Growing up in the small town of Union, Mississippi, I began learning about missionaries as a preschool child in Sunbeams at First Baptist Church. We learned about the geography, customs, and needs of missionaries all over the world, including the USA.

 

We learned about missionaries like Mildred McWhorter, who developed a great missions ministry in downtown Houston from 1963-1992, and was a mega heroine in Girls Auxiliary. We often collected clothes, food, and supplies to send to the mission centers and some churches sent teams to her centers to help with Vacation Bible School, food distribution, and family emergencies. 

 

Another way our church supported missions in the United States was to encourage everyone in our church to give thirty pieces of silver to the Easter offering.

 
Yes, in the old days, dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars were made of silver. We had offering cards we could slide our coins in and we would start saving up our money after Christmas. We, young and old, would line up at the foot of the cross and lay our cards there to thank Jesus for His love and help to share His love with others.

 
During my husband Mark’s pastorate, we started Girls Auxiliary and Royal Ambassadors in every church we served so that children could learn about other people and their need to know Jesus as their Savior. These children are now adults and many are carrying the torch that we passed on to them. 

 
God has given us many opportunities to share His love through such things as construction, well digging, sharing clean water kits, teaching sewing, and working with men and boys in camps to know Jesus and to share Him with others.

 
I am so thankful for church members at Trinity Baptist who give their time to share God’s love with children and encourage them how to share this love with others they may or may not know. I am thankful for our disaster relief groups who go wherever they are needed to show God’s love. I am thankful for individuals who share their time and resources to help missionaries in many different ways.

 
We are never too young or old to get on board the Mission’s train and join the Lord in His work.

 

 

 

Mission trips can change the lives of the people you meet and unexpectedly, your life.

 
God has called Judy and I to serve the Kenyan people.

 
Our team usually works with two different ministries in Kenya. Principally, we work with International Treasure House Ministries (ITHM). Their focus is to rescue orphan and destitute kids (usually teenage mothers and their babies). They house, educate, equip, and spiritually train them so they will be able to break out of the cycle of poverty. They learn the good news of Jesus and we have witnessed many salvations and baptisms. Our role is to love the kids, training them on things like table etiquette, first aid, healthy relationships, online safety/cyber security, communication skills and goal setting, we also build and repair things. We teach classes for eighth graders at a local school. The classrooms usually have 80 extremely well-behaved kids in very cramped conditions. Not only do we share the gospel of Jesus Christ we also teach subjects like the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer. The kids know we have come a long distance and are very appreciative of that fact. They are free with their love and want to know about Jesus.

 
We also work with Heshima Children’s Center. Heshima in Swahili means dignity. Their mission is to provide dignity for children with disabilities or special needs. Most kids like this are shunned by society and so are their mothers. Heshima provides special education, therapy, medical services, housing, skills training for the moms in sewing or jewelry making. They also provide drinking water for the community from their deep well. Our role is to buy food staples for 12 to 15 impoverished families in the immediate area. We deliver the food and pray with the families for their needs.

 
Trinity helps support these mission trips in several ways. The Trinity Stitchers have made dresses for the girls at ITHM and Heshima. The Bridge Class members have donated love offerings for ITHM.

 
Once you become involved in Missions work you become passionate about it and feel very blessed by God.