Every year on the first Monday of November, Baptist women around the world gather to pray for each other and give to support projects that improve the lives of women and children.

Half of your Day of Prayer offering dollar supports the Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department and international projects described in the Day of Prayer program. A portion of the 2009 offerings is assisting two North American projects: Embracing Dignity for Trafficked Women  and Project Latina Leadership Training. The other half of every dollar given in North America supports NABWU and selected projects in North America and Guyana.

YOUR 2009 DAY OF PRAYER OFFERING SUPPORTS THESE PROJECTS

CONNECTING KAREN REFUGEES: Our connection with the Karen people of Burma began with pioneer Baptist missionaries Ann and Adoniram Judson. Half of the Karens have become Christians, mainly Baptists. They have also suffered. Now tens of thousands of Karen refugees are resettling in North America. Many are making their way into our Baptist churches. Htoo May, who led the Karen Baptist women’s organization in a refugee camp in Thailand, is now building a network of Karen Christian women across the US. A grant of $3,000 from your Day of Prayer offerings helps with her travel costs.

RESETTLING REFUGEES: Matthew House-Toronto has given a warm Christian welcome to more to than 1,000 refugees from 75 countries. It received $4,000 for its Getting Started program, which gives refugees information on the skills and services they will need to adapt to life in Canada. The program also provides referrals for victims of torture and abuse.

GIVING BIBLES TO NEW BELIEVERS: In the past two years, many Russian-Jewish families fled from the violence of Israel to the calm of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where there is a large Ukrainian community. The Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church has helped them get settled and, in the process, found the women particularly receptive to the gospel. A Day of Prayer grant of $2,500 will go a long way toward providing Bibles and devotional materials in the Ukrainian language for these new believers.

HELPING WOMEN FIND A WAY OUT OF PROSTITUTION: Many prostitutes, escorts, exotic dancers, and other women in the “sex for sale” industry want to leave the lifestyle. Street’s Hope, in Denver, offers them sanctuary, a way to escape, and the grace and mercy of God.  A $1,500 grant will buy refreshments and NLT Sanctuary Women’s Devotional Bibles for about 40 women who attend a Day of Prayer hosted by American Baptist Women’s Ministries of Colorado,

STEERING GUYANA’S GIRLS AWAY FROM THE SEX TRADE: Baptists in Guyana want to keep girls from entering prostitution in the first place. So they have received a $2,500 Day of Prayer grant for Project Rahab, which trains women and men in preventative and remedial approaches to prostitution..

DEVELOPING SUPPORT GROUPS IN FRENCH CANADA: As a missionary in Belgium, Ria Deneut set up A Tes Côtés (“At Your Side”), support groups for women who were coping with grief, recovering from sexual abuse, and finding their identity in Christ. Now she is developing a similar program in  French Canada—with the prayer that churches will use them to reach out to the vast majority of francophone women who never attend church. A $2,500 Day of Prayer grant goes toward training support group leaders.

COACHING WOMEN TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES: Formerly homeless women in the Salt Lake area of Utah have become active church members and begun their own businesses, thanks to Heart Change Ministries. It meets women at crisis points in their lives, helps them understand the choices that led them there, and then coaches them in everything from how to dress to how to be disciples of Jesus. A grant of $4,000 helps expand the program for single parents.

TRAINING SINGLE MOMS: A $2,000 Day of Prayer grant enables the Pregnancy Resource Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, to offer single mothers Home with a Heart, a comprehensive course in parenting, money management, and homemaking. It will build the mothers’ confidence and ability to care for their children, open doors to new opportunities, and offer Christ-based hope. 

FOSTERING ADULT EDUCATION: It’s hard to get a decent job when you’re a homeless and unemployed adult in a poverty-stricken area, and you don’t have a high school diploma. The Jobs for Life ministry at East Griffin Baptist Church in Georgia will use a $3,000 Day of Prayer grant to subsidize transportation and GED exam costs for underemployed and unemployed men and women.

DO YOU KNOW A PROJECT THAT COULD USE SOME HELP FROM THE DAY OF PRAYER OFFERINGS?

Applications for NABWU’s 2010 Day of Prayer offering grants are now being reviewed. Projects must meet the following guidelines. Successful applicants will be announced next spring.

GUIDELINES  

The project must be supportive of leadership development for Baptist women within NABWU, including work among new groups or in new areas.

Project must be for assistance of new or ongoing ministry projects by Baptist women or groups within NABWU. Women and/or children are to be the beneficiaries of the project. Projects involving "bricks and mortar" would generally be discouraged.

The project must receive some or additional funding from a Baptist women’s organization within NABWU or at least have an endorsement from it.

Grants to approved missions projects are usually in the $1,000 to $5,000 range (in local currency).

In funding these missions projects, consideration will be given to wide geographic and member body representation within the NABWU constituency.

No project will be funded for more than two consecutive years.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for 2011 Day of Prayer grants may be submitted until November 30, 2010. Request an 2011 grant application form from Judy Dozois, NABWU vice-president for Baptist Women's Day of Prayer promotion, project grants and prayer partners.