When I joined the WMU staff in Georgia, I was full of excitement. I truly believed that I was where God wanted me to be. One of the first things that we did was to have a staff retreat. I was ready until I got the agenda and noticed that each session of our retreat would begin with a devotional that consisted of listening to tapes made by a WMU leader who had been dead for several years. I couldn’t believe it and thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” I thought that I had joined a cutting edge missions ministry and the best that we could do was listen to the tapes of a dead woman! How relevant was that?!

To my surprise, the devotions were the most relevant, mind stretching, motivating, inspiring thing that we did at the retreat. Sometimes we forget the wisdom of our foremothers and the truth that they were ahead of their times in their thinking and their actions. We forget the foundation that they laid for us and the spirit with which they did their work. They never lost sight of their missions purpose nor of the culture in which they were living and working. They never said it can’t be done. They had the same adversities that we have. They had people who were opposed to them, people who did not want them to exist. They refused to focus on the difficulties. They refused to focus on their size. Instead, they kept their focus on what God had called them to do. And, they did a mighty work! That is what we are called to do today if we are to move forward.*

*Watch for the next installment…….