Woman’s Missionary Union
Overview
for language congregations

“For we are laborers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9a KJV).

This is a special verse for Woman’s Missionary Union®. We call it our permanent watchword. It explains that all we do is possible only as we work together with God.

Begun in 1888, WMU has always been true to its basic purpose: missions. WMU supports the Southern Baptist Convention and its International Mission Board and North American Mission Board.

The vision statement of WMU reads: Woman’s Missionary Union challenges Christian believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God. Jesus told His followers to go and share the gospel (see Matthew 28:18–20). Missions means obeying these words of Jesus. WMU wants to help all believers share the gospel in their communities, in the nation, and around the world.

WMU functions on four levels: national, state, and associational, and in the local church. National WMU, state WMU, and associational WMU provide help to the local church WMU. On all of these levels, WMU’s work has six basic tasks that form the heart of all that WMU does. Each of the tasks is based on New Testament principles. These tasks are:

• learn about missions
  Paul took time to tell the early churches what was happening in his missionary efforts. Learning about missions helps church members want to participate. It helps them develop abilities and methods to effectively pray for, give to, and do missions.
• pray for missions
  Early Christians supported the work of Paul and other early missionaries. In reading the New Testament it is clear that Paul and others believed prayer was one of the best tools for the success of missions. WMU helps church members learn how to pray effectively for missionaries and their work.
• support missions
  As the church began to grow, early Christians realized that it was their responsibility to help support missions efforts in many ways. These included giving money to help missionaries like Paul and others do their work.
• do missions and witness
  In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches us that when we minister to the needs of others, we are showing our love for God. WMU encourages and provides opportunities for church members to minister and witness to those who are not Christians.
• develop spiritually toward a missions lifestyle
  In Ephesians Paul urges Christians to grow strong through God’s power so that they can work for Him. WMU helps people grow in their understanding of Who God is and what He is calling them to do. As they grow closer to God, people learn what their part is in fulfilling the Great Commission.
• participate in the work of the church and the denomination
  The church’s early members cooperated and worked together. WMU members and leaders are a part of the work of the whole church. This includes worship, evangelism, missions, ministry, discipleship, and fellowship.

WMU in the local church	Missions activities for the whole church The six tasks provide the base for planning activities for the whole church. Examples of these activities: invite a missionary speaker, pray for missionaries during the worship services, do churchwide ministry projects, give through special offerings for missions, provide witnessing training and opportunities to share with others.
	Age-level missions organizations A church can provide age-level organizations. These include Mission Friends®, Children in ActionSM, Girls in Action®, Youth on MissionSM, Acteens®, Adults on MissionSM, and Women on Mission®. For complete information on these organizations, go to www.wmu.com/orgs.
	Approaches to missions participation These approaches are Web-based opportunities for individuals or groups to fulfill the six tasks of WMU. They are myMISSION (www.myMISSIONfulfilled.com), Missions Interchange (for collegiate women, at www.missionsinterchange.com&341;, and Families on Mission. Information on Families on Mission can be found at www.missionsfriends.com and www.wmu.com.

Churches should evaluate their own needs and choose any one or any combination of these approaches. Every church may do it differently.

• WMU director: works with the pastor and other church leaders to plan, direct, evaluate, and help to improve the work of WMU in the church. It is important for every church to have a WMU director.

• Assistant WMU director: helps the age-level organizations, encourages growth in the groups, and keeps WMU records.
• Age-level leaders: oversee the work of each age-level organization. Each age-level organization should have its own leader.
• WMU mission action leader: helps identify, plan, and coordinate ministry projects sponsored by WMU.
• WMU witnessing leader: identifies, plans, and conducts WMU-sponsored witnessing training and coordinates witnessing experiences for the church members.
• WMU mission support leader: identifies, plans, and conducts mission support activities.
• WMU missions prayer leader: seeks to involve everyone in the church to pray for missions.

• You do not have to have every organization or leader mentioned above. Choose only those that are necessary according to your church's needs.
• You do not need a large amount of money to begin.
• You do not need a large number of people to have an organization. Organizations can be begun or activities held with only two or three participants.
• You do need to make choices according to your church size, number of members, and level of interest. You do need to work closely with the pastor and other church leaders to accomplish the six tasks.
• Above all, you do need to pray and seek God's plan for the growth and ministry of your church in its community, across the nation, and around the world.

These resources are available through WMU Customer Service at 1-800-968-7301 or www.wmustore.com:

•Missions Plan Book (for the current year)
Helps you plan missions opportunities for the whole year. Contains mission studies, Bible studies, prayer material, and much, much more.

•WMU Year Book (for the current year)

•How to Involve your Church in Missions
Includes a guide for WMU and missions leaders.