The East Africa Baptist Women’s Union meeting officially opened today with a procession of the ladies singing and dancing from the gate of the Baptist High School into the auditorium where the meeting was to be held.  Most were dressed in a special shirt and skirt.  The biggest challenge for me was keeping the skirt tied.  One lady stopped me and tied mine properly and I had no more trouble during the day.  I did note that even the African ladies had to periodically re-tie their skirts from time to time.  Made me feel better about not being too good at it.

The leaders of the East African Baptist Women’s Union are excellent speakers.  They are passionate about God’s Word and had challenging messages.  We also heard from the president of the All African Baptist Fellowship.  His message on walking with God was one of the best I’ve heard on the topic.

My favorite moment of the day was when one of the ladies began explaining the logo.  The East Africa Baptist Women’s Union logo is based on the historic WMU logo.  So is the logo in Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, and other countries as well.  I prefer the historic WMU logo and have it on display in my office.  The torch, open Bible, and globe are representative of the work of WMU.  The verse on the open Bible is “Laborers Together with God.”    This describes the work of WMU in the USA and around the world.

Tomorrow Linda and I will speak on the work of WMU.  The basic principles of WMU – learn, pray, give, go – translate into any culture. 

It is a privilege to be in Tanzania for this meeting.  I was in Tanzania in 2008 when a group of us from the KBC came and met with Baptist leaders here.  At that time the Baptist Women’s Union of Tanzania had not met in some time.  We talked about the women’s work and encouraged them to meet.  With financial assistance from Kentucky WMU, they held a meeting for the ladies later that summer and elected officers once again.  It is exciting to see their work growing stronger.

Pictures from the East Africa Baptist Women’s Union meeting are posted at: