August 6, 2001
'What we used to know isn't good enough'
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___Texas Baptists used to know a lot about missions. But that's not enough, according to the chief executive of Texas Woman's Missionary Union.
___"The world is incredibly different from what it was just a few years ago," said Carolyn Porterfield, executive director-treasurer of Texas WMU.
___"What we used to know about missions isn't good enough. We have a lot of adults who used to be involved in missions education, but they haven't continued to grow in their knowledge and understanding."
___The challenge facing Texas WMU is to help churches once again understand that "missions education is not just a program or organization. It's a life-shaping experience," Porterfield said.
___But that's an uphill climb. WMU enrollment in Texas has declined 19 percent in the past decade, from 145,088 in 1990 to 117,911 in 2000, according to statistics recently compiled by Clay Price, research and information services manager with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___While that is somewhat less alarming than the 26 percent decline that WMU experienced nationally, it still is a troubling statistic, Porterfield noted.
___"We must change the perception that so many people have about WMU. We are more than people who sit in a room reading to each other," she said.
___Of particular concern is the 41 percent decline in Mission Friends during the 1990s. Enrollment in the missions organization for preschoolers was 24,958 in 1990, but it dropped to 14,651 by 2000.
___The number of churches reporting WMU programs also declined significantly during that time period. About 70 percent of the churches affiliated with the BGCT in 1990 reported having a WMU organization of any kind. By 2000, only 55 percent did.
___"That means we almost have to start over. We have to help women understand the importance of missions in their Christian experience," Porterfield said.
___Helping women--and their families--to recognize the importance of missions and leading them into a missions lifestyle is a major part of the ongoing purpose of WMU. And increased giving to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions will allow Texas WMU to expand its effectiveness in fulfilling that purpose, Porterfield noted.
___This year's statewide giving goal for the Mary Hill Davis Offering is $5,750,505, up from last year's $5.6 million goal and about 8 percent more than the $5,303,192 given in 2000.
___The 2001 offering allocates $913,000 for Texas WMU, a 3 percent increase over the $885,000 allocated from the 2000 offering. While Texas WMU promotes Cooperative Program giving, the missions organization receives no Cooperative Program funds for its operation.
___In addition to its ongoing operating budget, the missions offering allows Texas WMU to provide church consultations, multicultural missions, campus involvement and field services for training church and associational leaders. ?
___The offering also provides for WMU-sponsored ministries such as Christian Women's Job Corps, a program that teaches low-income women job skills and life skills in a distinctively Christian context.
___In the last five years, the program has grown from one pilot project in San Antonio to 20 locations around the state. At least 15 other sites are projected to begin operations in the next few months.
___The largest single allocation in the 2001 Mary Hill Davis Offering is $1.4 million to help start new churches. The offering also includes $528,000 in allocations for 32 new missions ministries such as:
___Development of Bible study curriculum in at least seven languages that will be available for downloading from the Baptist General Convention of Texas website.
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___The 2001 Mary Hill Davis Offering also includes continuing support for key programs that involve Texas Baptists in volunteer missions opportunities. Specific allocations include $460,000 for River Ministry along the Rio Grande, $150,000 for Texas Partnerships and $150,000 for Mission Service Corps.
___"We can't divorce missions learning from missions involvement," Porterfield said.
___Expanding the avenues for involving volunteers in missions helps Texas WMU to confront the "false mentality" that presents missions as an option a Christian can choose or reject, Porterfield added. "In too many of our churches, we've made missions an option for the select few."
___As the number of volunteers involved in short-term missions opportunities increases, the goal becomes helping those volunteers to be transformed by the personal missions experience, she said.
___"It should be a life-changing experience that shapes the way we think about the world, interact with the world and view God and his work in the world."
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