Florida’s women called to joy, called to action

By Lauren Urtel / May 1, 2007

PLANT CITY (FBC)—Nearly 600 Florida Baptist Women, representing 133 churches, gathered at First Baptist Church of Plant City April 20-21 for the Women’s Missions and Ministries 113th annual Celebration of Missions. Centering on the theme “A Call to Joy,” the women were encouraged to make the “joy of the Lord” known throughout the world.

“Do they call you a Christian? Do they know you by your love?” challenged Lynn Latham, Greater Orlando Baptist Association’s director of Church and Community Ministries, as she asked the women to have God’s joy be evident in their lives. “The rest of the story is ours. What are you going to do with what you have?” she concluded.

In four addresses, Women’s Missionary Union speaker and author Barbara Joiner shared stories of Christians displaying joy in the mission field and her own life experiences when she called upon the joy of the Lord. She encouraged the women in attendance to be aware of God’s presence in their lives and to “count it all to joy.”

International missionary couples shared their experiences and thanked Florida Baptist women for their spiritual and financial support. Michael and Patty, a missionary couple in the Pacific Rim spoke to the hardships of witnessing in Muslim nations, crediting their survival to prayer and joy in the Lord. “When you follow Jesus it doesn’t matter if it is in the face of danger, sickness or trouble. There is joy in following Him wherever He leads because it is in the wake of His triumph,” said Michael.

Jay and Jan Cook, who have served with their children as church planters in Argentina for three years, testified to 12 new church starts and asked the women for continued prayer. “We have a purpose bigger than all of us,” said Jay. “Please don’t quit giving, don’t quit going and don’t quit praying.” The Cooks’ daughter Elizabeth, who is thirteen and the oldest of four, also spoke, tearfully explaining that the greatest moment of her life was when she was able to help lead an Argentinean boy to Christ.

Four Haitian ministers, part of the Florida Baptist Convention’s Haitian partnership, were present to share their missions experience. Through translation and broken English, they explained the challenges of ministering in a nation faced with severe poverty and in a part of the world where voodoo is still widely practiced. The four men thanked Florida’s women for their support and asked that they continue to pray for Haiti.

Addressing Florida’s WMM leaders, Barbara Curnutt, executive director-treasurer of the Georgia WMU, cited her work in Florida as her “most meaningful days of ministry.”

Curnutt continued, “I love this organization. I have given my life to it. But my love of the Lord supersedes the organization. He is calling us back to centering our focus exclusively on Him. When that happens, our missionaries will be taken care of.”

Curnutt described joy as the one attribute that distinguishes Christians as “His body.” She concluded, “I believe he is asking more of us than what we are giving. I want you to examine your heart.”

Florida’s WMM director, Cindy Goodwin, challenged the women to rise above their differences to reach others for Christ. “We cannot expect to do things the way we have for the past 10 years. Tomorrow is here, the future is now and the girls, like the Acteen Panelists, are our future leaders,” said Goodwin as she spoke to the need of reaching youth and children.

A missions offering, collected over the two-day event, brought in over $3,000. The money will go to fund the Missionary Kids Reentry Retreat “that helps acclimate the teens to American culture when they return from overseas” and to send missionaries American magazines “to give them a little bit of home,” said Helen Yates, former Florida WMU president. In addition to the missions offering, an offering of Wal-Mart gift cards was taken. The gift cards will go to meet the needs of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes.

The four worship services at the 2007 Celebration of Missions were divided into four aspects of the “A Call to Joy” theme: like minded, same love, one in spirit and same purpose. Women attending the event also had the opportunity to visit a banquet hall where state, national and international missions and ministries had display booths.

During the business session of the meeting, participants elected officers for the 2007-2008 Florida WMU executive committee including Carol Vanderventer, president, First Baptist Church, Salt Springs; Nancy Lee, recording secretary, Trinity Baptist Church, Punta Gorda; and Ann Coffman, multicultural team coordinator, Westside Baptist Church, Sanford.

Full names of missionaries are not being released for safety reasons.