One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my Mom’s lap, listening to her read me to me from My Picture Story Bible.  I was captivated by the stories and the colorful pictures.  I don’t know if my Mom knew it or not, but she was planting seeds that would sprout into my life-long love of God’s Word.  Thank you, Mom, for sowing God’s Word into my life.

Another early memory involves my Mom too, of course.  It was my Mom who first introduced me to God’s love for all the peoples of the world through Sunbeams.  My Mom was my Sunbeam leader.  I loved hearing the stories of missionaries around the world telling people about the love of Jesus.  Those stories were thrilling to me.  And I loved learning about the different countries and cultures and peoples.  Again, my Mom was planting seeds…seeds that would sprout into my life-long love of God’s mission around the world.  Thank you, Mom for sowing the mission of God in the world into my life.

Over the next few years I would continue to grow in God’s Word and in learning about His mission around the world.  I am grateful for the many women in my life who nurtured me in my pursuit of God and in my missions journey:  Mom (Betty Bradley), Eva Irvin, Romaine Barker, Mabel Singleton, Becky Arnett, and Evelyn Tully, to name a few.  These women lived out their faith journey in exemplary ways, probably not really taking stalk of who might be watching. They were just trying to live out their lives in obedience to our Lord and Savior. But I was watching and learning and catching their vision for reaching the world for Christ.

That’s my story…at least part of it.  What’s yours?  What’s your God story?  What’s your missions story? Share your story at http://wordpress.com/post/edwaterreflections.com/237 or email me at cbradley@flbaptist.org and tell me your story.  I would love to hear your God story and your missions story.

Even though Baptist women had been praying for missions and missionaries for over a century, it wasn’t until 1908 that Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) officially promoted and adopted the Calendar of Prayer.  Baptist women have been praying for international and North American missionaries on their birthdays ever since.

When you ask a missionary what you can do to help them, usually the first thing they will respond with is “PRAY!” And they REALLY mean it!

Sometimes praying for missionaries can seem like an overwhelming task–there are so many of them. Asking God to “bless the missionaries” is appropriate, but often sounds hollow and insincere. So how do you pray for missionaries?

Praying for missionaries on their birthday is one way to get a handle on praying for all of our Southern Baptist missionary force day-by-day.  WMU’s monthly periodical for adult women, Missions Mosaic*, has a feature called “Prayer Patterns” which combines a daily devotional guide with praying for missionaries on their birthdays.

Not sure what exactly to pray for missionaries about?  Just think about the things that you need prayer for in your own life. Missionaries are just like you and me. Location and circumstances are different, but they get stressed out just like we do.  They experience health concerns and family issues. Pray for them like you would want someone to pray for you.

I hope you will join me daily in going before the Father on behalf of our missionaries. Praying for missionaries is truly a privilege!

*You can subscribe to Missions Mosaic at www.wmustore.com.

1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” 8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” 10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. — John 6:1-13

I don’t know about you, but I am often overwhelmed by everything that I need to do and all the things I would like to do – emails to answer, phone calls to return, conferences to plan, trainings to prepare for…and everything, well, everything is important.  Sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in a day.  Not to mention personal issues like sick and aging parents, personal health issues, sick children, sick spouses. And then there is when your washing machine breaks down, the bathroom floor floods, the breaks on the car go out and the internet quits working…all on the same day…the day before your largest event of the year.  And all of the other stuff that causes stress and adds to our feeling of being overwhelmed and wondering how we are going to get everything done.

In the story of the loaves and fishes I wonder if Philip felt a little bit overwhelmed when Jesus asked him to go and buy enough food to feed all of those people.  And Andrew too, even though he found a boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, he knew it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket with so many people.  They spent quality time with Jesus on a daily basis, but they were slow to catch on that nothing was too difficult for Him.  Jesus even said he was asking Philip the question to test him.

Here’s the thing.  We shake our heads at Philip and Andrew’s little faith and then do the same thing ourselves. We forget that the One True God of the universe has everything under control. We forget that Jesus already knows what He is going to do in the middle of our overwhelming stress.

Before the miracle of the loaves and fishes being multiplied Jesus had everyone sit down (relax) and then He gave thanks to God. And after He gave thanks the not enough became enough…more than enough actually.

About a year and a half ago I was once again feeling overwhelmed…for the usual reasons and began praying. As I prayed about all that needed to be done and how overwhelmed I was feeling and how much I needed God to help me, I realized that overwhelmed was the norm rather than the exception.  I realized that overwhelmed was an opportunity to depend more on God. I realized that overwhelmed may be what God was using to keep me dependent and desperate for Him.  I realized that there was purpose in overwhelmed. I realized that I always got everything done that needed to be done. And I began to give thanks for overwhelmed.

In this crazy, hurried, hectic life God gives us overwhelmed as a reminder to depend on Him. He gives us overwhelmed as a gift. So the next time you are feeling overwhelmed, stop, give your overwhelmed to God and give Him thanks.

With the summer camping season just around the corner my thoughts turn to my days as a camper at Lake Sallateeska, the Baptist state camp in Southern Illinois, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I know there may be more beautiful places in the world, but this place ranks up there in my top ten! As I reflect on the natural beauty that God created there I understand why it is so beautiful to me.  It is because of the beauty that God created in my heart when I was a GA camper there many years ago that gives Lake Sallateeska such an endearing and meaningful place in my life. God opened the heart of a 10-year-old, homesick camper many years ago and drew me close during a dedication service. I gave my heart to Him that year. Little did I know then that I would give my life to Him in missions service during another dedication service as a teenager a few years later. Such is the impact of participating in a missions camping experience.

My encounters with God at Lake Sallateeska as a camper and later as a staffer truly changed and impacted the future direction of my life. I am ever grateful to those who made those experiences possible and to Illinois Baptists for providing the facility and monies to make missions camps possible.

I know the same is true in Florida.  Our missions camping program for girls and boys, now called Camp WorldLight, began 70 years ago with missions camps for girls. Florida WMU wanted a permanent place for their camps to be held, and convinced the Florida Baptist Convention in 1960 that they were serious about a camp site by establishing a “permanent camp reserve fund.” The Florida Baptist Convention State Board of Missions began their search for a piece of property in Florida.  In 1962, the Florida Baptist Convention purchased property on Lake Yale.  In 1965, GA camps were held on the property for the first time. I am so grateful to our churches and individuals who have made this possible.

In just a few weeks girls and boys, along with their counselors, will be settling into the North Camp at Lake Yale.  In addition to swimming, archery, outrageous games and the ropes challenge course, they will be learning about God’s great mission all around the world. The theme for Camp WorldLight 2016 is “Unashamed.” At Camp WorldLight, campers get to learn the importance of spreading the Gospel and how they can be involved in missions–even at a young age. They will get to participate in exciting worship and have the opportunity to dig into God’s Word every day. They will also have an opportunity to learn how to put what they are learning into action with hands-on missions training and will hear from missionaries from around the world.

There is still time to register for Camp WorldLight 2016.  Go to www.campworldlight.com for more information and to download a registration form. I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do at Camp WorldLight this summer!

I was new in town and new to this church. I decided to join a ladies Bible study group that met on Tuesday nights. One of the questions asked at the get acquainted session was, “Why did you join this group and what do you hope to get out of these sessions?” Hmmm…I knew I should probably give a spiritual-sounding response. After all, I am a seminary graduate. Something like, “I want to develop a closer and deeper walk with Jesus.” Yes, that would do.  While it was a true statement, it wasn’t an accurate description of why I had joined the group. To be honest, the reason I joined the group was for fellowship. I was lonely and wanted to get to know some of the ladies of the church. I wanted relationship. Yes, I wanted to develop a closer and deeper relationship with Jesus, but I wanted to do it in relationship with other believers. And I did.

Relationship – that’s what all of us are searching for, whether we know it or not. We are longing deeply for not only that human connection, but for that Someone who knows us intimately…and loves us anyway. O the sweet joy of being known by the Father and being loved by Him — the wonder of being in relationship with Him. The words of Jeremiah in chapter 31 echo in my heart “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” The sweet joy of relationship with Him – there is none other as sweet.