This past week our daughter and son-in-law found themselves involved in a very scary situation. It was one of those situations that you read about in the paper or hear on the news and are just sure that it would never happen to you. Wednesday nights are very hectic for our daughter and family. You know the drill. Get home from work, change clothes if needed. Hurry to get to church on time for Bible study, etc. Our daughter and grandson had already left for church and our son-in-law hurried home to change so that he could meet them. He entered their home to find a woman coming out of their bedroom holding a pistol in her hand. Her companion was in the basement and they were in the process of robbing our son-in-law and daughter’s home. Without sharing the details, the couple were later apprehended and placed in jail. It was totally a random act. They had stolen a vehicle and had attempted to break into two other houses. While it was upsetting to all of us it could have been so much worse. None of our children were harmed and all the items taken were recovered.

 The identities of the couple who had committed the crime became public. The man was in his mid-40’s with many priors but the young girl was only 18. With tears in her eyes our daughter shared the background of the young woman. She had spent most of her life in and out of foster care. She had stolen most of our daughter’s clothes which meant she was probably a runaway. Earlier pictures of her revealed a beautiful young girl, a life marked by turmoil and no one really cared about her when she needed direction and love in her life.

A few months ago, God began to deal with me about the direction for Women’s Ministries in 2020. The word mentoring kept coming to my mind. As I looked at the demographics of my church as well as other churches that I have the blessing to be in the last year I was touched by how many women are searching for someone to take an interest in them. These are young girls that were not blessed as I was with Christian grandmothers and a Christian mom. Not too long ago I was approached by a young girl at my church that just simply asked if she could text me occasionally for advice and prayer. The need is great. All these women desire is someone to spend time with them, provide a lifeline when the pressures of life start pressing them down. I ran across a quote that said, “Be the women you wished you had as a young girl”.

In the next few months we will be developing a mentoring program for women to use in their individual churches. I encourage you all to pray for what part your women’s group or church will play in this. More importantly pray for how God wants to use you in this important ministry. If you have a desire to help in the development of this ministry please contact me at vicki.smith@generalbaptist.com or call me at 417-989-1426. I think together we can be that lifeline that so many women are desiring.
A quote from Lucibel Van Atta says “ Whenever God gives one of us a vision of ministry, He also enables us to complete it successfully.”