STATE BOARD OF MISSIONSAlabama Baptist

2018 MISSIONS STUDYWHEN I LOOK BACK over the brief history of the Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering, I am overwhelmed with gratitude by all the Lord has done. Just three short years ago, we, as Alabama Baptists, came together for the first time for a week of dedicated prayer for state missions. Local churches all across Alabama gave gener-ously to the offering, and the Great Commission Ministries that are featured continued to thrive and to be blessed to an even greater degree through God’s answer to those specific prayers and gifts. Perhaps one of the most beautiful blessings I have seen through the Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering has been the demonstration of true co-operation and unity of purpose among Alabama Baptists on display. Never was that more evident than last year during the unprecedented string of horrible

hurricanes that battered the coast from Texas to Florida to the Caribbean. Even before the first storm hit, we watched our brothers and sisters in Disaster Relief begin to ready their volunteers and resources. They were already trained and equipped, thanks in part to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. The infrastructure and equipment needed for a timely response was already in place, was well maintained, and was in prime working condition. In addition, the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions was able to send an immediate gift of relief funds to our partner state conventions, thanks in part to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. As the first storm, Hurricane Harvey, made landfall, Alabama WMU issued a call to prayer through our social media channels. The prayer guide was shared and forwarded tens of thousands of times. Members of new church continued

by Candace McIntosh, Alabama WMU Executive Director

Statewide Goal: $1,000,000

FOR STATE MISSIONSPR AYER

continued plants joined in with other local churches, big and small, in specific, timely intercession through the prayer guide as it was updated time and again during each subsequent disaster. Each person played their part. Some gave their time as disaster relief volunteers. Others volunteered their talents and utilized their influ-ence to mobilize prayer teams. Whether it was by praying fervently for others or giving sacrificially to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering and specific hurricane relief, Alabama Baptists joined together in unity and love. It is with this same heart that we move forward into the third year of observing the Week of Prayer for State Missions and gathering of the Myers-Mallory State Missions offering. Alabama Baptists remain strong in their conviction of living out the Great Commission and commandment of Acts 1:8 as we serve in our Jerusalem and Judea. As we read through the Week of Prayer for State Missions Prayer Guide this year, we will be encouraged and challenged. Pray along, and you’ll be inspired by the Church Revitalization story of Pastor Nathan Simms as he stood firm in his commitment to reach his community for Christ. It is amazing to see how God has used him to begin to turn First Baptist Church, New Brockton, around by investing his life in purposeful relationships and encouraging his congregation to acknowledge “small victories.” You’ll be challenged by the commitment of the Acteens leaders of First Baptist Church, Columbiana, as they weekly invest in the lives of teenage girls, helping them to find their place in God’s plan as they navigate a changing culture. Or by Church Planter Jarman Leatherwood as he leads the House of Hope and Restoration Church to reach the unchurched and hurting with the hope of Christ.

And, of course, you will be absolutely encouraged by the examples of selfless service offered by our Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers and the incredible Partnership Missions story about how God used First Baptist Church, Monroeville, to providentially be in the right place at the right time to see Him at work in a big way. As you join together with Alabama Baptists around the state for the Week of Prayer for State Missions, take a moment to marvel at the truly amazing ways God is using the Body of Christ to accomplish His purposes. Each story tells a small piece of the bigger story…God’s redemption story. And you are a part of that story. You have your own part to play. Is God calling you to invest your life in others around you through Alabama WMU’s missions education groups like Mission Friends or Acteens? Does following Him mean your talents may be useful in Disaster Relief or your prayers may be encouraging to a church plant or struggling congregation in the revitalization process? Are you willing to give sacrificially to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering so that the Great Commission Ministries featured can continue to reach our state with the Gospel? Most of all, may we, as Alabama Baptists, remain steadfast as we move forward together in sharing the Gospel in the vast mission field of our own state. May we not forget that more than two million Alabamians remain unchurched. They have not yet heard and responded to the Gospel. May we stay strong in our resolve to make Him known…each one doing our part until He returns!

FREE MATERIALS ORDER FORMIf possible, please place one order for your entire church. Copy this form if necessary.

Choose one of four ways to order free materials:

1. Order online at Myers-Mallory.org

2. Complete and mail this form to: Alabama WMU P.O. Box 681970 Montgomery, AL 36068-1970

3. Call 334.613.2226 or 800.264.1225 ext. 226

4. Email your order to smayes@alsbom.org

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DVD (contains promo materials, videos, etc. All DVD content is also available for download at Myers-Mallory.org)

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FOR STATE MISSIONSPR AYER

PREPARATION FOR

PASTORS & CHURCH MISSIONS

LEADERS

BEGIN preparations for the Week of Prayer and Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering with a time of personal, concentrated prayer. As you make plans for your church’s observance, pray collectively as a leadership team: 1. With thanksgiving for how God is using the Great Commission Ministries of Alabama WMU, Alabama

Baptist Disaster Relief, Church Planting, Partnership Missions and Church Revitalization and for the faithful giving of Alabama Baptists. 2. For wisdom in guiding your church in the observance of the Week of Prayer for State Missions and Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering.3. For the age-level missions leaders or others who will lead the observance in your church. 4. For creativity in developing ways to celebrate, pray for and participate in the 2018 Week of Prayer and the offering.

GATHER the missions leaders in your church (pastor, missions pastor, WMU director, etc.) for a time of planning. 1. Set a date for your observance. The suggested dates are Sept. 9-16, 2018. If that week presents a conflict for your church, feel free to choose another. 2. Set your church’s offering goal. The statewide goal is $1,000,000. 3. Visit Myers-Mallory.org to explore the many resources available for the week of prayer and offering. 4. Determine ways to promote the week of prayer and offering in your church. Some options include:

• Utilizing one or more of the videos available at Myers-Mallory.org during worship services• Displaying posters throughout the church, distributing prayer guides and placing envelopes in

pews• Enlisting a State Missionary or Alabama WMU consultant to speak to your congregation (speakers

list available at Myers-Mallory.org)• Promoting on social media and in the church newsletter using graphics from Myers-Mallory.org• Using the activities in this study guide during missions gatherings like Mission Friends, GA, RA,

Acteens, Women on Mission, etc. or during other discipleship times. The following pages in this study guide contain suggested age-level activities for observing the Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. Customize your observance to meet the time constraints and other needs of your group. A number of the activities could be used with various age levels.

• Holding a special churchwide gathering for the Week of Prayer observance.

ORDER materials. Along with promotional items for the offering, consider other resources that will coordinate with your age-level plans. Consult with your age-level leaders or other volunteers to determine their needs.If possible, submit one order for your church including requested materials for all age groups. See options for ordering free materials on the previous page. Additional resources are available at Myers-Mallory.org.

PASTORS & CHURCH MISSIONS

Activities for PRESCHOOLERS1. Show preschoolers packets of seeds, as well as the finished plant product. Some suggestions include beets, beans, carrots, cucumbers, or radishes. Talk about what things seeds need to grow (soil, water, sunlight). Let preschoolers observe as you plant some seeds in a pot. Older preschoolers may be able to help you or even plant their own seeds in pots. A printable label for pots is available for download at Myers-Mallory.org. Tell preschoolers that some people “plant” churches. These church planters need helpers and money and a place to meet. Say a sentence prayer for the church planters in Alabama.

2. Invite some older GAs, RAs or Acteens to visit your class. Let them tell preschoolers about some fun things they did (or do) with their missions groups, as well as some things they have learned in GA, RA or Acteens. Then let them help preschoolers make offering banks for their Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. Using coffee cans or snack cans, cut a slit in the plastic lid so that coins and folded bills may be put inside. Cut white copy paper the size of the can, and help preschoolers glue the paper to the can. Let the guest GAs, RAs or Acteens help them decorate their banks with “M” stickers. A printable bank label is available at Myers-Mallory.org. Tell preschoolers that the money they put into their banks will go to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. This money helps missionaries in Alabama do their work. Help preschoolers think of chores or other things they can do at home to earn money for their offering.

3. Ask preschoolers if any of them have a nickname. Allow them time to share. Then tell them that they are about to learn about a group of people with a special nickname. First, make a tornado in a bottle by filling a plastic bottle two-thirds full of water. Add a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Sprinkle a small amount of glitter into the bottle. Put the cap on tightly. Turn the bottle upside down. Rotate the bottle quickly in a circular motion, until you see a mini tornado. Tell preschoolers that sometimes we have wind storms that look like the water in the bottle. These storms are strong enough to knock down trees and cut off

electricity. We have helpers in Alabama who go to the storm areas and help by picking up tree limbs that have fallen and by giving out bottles of water and food to people who are thirsty and hungry after the storm. These helpers wear yellow shirts and are nicknamed the “Yellow Shirt Army”. Show preschool-ers the photo of disaster relief volunteers available at Myers-Mallory.org. Pray for more helpers to join.

4. Provide a yellow t-shirt for preschoolers to take turns wearing. Using an instant camera, take a picture of each preschooler in the shirt. Allow them to paste their photos to the “Pray for Disaster Relief” down-loadable page found at Myers-Mallory.org. For more details about Alabama Baptist Disaster relief, see the prayer guide for the Week of Prayer. Talk about the “Yellow Shirt Army” of volunteers. Tell preschoolers they can be in this “army” of volunteers when they are older.

5. Snack time! Make a twister drink. Supervise carefully. Preschoolers should not touch the blender. Using a blender, mix 5 strawberries, ½ banana and 1 cup of milk. Allow preschoolers to see the funnel form as the drink is blended. Let preschoolers taste the drink. Another option is to serve Bugles corn chips. (Caution: Talk to parents about allergies before allowing preschoolers to try the food and drink.)

6. Encourage preschoolers to sway as they sing along. Sing to the tune of “London Bridge.”

I can be a helper, helper, helper.I can be a helper; you can, too.

I can give my money, money, money.I can give my money; you can, too.

I can pray for missionaries, missionaries, missionaries.I can pray for missionaries; you can, too.

Take a moment with the preschoolers to pray for the offering and the ministries it helps support.

Remind preschoolers and their parents about when to return their offering.

1. Invite your association’s (or a nearby association’s) Disaster Relief unit to come your church. Ask them to bring their equipment for your group to see. Ask the volunteers to wear their yellow shirts and share about the work they do on the unit (whether it’s chainsaw, feeding, childcare, etc.). Give them time to share stories and pictures with the group. After they have shared, gather your group around the volunteers and equipment and pray for the ministry, the volunteers, and those to whom they will minister in the next year. Remind all in attendance that the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering helps support the ministry of Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief.

2. Let children watch one or more of the videos from Myers-Mallory.org and read stories from the Week of Prayer guide. Allow them to create a skit or commer-cial based on what they learned about the offering and the ministries it supports. Ask your pastor to let the children share their skit during a worship service to promote the offering. Using Smarties candies from a dollar store, help them make reminders to encour-age people to pray for and give to the offering. Attach Smarties to small index cards that say, “Be smart. Pray for our Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. Please give as the Lord leads you.” Provide offering envelopes, share your church’s offering goal, and let your congregation know the length of time for your church’s offering emphasis.

3. Email lgraham@alsbom.org to locate the church planter in Alabama who is closest to your church. Let children make cards of encouragement to send to the church planter. If close enough, consider scheduling a visit with your children’s group (maybe on a Satur-day) to go the church plant. While there, the church planter can share about the church and the children can prayerwalk the campus. If you can’t physically go to the church plant, check online and see if there is a website. You can do a virtual prayerwalk with your children’s group during class time.

4. Have a doctor or nurse (or someone pretending to be one) share with your children. Be sure they wear a lab coat and bring a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff,

thermometer, and other items used for a checkup. Tell how each tool helps measure our health. Talk about the importance of getting checkups. Explain to the children how it is important for churches to get check-ups, as well. Draw a line down the middle of a dry erase or poster board. On one side, have children list things that would describe a healthy person. On the other, help children list things that describe a healthy church (missions involvement, baptisms, healthy giving, etc.). Explain to the children that part of the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering goes toward helping churches who are trying to get healthy again.

5. Brainstorm with kids ways they can earn their own money to give to the offering this year. Challenge them to each do their part, no matter what the amount of their gift may be. Give each child an offering envelope and a prayer guide. Have a prayer time with the children for the offering and all the ministries it helps support. Give each child a fun-sized bag of M&Ms. (Check for allergies first). Allow children to pick an M&M color, and pray as a group using the color code below:

Brown – Pray for Church Revitalization – for churches who are trying to get healthy and for our State Missionaries who are helping them

Yellow – Pray for Disaster Relief volunteers and leaders who respond in times of crisis.

Red – Pray for Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union as they encourage people to be involved in missions every day.

Blue – Pray for Partnership Missions – for the North American and international missionaries from Alabama serving around the world.

Green – Pray for church planting efforts in Alabama as they seek to start new churches to share the gospel with people who don’t know Jesus.

Orange – Pray for the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering and that people would be generous in their giving this year.

Remind children when to return their offering.

Activities for CHILDREN

Activities for STUDENTS1. Review the five ministry areas supported by the Myers-Mallory State Mission Offering (Alabama WMU, Disaster Relief, Church Planting, Partnership Missions, Church Revitalization). Have students brainstorm several people and situations that could benefit from these ministries and then briefly write each person or scenario on a separate piece of paper. Crumple all paper into balls. Divide the room in half. Line the paper balls in the center of the room. Divide two teams unevenly. Explain that students will have two minutes to try to get all the paper balls onto the opposite side of the room. Students may block, swat or throw the paper balls. Student may not cross the center line. The side with the most students will most likely win. After the game, explain that it is challenging to minister to everyone when there are so many needs and only a few helping to minister. Divide the teams evenly and play again. Discuss how much easier it is when there are more hands to help. Encourage students to add “extra hands” to these ministries by praying for ministry leaders and those that they serve.

2. Ask students to write down any sources of income they have and their amounts (allowance, part-time job, birthday money, etc.) Tell students to think through everything they have spent money on in the last week (snacks, iTunes, clothes, coffee, etc.), and write down those numbers, too. Challenge students to prayerfully consider what they have that they can give or what they could give up so that they can give to the Myers-Mallory State Mission Offering. Share the following quote by Jim Elliot (missionary to Ecuador who gave his life striving to evangelize the Huaorani people): “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

3. Bring 80 tea light candles and a lighter stick to your missions meeting. Place unlit candles all around the meeting space, keeping one in your hands. High-light the work that Pastor Jarman is doing with House of Hope and Restoration Church in Huntsville, Ala., (Day 4 in the Prayer Guide for the Week of Prayer - available at Myers-Mallory.org). Turn off all the lights, so that your group is in total darkness.

Allow a few moments for eyes to adjust to the dark. Explain that many areas in which church planters serve are very dark spiritually. Light the candle in your hands. Discuss with your students how much light even one small candle offers. Ask your students to pray for church planters across Alabama. Slowly begin to light the remaining candles. Ask your students to pray for those God is calling to join in planting churches in Alabama.

4. Share Faryn Fryer’s testimony (Day 3 in the Prayer Guide for the Week of Prayer - available at Myers-Mallory.org). Ask students to share about the leaders, ministries and experiences that have im-pacted their hearts for Christ. Encourage students to use social media to share their stories. Students may choose to post about a recent missions experience, send a message of appreciation to a current or former leader, or highlight a ministry that deepened his/her faith. It would be wonderful for students to post about the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering to raise awareness, and gather offerings for the ministries it supports. Social media images are avail-able at Myers-Mallory.org/resources.

5. Draw a line down the center of a dry erase board. Ask students to list types of natural disasters on one side and other types of disasters that students and their families may face on the other (such as death of a loved one, loss of a job, etc.). Share how Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams are known as the “Yellow Shirt Army.” At age 18, students may choose to join them in their endeavors (see Days 2 and 7 in the Prayer Guide for the Week of Prayer - available at Myers-Mallory.org). Until then, there is still much stu-dents can do to assist their friends and family in the disasters they face. Bring something yellow for all the students to keep and, if possible, to wear to remind them that just like the “Yellow Shirt Army”, they can be a witness for Jesus to those around them through whatever difficulties they are facing.

Don’t forget to take time to pray for the offering and determine when and how you’ll collect the offering.

Activities for ADULTS1. Prayer sustains the work of missionaries and all missions efforts. Design a prayerwalk using the Myers-Mallory Prayer Guide for the Week of Prayer. Find it at Myers-Mallory.org/resources. Create your prayerwalk on five tables: one each for Alabama WMU, Disaster Relief, Church Planting, Partnership Missions and Church Revitalization. Provide prayer guides, pens and sticky notes. Instruct participants to write a prayer on a sticky note based on the needs in the prayer guide, then place the note on a poster you’ve displayed on the table. Include the state goal ($1 million) and your church goal at each station. Provide take-home prayer reminders for participants.

2. Alabama WMU offers missions ministries through a number of ministry opportunities, missions educa-tion groups, events and WorldSong Missions Place. Through these avenues, Alabama WMU enables everyone, from preschoolers to senior adults, to engage in missions. Visit AlabamaWMU.org, and learn about their ministries, camp, events and age-level groups. Select three or four facts to present describing WorldSong and each Alabama WMU missions group, event and ministry through a game of Jeopardy. Jeopardy instructions and facts are available at Myers-Mallory.org. Divide attendees into small groups for the game. Remember, responders must give their answer in the form of a question. Give prizes for the greatest number of correct an-swers. Then tell the stories of Acteen Faryn Fryer and Renew and Complete from the Myers-Mallory prayer guide. Pray for the missions ministries, events and staff of Alabama WMU.

3. Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams respond to difficult crisis situations every year with help and the love of Christ. Invite church or association members who are on a Disaster Relief team to wear their yellow shirts and hats at your offering event. Ask one or two volunteers to tell about a recent disaster they worked. Show the Disaster Relief video found online at Myers-Mallory.org. Ask your association’s disaster relief coordinator to speak about upcoming Disaster Relief training in your association. Pray for the training of new volunteers and the work of Alabama

Baptist Disaster Relief. Encourage church members to sign up to be trained.

4. Approximately 400 Alabamians serve as mission-aries through the International and North American Mission Boards. Find the map of Alabama mission-aries at http://a18.org/alabamaconnectionsmap/. Choose a pin drop that represents an international affinity group in which Alabamians serve. Go to IMB.org and type the name of the affinity group you chose into the search bar. Look for Fast Facts and other inter-esting information about that region. Share that information with your group. Discuss ways this area of the world is different from the U.S. and ways we are the same. Pray interactively for Alabama missionaries serving there and for opportunities to share Christ.

• Touch your face to remind yourself that these are real people who need Jesus. Pray for them.• Touch your knees, and pray for our missionaries’ prayer lives and work.• Place your hands over your heart, and pray for their strength and encouragement.• Grasp hands with each other, and pray against spiritual warfare.

As a group, commit to pray daily for this area of the world and Alabamians who serve there.

5. There are six major areas of lostness in Alabama - Auburn, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery. They represent areas of the state where the greatest number of households have the least percentage of active evangelical presence. These six cities desperately need new church plants and ministries. Tape a large Alabama map to poster board, and place it on an easel near a table. At the top,write the six areas of lostness. Recruit children’s missions groups to cut out small hearts from construction paper. Place these along with straight pins and ink pens at the table. Ask participants to write on the hearts the names of people they know in those six areas who are without Christ or are unchurched. Use the straight pins to affix them to the map. Pray for the cities and people there who need Christ.

Take time to pray for and collect the offering.

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