The Same...Just Different

By Elizabeth Hodges

Psalms 78 and 105 portray God’s work in history to fulfill His mission. Times of trouble and deliverance reveal God’s sovereignty over all people. He provides for our needs and invites us to join Him in His work. Can you and I look at history and praise God for His faithfulness? Can we look at that same history, confess our sins, and cry out for help? Are we sensitive to new doors of opportunity He may be opening to allow us to join Him where He is working?

First Chronicles 12 recounts the forces that gathered to help David at Hebron. Nestled in verse 32 we read, “The children of Issachar…were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred.” Matthew Henry describes these men as “weather wise; [they] understood public affairs, the temper of the nation, and the tendencies of present events. They knew how to rule, and the rest knew how to obey.”

The Word in Life Study Bible portrays these men as the “wisest members of Israel’s Sanhedrin. It seems reasonable to infer their job was to perceive trends, discuss major issues, evaluate information, and consider strategy. God’s people still need those who can understand the times. More than ever, we need people who can buttress faith with discernment. God has not called us to shut down our critical faculties. Jesus exhorted us to ‘be wise as serpents and harmless as doves’ [which] means knowing God and knowing the times.”

As women of WNAC and the Free Will Baptist denomination at large, we need to be like Issachar’s sons. We need to understand the times and know what we must do. WNAC faces a precipice of transition and opportunity. We must broaden our outreach while maintaining our original purpose. We must embrace the women’s ministries of all Free Will Baptist churches whether or not they look like our own. Each group seeks to meet the unique needs of the ladies in their church, has a place of service in the Kingdom, and should feel connected to WNAC.

We are the women’s ministry department of Free Will Baptists existing to help each woman fulfill her God-given roles in the Great Commission at home, in her church, community, and around the world. We pray for wisdom as we seek to know our times, perceive the trends of our day, discuss major issues, evaluate information, and develop strategies to move forward. While maintaining our current ministries and broadening our reach, we will focus on three major areas.

Thrive

Since June 1935, WNAC has supported missions and ministry causes at home and around the world. In the early 1960s, major fundraising efforts were transferred to the Home and International Missions departments respectively. Still, WNAC continues to offer prayer support and financial contributions. Awareness of missionary needs is a burden shared with our church families.

Annual weeks of prayer support the North American Mission and World Mission Offerings. The Steward Provision Closet is a tangible expression of support for North American church planters and international missionary families. This reach extends to international Bible institutes and seminaries, as well as our international sisters. Two scholarship programs exist to help students at home and abroad:

• Cleo Pursell Foreign Student Scholarship assists international students studying in their native language at our Bible institutes and seminaries.

• Dr. Mary Ruth Wisehart Student Scholarship benefits young ladies studying at our Free Will Baptist colleges in the States.
  

Co-Laborer, Together With God, and now Treasure’s thought-provoking Bible studies help equip women to grow and faithfully serve the Lord: www.wnac.org/treasure/treasurebiblestudies.

Shine

In early years, WNAC sponsored declamation contests and YPA and GA groups, the precursors to Vertical Three. Those activities were handed off to CTS in the 1960s as well. In recent years, a new avenue for ministering to young ladies arose. Shine! conferences began in 2015. These conferences are geared to 12- to 18-year-old young ladies, moms, and youth leaders. The goal of Shine! conferences is to help girls find their identity in Christ and in Him alone. As a result, they will be able to filter cultural messages through that lens. Sometimes, hearing the same truths from a different voice is what God uses to solidify His message to one’s heart. We are seeing this happen, and to Him be the glory and praise. Adult attendees receive pertinent information to help young ladies navigate the technology-saturated society in which they live. We anticipate these events becoming more frequent in the months to come.

During this season, the Miley International Student Scholarship was begun. This scholarship assists international Free Will Baptist students who come to the United States to study at one of our Free Will Baptist colleges.

Flourish

As we seek to broaden our outreach and footprint in the denomination at large, we recognize the need to minister through regional events. Many women will never attend our annual convention, but they would attend a ladies’ day event in their area. As we seek to mentor, come alongside, and help women, each event will address relevant topics in addition to providing the important aspects of fellowship and networking.

The first regional event will be held in the Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia tri-state area March 28, 2020, at Central FWB Church in Huntington, West Virginia. (See our ad on page 5.) It is our goal for these regional events to fall within driving distance of all Free Will Baptist women in the near future.

Departmental funding for these efforts will take many forms. We are grateful for The Together Way funds received monthly. A number of churches have placed WNAC in their annual budgets. Special offerings have been received. Gifts and dues have been received from our women. God will direct each local group to determine which method works best for them and it will be greatly appreciated. Where He leads, He provides, and that is where we rest.

It is the goal of WNAC leadership to grow and change to meet the needs of all women for the generation that will follow us. We have not done things exactly as our mothers and predecessors, nor did they. Those who come behind us will not mirror us. Our goal is to leave a firm foundation upon which to build. May they do extraordinary things for God that change the trajectory of their generation. But may we be faithful until God has completed His work within us. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). He will keep His promises to us as He did to the sons of Issachar.

About the Writer: Elizabeth Hodges is director of Women Nationally Active for Christ. Read more: www.WNAC.org.