SWEET HOME ALABAMA
How ladies in Alabama make supporting missions a priority…and a WHOLE lot of fun!
By Merle Jordan
It’s my honor to serve as our Alabama Women’s Ministries Secretary-Treasurer. I want to tell you about our Alabama Stateline District’s fundraiser that has successfully supported missions.
Our State Line District
In 2001, our WAC District Missions Chair, Cynthia Knowles, started a project for us to support Alabama’s Missionary funding program. Some states call it “mission shares”, but we call it ACTS 1:8. (Other than a Great Commission scripture, it is also an acronym for Alabama Coming Together for the Savior.)
Our WAC ladies decided early in the year to have a cookout and began saving to give an annual offering for missions there. That fall, we hosted an association-wide cookout with BBQ chicken, pork, Brunswick stew, plenty of fixins, and, of course, many desserts.
Ninety happy folks attended, and there was an offering of $875. That annual project grew each year, with the highest attendance being 172 people. Our offerings certainly increased, thanks to the strong encouragement of District Treasurer, Annette Tomlinson. She would set a goal amount each year and if she didn’t see enough in the basket, she would take up another offering! Her gentle persuasions seemed to work because we had a high total offering of $22,847. Even during the two years of the pandemic when we couldn’t meet, members still generously sent in their offerings. This offering supports our missionaries around the world who are connected to Alabama. Missionaries are invited to come and participate in the delightful supper and given a short time for sharing their activities and prayer needs.
This year’s Missions Cookout was a tremendous success. In spite of all of this world’s unusual situations, sicknesses, and sometimes confusion about how WAC is to meet and continue, we had a tremendous turnout.
With 90 people attending, $10,515 was given to missions! Praise the Lord for His provisions and many thanks to those that planned, prepared, and gave!
Our Local Church’s Participation
Our Lydia WAC group from Timbers Drive usually hosted a church-wide fellowship supper each quarter. These were following Sunday night services, furnished and served by our ladies. There was no charge, but donations were accepted. Our members are generous with their missions offerings, but this served as a chance for extra help! I mean, ya gotta eat, right?
- In January, we held our SOUPER Supper.
- In March, we had our Lydia’s Garden Italian Supper.
- In June or July, it was Summer Delight, complete with homemade ice cream & watermelon…but NO ants allowed!
- In September, we hosted our Mexican supper and Dessert Auction. This became a silent auction and some of the yummy goodies were shared right away, or others were hurried away into someone’s freezer for the upcoming holidays. This was always our best fundraiser, due to the fact that the bidding got pretty competitive over Susan’s coconut bon-bons and Larry’s tiny layer chocolate cake!
- We once hosted an International Foods Supper, featuring a tasting from our own international mission areas like Japan, Brazil, France, Russia, Mexico, and Cote-d’Ivore. We used missionary memorabilia and prayer cards and dressed in costumes for a super effect. Of course, it really helped that former missionaries Fred and June Hersey provided great input for this occasion!
- We’ve sold Rada kitchen knives, utensils, and tasty mixes. We’ve had church yard sales. We’ve offered Valentine candy bouquets for donations.
- But perhaps our easiest was our Lydia Post Office. Each Christmas season, we would sort and deliver Christmas cards in-house to our church members for a mere 10¢ each.
I’m here to encourage you by saying there’s always SOMETHING you can do!
Many of us have untapped talents. Age is no limit to being or helping a missionary. Use your hobby or skills, especially during holiday seasons, to provide something that someone else may want or need. You can gift them, but if they offer to pay, then use that money to spread the Gospel.
Maybe you can babysit, make jewelry, arrange flowers, bake or decorate cakes. You can feed your chickens and sell the eggs, or draw, paint, (or like one group did), offer singing Valentines! I love to sew and made travel jewelry bags to sell, then donated the funds as part of my personal offering. Or use your love of sewing…like my sweet friend, Geraldine Boyd. At 83 years of age, she can no longer attend many meetings due to health issues. But she made 1,500 cross bookmarks for Alabama Women’s Ministries to give as hospitality gifts at this year’s National Association in Birmingham!
I hope some of these ideas may work for you. You know, God blesses us SO very much! As wise old Solomon encouraged us in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might.” Let’s use what we have to share the Gospel with others.
About the author: Merle is married to Tim Jordan and enjoys being a GiGi (grandmother), teaching Sunday School, sewing, cooking, gardening, traveling, and telling others about how wonderful God has been to her. Lamentations 3:23 “…Great is thy faithfulness to me.”