MAKK Impact

Posted on June 26, 2017 by Joy Bolton

Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids is a three-day mission trip for children in grades 4-6 and their leaders. During MAKK we have Bible study, crafts, games, drama, and music. A missionary shares their work at each location.

I was able to join in the MAKK experience this year in Lexington. In our closing session, participants were asked to write on Post-It Notes things that they were thankful for. The notes show the impact of MAKK on the children and adults who participated. Here are some of the things they shared:

Kids with big hearts
All of the friends I made
Meeting all the people and getting to go to the rest home
Being able to fill sack lunches for the homeless
For the Lexington Rescue Mission
I am thankful for the kids learning how to show God’s love to others. And for meeting new people that we helped
For nursing homes
For the many volunteers to help share Christ with kids
Telling people about Jesus at the nursing home
Helping seniors
Two salvations!
Getting to see joyful faces on the people at the nursing home
I got to go on mission and serve others in God’s Name
That we helped tell people about Jesus at the nursing home
For all the ministries we got to experience this weekend
Chance to serve Miss Shirley at the nursing home and pray with her. We said John 3:16 together.
Being saved by Jesus!
The way we worked to show God’s love to others. Very rewarding.
I’m thankful we got to go to Mission Lexington and help the people
Baking for Ronald McDonald House
Serving the Lord with other Christians. Meeting new people
I enjoyed loving on the patients at the nursing home
Talking and working with the nursing home patients
For making new friends and baking
That we got to help clean
Lots of fun
A great week

The thankful note that made me smile the most said “We got to conquer the world!!” Sending children and adults out to prayerwalk on Thursday (in the rain!), serve in area ministries on Friday, and have Bible School nursing homes on Saturday might not seem like conquering the world to some, but I understand what this child meant. Through MAKK, children conquered fears of new places and people. They conquered fears that they were asked to do a ministry they had never done before. And we know that whenever we go in the Name of Jesus, Satan is conquered. Yes, to the child on the Green team who wrote the note, we conquered the world in Jesus Name.

An empty belly can drown out the cry of an empty heart

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Joy Bolton

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Global Hunger Relief provides an avenue for believers to fulfill the biblical mandate to care for others, and it also makes it easier for those receiving the relief to be open to the voice of God. Just as hunger is an obstacle to children making the most of their time at school, an empty belly often shouts down the cry of an empty heart.

As October begins, let’s get an updated picture of this global crisis, and encourage those around us to respond individually and corporately. WMU has curricula for preschoolers, adults, and in Spanish, related to the issue of hunger relief.

As part of our new Plug-In Missions Ed initiative, Kentucky WMU encourages churches to get boys and girls involved in hunger relief. WMU’s e4 (engage explore, expand, and experience) series (pictured above) provides up to four weeks of focused learning and application for children at just a few dollars for the digital download. If you’ve never tried an e4 study before, this will be a great opportunity for you and your students to give it a test drive.

On Mission with Kentucky Changers and MAKK

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Joy Bolton

Sleeping on an air mattress on the floor is not everyone’s definition of a good time, but it is for the students and adult volunteers who go on mission through Kentucky Changers and Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids. Last week I joined in the fun with with 240 Kentucky Changers participants and volunteers as they served in Calloway County (Blood River Baptist Association), June 18-24. I also kept tabs through Facebook on the children and leaders who were in Richmond and Bowling Green with Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids.

Since I experienced Changers first hand, let me share a little about the week. After arriving on Saturday and getting settled in rooms at Calloway County High School, the week began with supper prepared by a great kitchen crew. The food is wonderful and in spite of working hard, it is not a week to lose weight! After supper, students were assigned to crews and met their crew chief and other students. They learned about the homes where they would be working and the jobs they would tackle together.

On Sunday, the Kentucky Changers attended worship with their host churches. These churches provided lunch every day at the work site for their Changers crew.

Nightly worship times were very special. Casey Jones led in praise and worship music. Nick Stamps was our camp pastor and challenged us all in our walk with Christ. Decisions for Christ were made throughout the week.

I was one of two photographers throughout the week. We traveled to the sites to capture pictures and video of the work. Students were a witness to a watching community as they toiled in the heat without complaint. In a day when students are in the news for all the wrong reasons, Kentucky Changers make an impact just by showing up to work and care for people with needs.

It was exciting for Kentucky Changers to be on the front page of the Murray Ledger & Times. I learned a new term when a local official shared her thanks in the closing celebration and mentioned that it was significant for the newspaper story to not only be on the front page, but also “above the fold.”

I spoke with several senior adults who were assisted by Kentucky Changers. They could not say enough good about the students who had come to work on their homes. We have posted two video testimonies.

A new part of the training for Kentucky Changers is on how to share your faith. Students learned how to share the plan of salvation and also wrote out their testimonies using the outline provided by Tell Your Story.Today. On one day’s recap video, we had the testimony of a student telling about her experience in sharing a “colors of faith” bracelet. It was great when students came to see Kentucky Changers Coordinator Peggy Murphy and tell her that they had given away their bracelet that day and needed another one. We always asked them to tell us about that experience. These students were always beaming when they told what had happened. One student participant in Hopkinsville told Peggy that learning to share her faith using the bracelet was the best part of the week.

While the Changers were hard at work, children and leaders also came together to do missions. Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kidds (MAKK) was held in Richmond, June 16-18, and Bowling Green, June 23-15. Through MAKK, boys and girls in grades 4-6 experience a missions trip where they participate in local ministries. The children also learn new skills and then lead in outreach activities with children in the community.

Kentucky students are ready to go to the next level and they can through MAKK and Kentucky Changers. Kentucky WMU provides opportunities for children and students to serve and witness. We are Kentucky proud of them!

EBO gifts at work this summer

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Joy Bolton

Summer is upon us with all of the wonderful ways that Kentucky WMU involves children and students (youth) in missions.

Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids will take place June 16-18 in Richmond and June 23-25 in Bowling Green. Red House Baptist Church will host in Richmond and Calvary Baptist Church in Bowling Green. Each three day mission trip includes prayer walking, worship, Bible study, mission projects and Kentucky Kid fun! Ministries include sorting, organizing donations of food and clothing, home meals delivery to the homebound, games with children at a shelter, making cookies for international students, and more.

Kentucky Changers will do home repairs for low-income home owners in Hopkinsville (June 11-17), Calloway County (June 18-24), Greensburg (July 2-8), and Frankfort (July 9-12). Building on the 2016 theme, “Stay Connected to the Source,” students will be challenged through nightly worship to stay connected to Jesus in all of life. Volunteers of all ages assist with teaching construction skills, supervising projects, cooking, checking out tools, and many other tasks to support the students as they serve.

Overnights for Mothers and Daughters and Girls in Action will take place at Cedarmore (July 1-2) and Jonathan Creek (July 8-9). Participants will meet a missionary and enjoy summer fun while they learn. Acteens Quest, our newest overnight, will be held at Jonathan Creek (July 8-9) followed by a state Acteens Activators Team trip (July 11-17) to New Orleans to work at the Baptist Friendship Center. Acteens Leaders are invited to their own event, Acteens Quest for Leaders, August 5-6 at Liberty Baptist Church, Campbellsville. This will be a time for leaders to get acquainted and share ideas.

Camp Courage, a campout for boys will be July 29-30 at Laurel Lake Baptist Camp in Corbin. Boys will participate in a variety of outdoor activities while learning about missions.

We are most excited to report on the completion of a new Kentucky WMU storage facility at Cedarmore. With the addition of Kentucky Changers to the WMU family, the need for adequate storage of all the required equipment was huge. We are grateful to Mercer Baptist Association for the use of their storage building for the past two years. We also appreciate the partnership with Crossings who allowed us to construct a building at Cedarmore.

Whether supporting summer activities led by Kentucky missionaries, helping with WMU sponsored ministries, or funding outreach by church planters, EBO is at work all summer long!

2016 Missions Celebration & Annual Meeting

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Joy Bolton

WMUAnnualMeetingPostCard2016corrected-page-001 One of the most exciting times of the year for me is when we are preparing for our annual meeting. This year is no exception. Here is a little of what is in store, April 8-9 at First Baptist Church, Madisonville.

Our 2016 theme is The Heart of the Story and will focus on how we share the heart of the story, Jesus, through missions around the world. We have a great program line up and we want to encourage you to make plans now, including hotel reservations. Hotels space is tight this year and you will want to make your reservations early. There are additional hotels within an easy commute to nearby towns if rooms fill up.

2016 Schedule. The two-day event begins on Friday morning with an opening session at 9:00 a.m. (Central Time). A parade of flags will begin with the prelude music. See the detailed time schedule for conference and general sessions times.

PROGRAM GUESTS:
Linda Cooper, new national WMU president from Kentucky, will share theme interpretations. Join us in congratulating Linda on her election as national president.
Wayne & Barbra Myers, Swaziland, will tell about their work and how Hospice Care Buckets are being used to share the gospel. Plan to bring a bucket!
Terry Sharp, Urban Mobilization Strategist, International Mission Board will share insights on reaching the nations in our midst.
Meet Ron and Marilyn Leonard, along with Molly the Therapy Dog, as they share about their ministry to military men and women. The Leonard’s are NAMB MSC missionaries living in Hermitage, TN.
Ruth Ripken will be with us for a special preview showing of the new “Insanity of God” movie. If you read the book, you will not want to miss hearing Ruth and seeing the movie on Friday evening. This brand new movie will be released later in 2016. We are showing it by special arrangement with the IMB.
Benita Decker, Minister of Music, Farmdale Baptist Church, Frankfort will lead the music for our missions celebration. Melody Stafford will be our pianist.
The Childress Family singers will present a gospel concert at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening. Come for a time of worship and great music by this family group from Madisonville.
Kentucky missionaries will be featured through conferences on both Friday and Saturday. The Missionary of the Year Award and commissioning service for new Kentucky missionaries will take place in the Saturday morning session.
Donna Fegenbush will be on hand to portray Eliza Broadus! Get your picture with “Eliza.” There will also be a photo booth at registration with life size pictures of Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong. Bring your camera (or smart phone).

Children/Students are especially invited to attend on Saturday morning for a special time with the Leonard’s and Molly at 9:00 a.m.

A boxed lunch will be served on Friday. Preregistration required. Cost $9.00.

Missionary Parents are invited to gather in Room 113 during lunch for a time of sharing. If you are a missionary parent, just bring your boxed lunch and join the group.

Baptist Nursing Fellowship will have a supper meeting on Friday at 5:00 p.m. This is open to all nurses and medical professionals. At the same time, current and former members of the Kentucky WMU Executive Board will gather for a special meal. Preregistration required for both groups. Cost is $12.00.

An offering for Kentucky WMU ministries to missionaries will be received during the Missions Celebration. We receive the offering in the Friday morning, evening, and Saturday morning sessions. NEW this year: If you are not able to attend the Annual Meeting, please consider sending a $10 gift for the offering with someone else who will be attending. You may also mail in your offering or give online: www.kywmu.org/givenow.

There are two ministry projects this year. First, fhe Bucket Project returns! Kentucky Baptists collected over 3000 buckets in 2014 and will collect hospice care buckets for Baptist Global Response again in 2016. Bring completed buckets to our Missions Celebration. Disaster Relief volunteers will load the buckets onto a truck for shipment to the port selected by Baptist Global Response. Note: Please use only the updated bucket shopping list which has changed. Also, a $10 donation per bucket is requested to help defray shipping costs.

A collection of needed food items by Breaking Bread Ministry will also be received during the meeting. Help meet the needs of people in the Madisonville area.

There will be a special Heritage Fund mailbox on site where you can leave Heritage Fund donations and a card to be sent to the person you would like to honor with a gift or to the family of a person you would like to remember through your gift. Bring your address book!

For Registration, a printable information piece, and other information, go to: www.kywmu.org/annualmeeting

The Kentucky WMU Missions Celebration/Annual Meeting is the gathering place for people who care about missions. Join us!

PS: If you would like to receive other information from Kentucky WMU by email and are not already signed up, please subscribe. kywmu.org/subscribe

Kentucky WMU – Helping churches learn,pray, give, go, and send!

WMU needs to hear your voice!

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Joy Bolton

National WMU is in the process of evaluating missions resources for children and students. We have been asked to enlist as many people as possible to participate in the surveys as WMU seeks ways to enhance materials for children and students. There are separate surveys for the leaders of Girls in Action, Royal Ambassadors, Children in Action, Acteens, Challengers, and Youth on Mission. If you work with one of these organizations, we ask that you would participate in the appropriate survey by October 30. As a thank you for your time, you will find a promotion code at the end of each survey for 20% off your next purchase of WMU, New Hope, or WorldCraft products.

To make participation in the survey’s easier, Kentucky WMU has placed the links for all the surveys on one web page. Please visit kywmu.org/surveys.

Your input will help national and state WMU leaders as we seek ways to improve missions materials and enhance learning for children and students. Thank you for taking one or more of the surveys and letting WMU hear from you.

EBO at Work This Summer

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Joy Bolton

Last year Kentucky WMU decided to go in a new direction with “summer camp” for children and began making plans for Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids (MAKK). Our first two adventures were awesome. In both Princeton and Inez last month, children arrived on Thursday where there were introductory activities. Every activity was purposeful as the children were being prepared for how they would be on mission.

The first ministry was to prayer walk the community. Children were introduced to the concept and provided with a ring of cards with prayer prompts for the community. They used these as they walked and prayed. The intergenerational praying was wonderful.

On Friday morning the children participated in Bible study, music, games, drama, and crafts. Again, everything had a purpose for a ministry project. Everything the children were learning was so that they could lead in a Backyard Bible Club to be held on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon the children headed out to sing at area nursing homes, then go to another local ministry to help with sorting and shelving donations. The afternoon included fun as well with swimming and fun at the park. A missionary was part of the team at each location.

We are so excited about MAKK and how this experience takes camp and missions learning to the next level for children. Adult leaders were very positive about the experience and both locations wanted to know if were coming back next year. We do plan to move this around the state so that more children can participate in a hands on mission adventure.

Kentucky Changers has also been underway in June with projects in Richmond, Marshall County, and Maysville. The final week is July 13-18 in Henderson. It was exciting for me to be present for the closing celebration in Richmond and watch as students filled the front of the church indicating that they had made some type of decision for Christ during the week. And not only students have made decisions this summer. In Richmond I counseled with one adult who came to help that had been touched by what had taken place. Decisions by homeowners have also been reported. Changers totals thus far:
Richmond had a total of 420 participants who worked on 28 jobs. There were 53 decisions.
Marshall County had 154 participants who worked on 13 jobs. There were 14 decisions.
Maysville had 245 participants who worked on 24 jobs. There were 19 decisions.
For Henderson we have 171 registered and they will be working on 13-14 jobs.

GA and Mother/Daughter Overnights are a highlight for girls and leaders and moms in July. We will be at Jonathan Creek, July 10-11, and at Cedar Crest, July 17-18. Camp Courage at Laurel Lake for RAs, Challengers, leaders, and dads will be July 31-August 1. In all of these missions events, the Eliza Broadus Offering is at work. Thank you Kentucky Baptists for providing missions learning and opportunities.

EBO for 2014-15 is nearing the end of the offering year which closes on August 31. As of July 7, the total received is $1,185,269 towards our goal of $1,250,000. It’s not too late to give to help reach the 2014 goal. Give online or through your church.

Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Joy Bolton

Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids is a new missions opportunity for children in grades 4-6 and their leaders sponsored by Kentucky WMU. Offered in two locations, east and west Kentucky, each adventure includes three days of hands-on missions as well as Bible study, missionaries, track time, recreation and more. Each adventure takes place in a Thursday through Saturday time frame. The first adventure is June 11-13 in Princeton, Kentucky. The second opportunity is June 25-27 in Inez..

Here are some of the highlights;
Thursday: Registration, Worship, Prayer Walks, Project Orientation, Kentucky Kid Fun
Friday: Quiet Time, Worship, Bible Study, Mission Projects, Kentucky Kid Fun
Saturday: Quiet Time, Worship, Bible Study, Backyard Bible Clubs, Closing Celebration

Prayer walking will lay the foundation for the ministry projects and help children see needs in each community. The Friday ministries include helping at local thrift stores with sorting items and singing at area nursing homes. On Saturday the children will help with Backyard Bible Clubs.

We are excited about the upcoming adventures. Supplies are stacking up as Stacy Nall, Kentucky WMU Missions Consultant for Children, gets everything ready. Jon Auten, Missions Consultant for Royal Ambassadors, will also be on the team along with a number of other WMU volunteers.

Pray for Stacy, Jon, and the volunteers who are leading these mission adventures. Pray for the children and the adult chaperones. Pray for the communities where the children will minister. Pray that this Mission Adventure for each child will lead to many more.

The giving of your church through the Cooperative Program and your gifts to the Eliza Broadus Offering help us make Mission Adventure for Kentucky Kids possible. Thank you for giving generously to Kentucky missions.

Kentucky WMU helps churches learn, pray, give, go and send!

Discover the Joy of Missions

Reflections from Joy Bolton

Category Archives: Children