Resources

for women’s ministries


BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND:

ANOTHER VIRTUAL MISSION TRIP


In 2010 American Baptist Women’s Ministries’ first Virtual Mission Encounter enabled ten women to experience mission without packing a suitcase. A cup of coffee or tea, a computer, a telephone, and a $25 registration fee--that’s all they needed to explore mission opportunities in their neighborhood, nation, and world for seven days. Through daily assignments, evening conference calls for book discussions and conversations with missionaries, and online reflections, women delved into “Break the Chains: Slavery in the 21st Century.”


They’re planning to do it again, November 7-13, 2011. With the theme, “In the Potter’s Hands: Ministries of Reconciliation and Healing”, web-based activities and conference calls with missionaries will introduce participants to ABCUSA and ABCUSA-related ministries focused on reconciliation and healing, both at home and abroad.


HANDY GUIDES FOR HELPING PRISONERS

AND THEIR FAMILIES


When Karen K. Swanson, director of the Institute for Prison Ministries at the Billy Graham Centre at Wheaton College,spoke to the NABWU board this spring, she introduced the IPM’s series of booklets that offer practical advice for prisoners, their families, and those who are helping them through time of crisis. They can be ordered from the IPM Library for $3.95 -$4.95 each. Titles include:

  1. “Help! My Child’s Been Arrested!”

  2. Sentenced—Now What?: Relationships During Incarceration

  3. “Help ! My Loved One Is In Jail, What Do I Do Now?”

  4. Coming Home: A Guide for Receiving a Loved One Back from Prison

  5. Helping Victims of Crime: Pathways Toward Healing


WMU CD OFFERS A ROBUST COLLECTION

OF RESOURCES ON HUMAN EXPLOITATION


Throughout 2010-2012, the Woman’s Missionary Union is calling women’s groups and churches to address the issue of human exploitation, which it defines as “the unethical, selfish use of human beings for the satisfaction of personal desires and/or profitable advantage.” Release and Restore is a CD packed with resources to help individuals, groups, and churches learn about and address this gripping issue in a variety of ways.


It contains educational and practical features, including descriptions of human exploitation (sex trafficking, labor trafficking, pornography, bullying, exploiting natural resources for personal gain, and media exploitation of families and children), Bible studies, mission action plans, graphics, video clips, and other resources. Some material is specific to the WMU’s Project HELP, but much of it can be adapted by other organizations. Only $19.99 through the WMU Store.


I’M A WOMAN... CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD


What does the BIble say about a woman’s relationship with God, the opposite sex, her family, and her world? This helpful study by Joyce Cope Wyatt, a women’s advocate, missionary, and teacher in Latin America and the USA for more than forty years, affirms women’s giftedness. It includes questions for reflection and group study. Originally published in Spanish, I’m a Woman... Created in the Image of God has been updated and published in English by the Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department as a resource for women around the world. $10 per copy. Order here.


SIGNIFICANT BOOKS BY NABWU LEADERS


In her day job with the Evangelism and Missions Information Service, Billy Graham Center, NABWU president Linda J. Weber edited this major source of mission information. This special 21st edition (2010) of the Mission Handbook provides contact information, types of mission activity, areas of service, personnel statistics, and other information about nearly 1,000 agencies working overseas. An in-depth analysis of North American missions gives a synopsis of trends and comparisons. Available for $59.99 from www.emisdirect.com.


DID YOU KNOW that NABWU’s first assembly began in the dark, in a church lit by candelabra borrowed from the funeral home next door? That a North American president of the Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department brought peace between Baptist women of Europe and in Asia who had been on opposite sides during World War II?


Coming Together: A History of the Women’s Department, Baptist World Alliance, tells these and many other inspiring stories of how Baptist women around the world have come together across barriers of geography, culture, language, and war. United by a conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for all the women of the world, they have shone the light of Christ into the darkest corners of women’s experience.


Released at the 2010 Baptist Women’s Leadership Conference, July 24-27 in Honolulu, this new book by NABWU vice-president Esther Barnes (signing, above) is available for only $10 through the office of the publisher, Baptist World Alliance Women’s Department and various Baptist bookstores throughout North America. 



 


“Let us wake up, sing up,

and pray up; but never

give up, let up, or shut up

until the Church is built up.”

—M’bola Ayorinde of Nigeria,

at the 1957 NABWU Assembly









THE 2011 ISSUE of our annual newsletter is on its way to individuals, groups, and churches on the NABWU and BWA Women’s Department mailing lists. To see if you are on the list, change your address, or request a hard copy, e-mail us. Other copies are  distributed by our member bodies. Download a PDF version of the 2011 Tie: Tie2011lores.pdf






WALK WITH WOMEN THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES


Start a Group of Hope


More than 5,000 women In Canada, India, and Bolivia have participated in Groups of Hope, an eight-week program for women who have experienced deep hurt. In small groups of 10 to 12, they begin to trust each other and to rediscover the reality of God’s presence through difficult times. Within the hour long sessions, they are encouraged to find a new way to view their life through relating what they have learned from the Bible to their personal journey.


Based on the principles of brief solution-focused therapy, the program was developed by Faith Holwyn, a Canadian Baptist psychiatric nurse working with Native women. It received a NABWU 2010 Day of Prayer offering grant.  

Faith has produced a Groups of Hope Handbook for women’s ministry leaders, pastors, and others who could use this program in their church or community. It is available in English and Spanish through the Groups of Hope website. 




DEVELOP LEADERSHIP


A store full of help for Baptist women’s leaders


AB Women's Ministries offers training materials for leaders at every level. Much of it can be easily adapted for use within other Baptist women’s organizations. The Guide series features booklets for officers and leaders, each focusing on a particular aspect of women’s and girls’ ministries. Each booklet provides ideas, roles, and responsibilities. E-books: $5.00.                 

Paperbacks: $9.25 each

Click here to order through Lulu.




Discover the mission heritage of the Karen refugees now arriving in North America from Burma/Myanmar:


Bless God and Take Courage: The Judson History and Legacy: Rosalie Hall Hunt tells the gripping and poignant story of pioneer American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson, his three amazingly gifted wives, and the church they planted in Burma (Judson Press:2005).


For a comprehensive list of other books, videos, and resources about the current situation in Burma, Baptist connections with Burma, and ways to build relationships with Burmese refugees to North America, see the AB Women’s MInistries website.