Christ's Birthday Observance 365 - October 2018
It was a striking picture: a great combine cutting a broad swath through a wide field of golden wheat. This is what Nora Hunter, our first National President, saw as she sat on her couch looking at the picture again. She had seen this picture a few days earlier on a magazine cover. Now as she sat and looked at the picture again, she began to realize there was a message in it for her. Nora had just returned from a five-month trip in Europe, Northern Africa, and Syria. What she had witnessed in those lands had kindled a fire in her heart. The fields were broad; the precious grain, ripe to harvest, was being lost. Nora longed for the church to see the great need in other countries.
The Great Depression had dragged the church backward, it seemed. The minds of the people were fixed upon themselves and their own needs. The backward drag was especially apparent in the decrease of gifts for the spread of the gospel. Nora returned from the trip with resolve in her heart. The cuts in the missionary allowances must stop! The national workers must be set free again. As Nora continued to wait upon the Lord, offering herself more deeply to His use, a word from the Book of Psalms came to her: “The Lord gave the word: the company of women that published the tidings are a great host” Ps. 68:11, ARV. And then, the idea was born: the women of the Church of God! They were a great host, and they were just waiting to be shown what to do. Days and months passed by; in 1932, the National Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Church of God came to birth in Anderson, Indiana. We are now known as Christian Women Connection.
(Excerpts from Madam President by Hazel G. Neal & Axchie A. Bolitho, Revised by Marie Meyer)
What a glorious heritage we have as Christian Women Connection continues today 86 years later. This ministry continues to assist our missionaries and many other areas. Soon, we will launch into Women in Ministry (WIM) to encourage, equip, and empower women clergy and lay women leaders in the work of the ministry. As we look at our history and see where we are today, it is evident the Lord’s hand is still at work in this ministry.
Activity: Consider reading Madame President with your women’s group this month. It’s good to revisit our heritage and find Great Joy in the journey for all of us!
The Great Depression had dragged the church backward, it seemed. The minds of the people were fixed upon themselves and their own needs. The backward drag was especially apparent in the decrease of gifts for the spread of the gospel. Nora returned from the trip with resolve in her heart. The cuts in the missionary allowances must stop! The national workers must be set free again. As Nora continued to wait upon the Lord, offering herself more deeply to His use, a word from the Book of Psalms came to her: “The Lord gave the word: the company of women that published the tidings are a great host” Ps. 68:11, ARV. And then, the idea was born: the women of the Church of God! They were a great host, and they were just waiting to be shown what to do. Days and months passed by; in 1932, the National Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Church of God came to birth in Anderson, Indiana. We are now known as Christian Women Connection.
(Excerpts from Madam President by Hazel G. Neal & Axchie A. Bolitho, Revised by Marie Meyer)
What a glorious heritage we have as Christian Women Connection continues today 86 years later. This ministry continues to assist our missionaries and many other areas. Soon, we will launch into Women in Ministry (WIM) to encourage, equip, and empower women clergy and lay women leaders in the work of the ministry. As we look at our history and see where we are today, it is evident the Lord’s hand is still at work in this ministry.
Activity: Consider reading Madame President with your women’s group this month. It’s good to revisit our heritage and find Great Joy in the journey for all of us!
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