a conference or take it outside (lovely weather is predicted!). Due to deadlines with caterers it is necessary for us to have a deadline for meal registration. Your understanding is appreciated.
The work of Kentucky WMU will be featured on Friday afternoon. Rosalie will portray Eliza Broadus in her theme interpretation which will lead into our state missions emphasis. Jenifer Shearson will share her WMU testimony, followed by the election of officers and Executive Board members for 2013-14 during the business session.
The Cooperative Program will be highlighted in the Friday evening session. Curtis Woods, Associate Executive Director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention; Barry Allen, President of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and last frontier missionaries will share the importance of the Cooperative Program in funding Southern Baptist missions. The Kentucky Missionary of the Year award will also be presented in the Friday evening session. Dan Summerlin, president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, will close out the session.
On Saturday morning, conferences and other activities will begin at 9:00 a.m. Nurses are encouraged to attend the BNF meeting which will be offered during the Saturday conference period. WMU is the sponsor of Baptist Nursing Fellowship, a national organization for Christian nurses and medical workers. Children are also invited participate on Saturday morning and come meet our age-level consultants in the display area at 9:00 a.m. In addition, a number of kid-friendly conference options are also being offered. Saturday options are included on the conferences web page: www.kywmu.org/annualmeetingconferences.
The Saturday session begins at 10:00 a.m. Rosalie Hunt will portray Lottie Moon and the session will include a celebration of the 100th birthday of GA. All participants are invited to wear their missions badges or special outfits. Children are invited to bring a special “birthday in a bag” to help low income families have the resources to provide a birthday celebration for their children. Laura Morris, a grown up GA, will share her WMU testimony and we will learn more about praying for NAME (North Africa and the Middle East).
A special Disaster Relief lunch will be served the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) Feeding Unit. Participants can experience a typical DR meal and see the unit in operation. Suggested donation is $5.00. Preregistration for the meal not required and we will serve until we run out or everyone is fed! We have prepared for 400.
The 2013 Annual Meeting includes a collection project to bring toiletry items for Impact Ministry of Hopkinsville and FamilyFEST, a ministry of WMU to take place in the Paducah and Henderson areas this summer. Requested items include: toothbrushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, shampoo, combs, razors, and deodorant. Full size (not travel size) preferred.
An offering for Kentucky WMU ministries to missionaries and Missionary Kids (MKs) will be received Kentucky WMU provides Christmas gifts to Kentucky born international missionaries as well as a fall and spring gift to Kentucky MKs who are attending college in Kentucky. The Kentucky Missionary Parents Fellowship, another facet of Kentucky WMU ministries to missionaries, will meet on Saturday during the DR lunch. All parents of international missionaries are invited to participate.
Special tours of local ministries will be offered during Annual Meeting. There is a walking tour to two nearby ministries offered twice on Friday (no preregistration required for the Friday tours). Then a special tour of Hopkinsville area ministries will be offered at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The van tour includes Impact Ministry, Christian Women’s Job Corps, Oak Meadows Ranch, and Challenge House III. Space is still available on the Saturday afternoon tour. Please call the office to preregister (so that we have enough van space!). Call us at 866-489-3534 or 502-489-3534. For more information about the tours, go to www.kywmu.org/ministrytours
We look forward to seeing you in Hopkinsville! The Kentucky WMU Annual Meeting is the gathering place for everyone who cares about missions!
