May, 2014Issue #5
A Word from Jill
Jill McNicol, President Illinois WMU
 

I wanted to introduce myself to the ladies who were not able to attend the annual missions celebration. I am so excited to be your state President and look forward to meeting more of you who have a love for missions. Besides my WMU involvement, I have been pianist at my church since 7th grade and serve as Music Director, Youth Director and Preschool Sunday School teacher. Since I have no children of my own, I consider the children and youth as part-mine. I love to read and never leave home without a book. I also love photography and have provided friends and family with photos of important moments in their lives. I work full-time for the Illinois Dept. of Human Services where I have been employed for over 20 years.

 

I'm praying for the Baptist Women of Illinois to have a desire for a closer walk with our Savior and from that walk to step out in faith and do things for the Lord we would never have imagined we could do! Stepping out in faith brings to mind our theme for the missions celebration "Can God Have this Dance?" We were challenged there to surrender and let God lead us. Do you remember the song Eliza Doolittle sang in the film My Fair Lady? "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a wonderful picture of us being obedient to His call and dancing with our Father each day. (You can Google the song or there is a youtube video) I challenge you this month to allow God to lead and see where He takes you! 
Annual Women's Meeting 2014
A big thank you is extended to each individual who attended, participated and assisted with our Annual Women's Meeting. There were more than 375 women who attended the meeting. First Baptist Marion could not have been a greater host to Illinois Baptist Women. Illinois Baptist Women were able to network with each other, gather resources for their personal ministries, experience spiritual renewal and gain knowledge of missions at home and abroad. Hundreds of name tags containing unauthentic names were exchanged at the alter for an authentic name; the women learned from Allison Allen that we must learn our authentic names if we are going to hear from God because that is the name he will refer to us as. Illinois Baptist Women left the meeting surrendered to Christ, towel in hand as a reminder of their commitment to Let God have this Dance.  
In The Spotlight, Gladys Miner
by Jeanette Cloyd, IL WMU Lead Team VP for Missions Growth

 

Listen carefully. What do you hear at the local grocery store? At a school event? At a community festival? Chances are, amongst other things, you will hear someone speaking a language other than English. Non-English-speaking people live in nearly every community in Illinois. Perhaps no one recognizes that better than Gladys Miner, a certified Literacy Missions Associate who lives in central Illinois. She knows because she's lived in southern Illinois, northern Illinois and now central Illinois and she's been involved in ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry everywhere she's been.

 

Gladys' love for ESL ministry began in 1980 when she first became trained in what was then called Conversational English so that she could minister to the Cambodians and Vietnamese living in her community. Now, nearly 35 years later, she's still actively involved in ESL ministry.

 

In Gladys' words, "ESL is not merely a program; it is a ministry. While ESL teachers teach English, they also minister to their students when they are having problems and they tell their students about Jesus." By teaching them English, Gladys says, "You are helping them to improve themselves."

 

There is a great need for ESL ministry in Illinois. We are a diverse state with many nationalities represented, yet we have few trained ESL workers. We need a growing awareness of the non-English speaking people around us. We need trained ESL teachers; people who will make it a ministry and not just a teaching session. We need ESL teachers who will make a difference in the lives of people like the doctor from Cuba who has delivered thousands of babies yet finds himself working on the docks simply because he doesn't speak adequate English or others who are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

 

ESL teachers need to care about their students. They need to be committed to the teaching process. And they need to be prepared because if they aren't, the students won't come back. ESL teachers do not need to speak any language other than English. In fact, doing so will actually slow down the progress the student makes.

 

ESL teachers are required to attend an ESL Workshop. These workshops are designed to equip teachers to meet the challenging, yet rewarding, opportunities that await them in ESL ministry. Gladys plans to lead two ESL Workshops in Illinois this August. The plans are still in their infancy, but when information becomes available, these workshops will be publicized in the Illinois Baptist.

 

Gladys not only leads ESL Workshops, she also teaches in the Capital City Association's ESL ministry. While parents learn English, their young children are cared for by onsite childcare workers. Often, teenagers are found doing homework while the parents are in class. While the classes are publicized, Gladys notes that the best publicity is word of mouth. A happy student will tell his/her friends, who will then also start attending the classes.     

 

Gladys encourages us to pray that God will send workers. She also asks that we pray about how we might be involved in ESL ministry, whether it's being a prayer warrior, providing childcare during the sessions, being an ESL teacher, or starting an ESL ministry in our own church.

 

If you're interested in knowing more about ESL ministry and how you can become involved, please call Gladys Miner at (217) 498-6787. 

Timeless Tales 
Stories of Today and Tomorrow
by Janet Craynon
We have much to celebrate following our Women's Missions Celebration in Marion.  Hundreds of women came together to be challenged and inspired to live out a missions lifestyle today and tomorrow, and to train up and equip the next generation to carry the torch for missions.

 

Our tree blossomed more each day as the women "Made Change" for Illinois Touch Tomorrow Today.

 

Eight creatively designed baskets attracted lots of participants to our first silent auction for ITTT. Some bidders were "dueling" down to the final minute, hoping to claim their favorite basket.  Ruthanne Boatright (pictured right) beat the clock, but she and Melissa Phillips (pictured left) are still friends. Other winners joining Ruthanne were: Barbara Clendenin, Jill McNicol (2 baskets), Nina Wilson, Miriam Kauffman, Susan Mills and Linda Blough.

 

Almost 100 women took "The Test" to identify the 2 WMU,SBC recipients and the 5 Illinois WMU recipients for our 2014 ITTT Grants. Only one, Ruthanne Boatright, received a perfect score. She came prepared as she had gleaned information from previous Timeless Tales. She and nine other winners took home their WMU WorldCraft prizes:  Kathee Massey, Joyce Shields, Yvonne Whitzel, Joyce Lee, Sharon Dennis, Mary Fisher, Tina Ford, Bev Hurley and Doris Hall.

 

The silent auction receipts, combined with our "Make Change" donations, totaled $2,135.72. We are coming closer to our goal of being the first state to reach $200,000 in our Illinois Touch Tomorrow Today Endowment. You can support ITTT any time by sending a gift designated for Illinois Touch Tomorrow Today to WMU Foundation, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242 or giving online at www.WMUFoundation.com.  

We're on Facebook!
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"Like" our Facebook page and keep up with the latest Illinois Baptist Women's Missions and WMU news. You can find us at www.Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptistWomen. IBSA is also on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist. "Like" IBSA's page for news about upcoming meetings, mission trip reports, breaking news and more.
Operation Christmas Child

A simple shoe box filled with gifts can bring hope and joy to a child living in poverty. Operation Christmas Child, a national partner of WMU, is sharing the gift of Jesus Christ with 7.5 million children in over 100 countries this year. Simple things like pens, toothbrushes, and stuffed animals bring a smile to their faces, but the most important aspect is that the Gospel is shared with each child as they receive their shoe box. If your church or association group would be interested in having an OCC speaker at one of your meetings, contact Serena Butler at [email protected]  or (224) 422-9404 for more details.

Darla Lovell Mission Education Award

Leadership Development for Illinois Baptist Women

 

Darla Lovell served as a missionary Journeyman in Uganda from 1990 until her untimely death in 1991. Darla's desire was to become a career missionary following her two-year journeyman experience. Darla had a degree in business education and a passion for missions. 

 

The Darla Lovell Mission Education Award promotes education and training of Illinois women, equipping them to be effective in ministry and missions. 

 

The 2014 Darla Lovell Mission Education Award will be used to promote literacy missions ministries within Illinois. The award will fund the required fees for Illinois to be a NAMB partner state and provide scholarships for three individuals to obtain credentials to train both ESL and TCY (Tutoring Children and Youth). This year's award will position multiple Illinois Baptists to provide literacy  missions ministry within their communities.

 

Please support the Darla Lovell Mission Education Award to promote the future missions/ministry leadership development of Illinois Women. 

 

Gifts can be directed to:

Darla Lovell Mission Education Award

Baptist Foundation of Illinois

3085 Stevenson Drive

Springfield, IL 62703

In This Issue
In The Spotlight
Important Dates
Important Dates
June 2-5
 
June 8-9
Baltimore
 
June 14-25
 
June 13-14
 
June 16-20, Lake Sallateeska
July 21-25, Streator
Online Training Opportunities

Whether you're already in a leadership role or preparing for one, IBSA is committed to helping you to be an effective leader. Available now are our online Women's Leadership Development courses; a resource to equip and develop Illinois Baptist Women Leaders. Follow this link to register or for more information.

 

Baptist Nursing Fellowship

Illinois BNF

Professional Ministry Network offering:

  CEU's

  Ministry Opportunities

  Much More!

Get Connected!

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Contact Us
Carmen Halsey
[email protected]
(217) 391-3134

Barb Troeger
[email protected]
(217) 391-3138 
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