Convention at-a-glance
WOMEN NATIONALLY ACTIVE FOR CHRIST
Theme: Set Your Hearts, Deuteronomy 32:46
Registration 953
Speakers
Monday, July 17: Jenny Blair, OK; Angie Outlaw, TN
Tuesday, July 18: Steve and Becky Riggs, France; Icy Mae Frederick, AL
set your heart toward tomorrow
EXPLORING THE THEME, SET YOUR HEARTS, more than 900 registrants to the 71st convention of Women Nationally Active for Christ looked toward tomorrow, focusing on ministry to future generations through WNAC.
 Today's Homes, Tomorrow's Missionaries
Two young mothers challenged seminar attendees to instill in their children a heart for missions. Jenny Blair, Oklahoma pastor's wife and stay-at-home mother of two (pictured at right with her own mother, Debbie Burden) reminded women to teach God’s Word to their children. She offered practical tips to help mothers and grandmothers talk to their children about the Lord.
Angie Outlaw, missionary appointee and mother of five shared her strategies for giving kids a heart for missions. Mrs. Outlaw outlined ways women can share their hearts through experiences, projects, stories and relationships.
Today's Hope, Tomorrow's Magazine
Tuesday's business centered around change. WNAC Managing Editor Sarah Fletcher cast a vision for future ministry. In order to seek God's direction for effective ministry to younger women, WNAC is designating January-August 2007 as a season for prayer. A special eight-month study on prayer by Lorene Miley will guide women in the personal practice of prayer.
Attendees received copies of the new WNAC Ministries Guide and got a glimpse of Together With God magazine, which will replace the 46-year-old publication, CoLaborer in January 2007. The new magazine will continue to fulfill the mission of WNAC—helping women understand and fulfill the Great Commission. The feature of Together With God will be interactive women's Bible studies with monthly and weekly small group meeting options.
Above: Debbie Taylor, WNAC president, address convention attendees.
The changes coincide with a change in the organization's calendar year. Starting in 2007, WNAC's program year will run from September to August. The July Convention will premier the theme for the upcoming year. Delegates also approved moving WNAC Emphasis month from August to May, with Mothers’ Day designated as WNAC Emphasis Offering Sunday.
In other business, women voted to give a total of $4,500 in Cleo Pursell Foreign Student Scholarships to fund the education of Christian workers in Cuba, Cote d'Ivoire, South India, Russia and Mexico. A special offering received in the morning service gleaned over $1,500 of the amount.
Today's Focus, Tomorrow's World
On Tuesday, missionaries Steve and Becky Riggs (pictured below) challenged women to stretch their vision for the world. Sharing real life obstacles and personal stories from their twenty-year ministry in France, the Riggs reminded listeners, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.” Eighty-seven year old missionary, Icy Mae Frederick shared her vision for tomorrow and won the hearts of Tuesday's Fellowship Luncheon attendees with her humor and amazing accounts of her solo trek to Haiti to share the love of Jesus. The crowd of 400 gave $1,500 toward her dream for building a hospital on the island.
Throughout the convention, women contributed to the 2006 WNAC National Project: Christmas Joy for Central Asia, by hanging gift envelopes on a Christmas tree at the WNAC Booth. The gifts ($15 per child) will be distributed to orphans and special needs children in January 2007, when a team of WNAC leaders will travel to Kazakhstan.
The two-day meeting concluded as presidents and field workers from 14 states gathered for fellowship, sharing ideas, and intercession. After voicing specific requests, the group prayed that women would embrace the changes enacted at the convention and anticipate ways God will enable WNAC to mentor and minister to women.
For more information about the 2006 WNAC Convention, visit their website at: www.nafwb.org/wnac.
|
