A Note from the President.

Transcription

1 January 2019 A Note from the President. Dear Sisters in Christ, Happy New Year! It s 2019! God is good, and we can rejoice in His great love as we ve just experienced by out Christmas I pray you and yours had a blessed season as you celebrated the Season of Hope and Love. We now turn our attention to the work still at hand for as Region Women. We need to be bringing in our monies for scholarship and special project. So be creative in your fund raising efforts. Women s Conference 2019 at De Witt in May Lynn Punnett and her Team are hard at work. Last year we had 22 new attendees. I remind you our goal is to see over 100 ladies at conference so begin inviting your friends to join you. We will worship and do a service project and play together as we are renewed by our experiences in God s Word, Fellowship and Praise. Get excited to see what God will do in our lives and the lives of our churches. I recently received this outstanding quote on how to be the Living Church I pass it on to you so that you will be empowered to live lives that make a difference right where you are. That you will take opportunities to come together as the Region Women to rejoice and give God thanks in your local church, Area and for State Events in That you will allow God to help you invest the lives of another and help them find ways of service and ministry through the good works of American Baptist Women. Happy New Year! See you soon at some great event or as you invite me to your local church. Joy in Jesus, Renée Langley American Baptist Women Region President, Michigan

2 North Area The Spring Retreat this year will be April 27, 2019 at Greely Baptist. The cost is $ The theme will be Damaged Baggage. The study will be lead by SuE Umphrey. Gloria Lynne will also give us a great concert. Looking forward to seeing you. The fall retreat will be held September 27, 28, Pastor Roxie Perry will bring us a spirit filled very informative and learning Bible study. Gloria Lynne will bring us a concert that comes from her heart as well as a message given to her by the spirit. There will be crafts, good food, the best fellowship, being able to commune with God in the great setting of Fletchers Pond. Come join us. Sue Umphrey, North Area President 2019 Biennial Mission Summit Save the Date! Biennial Mission Summit June 21-23, 2019 Virginia Beach, VA For more information visit, AB Women s Ministries Women s Day will be held on Friday, June 21, More information will be available soon on

3 Thank You for Helping Friendship House Assist Families at Thanksgiving! Thank you to everyone who made our fundraising project to raise approximately $1,200 to purchase turkeys for Friendship House of Detroit a success. Friendship House was able to assist several families in need with having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Along with turkeys, money was given to Friendship House to help with other expenses. Thank you also to those who assisted with the delivery and a big thank you to the members of the Metro Detroit Area for carrying out the project! Support Friendship House with Your Regular Shopping Kroger has a community rewards program that will donate a percentage of your grocery bill to the food pantry of your choice, including Friendship House. To participate, you must register your Kroger Plus card online at and choose Friendship House as your food pantry. Just sign in or create an account, follow the Savings & Rewards tab to the Community Rewards dropdown box. Choose "I'm a customer" box and search for Friendship House. When it appears, click the enroll button. After that, every time you shop, just swipe your Kroger Plus card and it automatically donates to Friendship House. Region Project Update We are halfway to our goal of raising $2,500 to help Kodiak Baptist Mission rebuild their tent school. Thank you to those who have supported this great project. If you have not already, please consider supporting this worthy project. Remember, checks should be written to ABW MI, include in the memo line Special Project Kodiak, and mail them to Laurel Reed, 624 Narrow Way, Clarklake, MI I would love to announce we met or exceeded our goal at the annual conference in May! Thank you, Nikki Brand 12-2pm Fri, May 31 registration Conference begins at 2pm Fri, May 31 thru Sunday 11am when we wrap up Annual ABW Retreat & Conference For more information (for now), people can reach out to Registrar Laurel Reed at lreed4624@comcast.net or Lynne Punnett, Conference Chair at lynnepunnett@yahoo.com Theme and flyer and registration info to come Thanks! Lynne Punnett

4 ABW /MDA World Day of Prayer Took place on November 5, 2018 at First Baptist Church, in Southfield, Michigan. Theme: Arise and Shine through Unity and Justice. Our Chairperson Deacon Carolyn Hayes did an outstanding job in putting the program together. We had six powerful prayer warriors representing the six continents. Three powerful prayer warriors who prayed for, Administrative Executive Board, Vulnerable & Disadvantaged and all levels of Government. Sister Alberta Sullivan, shared a very moving Testimony of Faith regarding her husband. We were served lunch, and ended with a Skit our Father Character: GOD played by Deacon Michael Evans and the Prayer played by Delia De-La Fuentes Durham. The skit was moving and effective, we all begin to search our motive for what we were asking GOD for. We had a blessed time in the Lord. To God Be the Glory! MDA Donation of 100 Turkeys Project I am happy to report that we received generous contributions toward the 100 turkeys, for Friendship House. The ladies went above our projected amount. We were able to purchased 80 turkeys, by our deadline date of November 9, Contributions continued to come in on and after the turkeys were purchased. All monies received after the deadline date, will be donated to the Friendship House for future projects. Wednesday, November 14, 2018, Janet Carpenter, Judy McRobb and myself delivered the turkeys to Friendship House. We were greeted by Cathy Maher, and her staff, who provided cookies, tea and coffee. We had a wonderful time getting to know one another, and learning about Friendship House. All Praise Be to for the Spirit of Giving on the Region ABW. Truly in His Service Rev. Delores Greer-Stevens. President MDA Rev. Delores Greer-Stevens, MDA, President Save the Date Saturday, September 14, 2019 Fall Fling at Essexville Baptist Community Church. We will have some awesome entertainment, inspiring speaker, wonderful food made by the Women of Essexville Baptist Community Church. If you would like to share some input, please contact Prudy Adams Bannick, or kpbannick@att.net. More details in the next News & Views.

5 WHITE CROSS AMERICAN BAPTIST WOMEN MINISTRIES (ABWM) HAPPY NEW YEAR! Praying faithfully you feel God s Love surround you and your family! Prayers are also lifted that this New Year be a year of continual Blessings and Joys to everyone. We have the assurance that our Heavenly Father is always with us!! Thank you in advance for continuing to work on the Birthing Kits. Remember this Project will be providing our special gifts to the recipients in their need. These gifts will be a visual tool demonstrating that God s people are always working and glorifying God. So when they see their baby, the infant will be in one of your gowns, wearing one of your hats, and wrapped in one of your new blankets. Remember to contact your Area Coordinator(s) for any questions and also for donations needed for the Detroit Friendship House (Hamtramck, MI) and/or The Place (Norwich, NY) AREA COORDINATORS CENTRAL AREA NAME PHONE Sue Tianello No phone suetnlo@hotmail.com FLINT RIVER CLUSTER Angie Leonard Cell: angelae.leonard@gmail.com WEST AREA Patricia Wentworth No METRO DETROIT AREA Judy Davis Cell: Edjudy1@hotmail.com NORTH AREA Sue Umphrey susieu@chartermi.net Respectfully, Delia De La Fuente-Durham (dee) Coordinator of White Cross Cell: (after 7 PM) deemima@mi.rr.com

6 2018 Annual Gathering Falam Baptist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan On October 27, 2018, I attended the annual gathering in Battle Creek, Michigan, about 120 miles from Detroit. (Thirty-Five thru fourty churches were there). Many women and young Girls attended the gathering. Some of the women and young girls were Burmese women from the immediate area. I was able to fellowship with them. Our discussions centered on the goals of the AB Women s Dig In For New Digs project. I reminded the attendees that the 2019 Biennial Mission Summit in Virginia Beach, Virginia will be held June 21-23, We expect to participate in aiding the ABW s Ministries to reach our goal of $40,000. We want everyone to bring the whole family. The summit will offer continuing education and spiritual growth opportunities for clergy, lay leaders, elementary, middle and high school students. Day care will also be available. The classes will be held in the Vacation Bible School style format. Submitted By Dr. Vanessa E.P. Ghant Coordinator of Women & Girls Mission Fund of Michigan P.O. Box 3755, Southfield, MI (248) dr.ghant@gmail.com Scholarship Report I want to remind you that scholarship applications are due March 1. We offer modest undergraduate and graduate college scholarships to (female) members of American Baptist Churches in Michigan. Applicants must give evidence of a call to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have anyone in your church that might be eligible for a scholarship, please pass along an application to them in plenty of time to meet the March 1 deadline. Applications must include a recommendation from the applicant s pastor as well as a statement of Christian experience/call to ministry and a brief statement of the applicant s vocational expectations and goals. In Christ, Lori Zupan First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti loriz@tsshome.com

7 ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS: Any girl who is a member of an American Baptist Church in Michigan, who gives evidence of a call to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be eligible. Applicants must complete and sign this application and also provide the following additional data: 1. Letter of recommendation from your pastor. 2. Statement of Christian experience/call to ministry. 3. Brief statement of your vocational expectations and goals. SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION FORM NAME DATE OF BIRTH (PLEASE PRINT FULL NAME - NO NICKNAMES) HOME ADDRESS ADDRESS CELL PHONE PARENT S NAMES HOME PHONE NAME OF HOME CHURCH CHURCH ADDRESS PASTOR HIGH SCHOOL YEAR GRADUATED COLLEGE YOU ARE ENROLLED AT MAJOR YEAR IS YOUR FAMILY ABLE TO HELP YOU FINANCIALLY? IF SO, WHAT PERCENT CAN THEY PROVIDE? DO YOU EXPECT TO WORK WHILE IN SCHOOL? CAN AND WILL YOUR CHURCH PROVIDE FINANCIAL HELP? STATE SPECIFICALLY ANY OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME AVAILABLE, SUCH AS YOUR OWN SAVINGS, OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS, ETC. GIVE NAMES OF TWO (2) PEOPLE OTHER THAN FAMILY AS REFERENCES: NAME: NAME: ADDRESS: ADDRESS: I recognize that this scholarship is a gift from the American Baptist Women s Ministries of Michigan for the purpose of helping me prepare myself for whatever God would have me do with my life. I pledge myself to sincere preparation and eagerly seeking to know and to follow His will. I understand that should God call me to serve in a Christian vocation, I will plan to serve in the American Baptist Churches, USA. SIGNATURE OF APPLICANT DATE *PLEASE ENCLOSE A NON-PROFESSIONAL PICTURE OR ONE THAT CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT NEEDING COPYRIGHT PERMISSION. IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE SEND A DIGITAL VERSION TO loriz@tsshome.com. This application and the additional data sheets are to be returned to the Scholarship Coordinator before the deadline, March 1. Send completed information to: Lori Zupan, 581 Canterbury Dr., Saline, MI 48176, loriz@tsshome.com

8 American Baptist Women of Michigan Woman of the Year Award Tell us about the woman you are nominating. You may include your response in the spaces below or write your response in a narrative which includes this information. Use as much space as you need to introduce us to your nominee. Please feel free to use the back of the form if you need more room. Name of nominee: Church/Area How does she contribute to God's kingdom? What has she done to further God's kingdom? Why are you nominating this person? Why is she worthy of this award? Nominator information: Name: Church/Area: Phone: Return to region President by April 15th of each year. Renee Langley Ennishore Drive Novi, MI 48375

9 2019 Conference Update May 31-June 2 in DeWitt, Michigan Come Join Us For Experiences that Equip and Encourage Our 2019 Conference planning is well underway with God at the center, a strong and dedicated committee in place, and ideas flowing freely. In September, we began our work in earnest by developing an online survey. We wanted additional feedback about what women want in a retreat and we pushed to get some young woman (say 40 and under) who have not attended our conference to respond. We received over 70 responses in total and compiled the responses along with last year s conference feedback. We were quite inspired by what women of all ages had to say. A clear message was the desire to be with friends of course but what women want most is to be with God, to be still and know God, to have an opportunity to pray and in general spend more time in small groups than in assembly. Another thing that was very clear was that most woman prefer different speakers throughout the weekend rather than one person. Relevant workshops are welcomed by women of all ages and in general it seems young women are excited about and interested in experiences. We will continue to develop our three-year Feel/Siente theme. Last year we used the F in feel and focused on Faithful. This year we are using the E s in feel and inviting women to join us for a weekend of Experiences that Equip and Encourage. Mark your calendars now May 31-June 2, St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, Michigan. Details to come. Your 2019 Conference Committee members are Lynne Punnett, Rev. Dr. Robyn Moore, Laurel Reed, Shelby Reed, Kim Michowski, Laura Germaine, and Delia De La Fuente.