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Wow! Just doesn’t describe the retreat this year. It was more than WOW!
The committee and others did an excellent job in planning the retreat and “working” behind the scenes. Deiatre Gillam led us in music worship throughout the two days. Becky Cate deserves a big THANK YOU for bringing and operating the sound system. Friday afternoon, Krissy Whitlock set the tone for the two days with an exceptional devotional.
Friday evening MO WMA President welcomed everyone and then blessed us with a very inspiring song.

Then Sabrina Clayton! I already knew she would be great and I’m so glad that other ladies from Missouri got the opportunity to hear her. She taught us from scripture, she inspired us, she encouraged us, she made us laugh and she made us cry. We are also glad she brought ten ladies from her church in Tupelo, MS with her. We hope that they enjoyed their visit to Missouri as much as we enjoyed having them here.

We were honored to have Bro. Jerry and Sis. Sue Kidd with us. Saturday morning he presented the National WMA Project “Missionary Care.” I had the privilege to introduce him. He and Sis. Sue have “worked” with missions for over 50 years. They both have a heart and love for our missionaries.
His presentation tugged at our heart strings in a way that I don’t think anyone else could. After his presentation we took an offering. It’s a Baptist thing! The ladies generously gave $900.00 for this project.

There were 99 in attendance! These represented 22 churches, 5 states and 1 foreign country. (Personal note: my sisters and I were blessed to have a cousin who is a “worker” in Bangladesh attend while she is on furlough.)

Now the BIG announcement!
Four Hundred Eighty items were donated to the silent auction. Someone commented, “You could set up housekeeping with all these items!” After counting the money and collecting a last minute offering, the auction made $2,025.50 for Camp Garwood! This includes some items from Camp that were donated and brought in $113.00. Also, some may be wondering about the quilts made with Camp Garwood T-shirts. Krissey Morgan Whitlock and Kari Hartlein took those quilts home.

Our Missouri ladies are generous and love Camp Garwood!
The other BIG announcement!!
Mark your calendars for
September 11 & 12, 2020!
Same location:
Drury Inn & Suites, Arnold, MO

Landmark, DeSoto • October 6, 2019 • Morning Message – Wayne Gibson
Lunch will be served.
Please bring a song or something to share with us in the afternoon service!
Bates Creek, Potosi • October 13, 2019 • Morning Message – Bryan Buckley
Noon Meal followed by Afternoon Singing
We hope YOU can join us!

October 12, 2019 • 9:00 a.m.
Bethel Baptist Church, Sikeston, MO

Please remember that we voted to change the date of our annual association meeting to the 2nd Saturday of October instead of the 4th Saturday (2018 Minutes, Page 31, Morning Session #5). Therefore this year’s meeting is on October 12th at Bethel Baptist Church in Sikeston.
Please read: the messages “from our Host Pastor and From our Moderator,” included in this article along with the “reminder about your church’s membership in the BMAMO,” in the dotted box at the end of this article; the message “from our Missions Director,” on page 3; the “recommendations of the Special Missions Committee”, also on page 3; and the “recommended overhaul of By-Law Article VI,” on page 5, so you can be prepared to attend this meeting informed, in the right spirit, and ready to contribute to the progression of the work God has for us in the Baptist Missionary Association of Missouri.

From Our Host Pastor…..
Bethel Baptist Church of Sikeston is honored to host the 2019 annual meeting of the BMA of MO. Sikeston has many hotels and restaurants to choose from, our church is located at 128 5th street in Sikeston. We will serve pastries, coffee, juice between 7:30-8:30 a.m. and lunch. We have meeting rooms if needed. Looking forward to seeing you and having a Spirit-filled meeting. You can contact me at 573-521-8028 or e-mail billydavis1990@yahoo.com.
Bro. Billy Davis

From Our Moderator….
Dear Churches of the BMA of the State of Missouri:
What an amazing year of ministry it has been for our churches and camp organizations. I heard great things from Bro. Brad Banderman of how God moved and showed up at Camp Garwood through spiritual decisions made and salvations experienced and the great fun that was had by kids and adults alike.
The State Meeting is always an excellent time to hear our many department’s reports and to catch the excitement of our directors and leaders.
We had an amazing mid-year meeting at Springfield with Bro. Gary Longstaff and Grandview Baptist Church, And I know we will with Bro. Davis and Bethel Baptist Church in Sikeston.
Please, oh, PLEASE make plans to attend. And please pray for a peaceful and harmonious meeting and for God’s Spirit to be felt by all.
Bro. Ben Kingston

Reminder About Your Church’s Membership in the BMAMO
As part of the organizational structure of our State Association (see By-Laws on page 10 of 2018 Minutes Article III – Membership #3) we need to hear from our cooperating churches each year. This is accomplished by receiving a letter of representation from each church and by seating their messenger(s) if present in our annual meeting. This not only helps our cooperative work statistically but also assures each church who cooperates of strength and protection through being united with others of like faith and order. According to this by-law a church who does not send a letter and/or messengers for three consecutive years will be considered as having terminated her membership in the Association. Our clerk indicates that at the present time we have three churches who have not represented for two years and need to represent this year to avoid terminating their membership in the BMA of MO. Please help us by representing at the annual meeting this year.

Very Important Statistics
Professions of Faith — 15
Registered Campers — 308
Daily Visitors (not registered) — 70 – 80

Classroom attendance:
Under 5 years old — 9 students
6-7 years old — 10 students
8-9 years old — 25 students
10-12 year old girls — 38 students
10-12 year old boys — 22 students
High school girls — 64 students
High school boys — 48 students
Total: 216

The Semi-Annual Meeting of the BMA of Missouri met at Grandview Baptist Church, Springfield, May 18th. One of the highlights of the meeting was the growing anticipation of a new missionary, Bro. Dustin Wisely, coming to our state to work in the Columbia area. Bro. Wisely is entering the field as a missionary commissioned by and under the immediate direction of his home church, First Baptist, Magnolia, AR. The State and Meramec Associations are cooperating with First Baptist, Magnolia, to help provide a solid foundation for this work to become well established in our state.

Saturday morning Pastor Gary Longstaff welcomed the Association to Grandview. For the morning devotional Missionary-elect Wisely picked up where he had left off the night before as he energetically spoke on Being Madmen for the Gospel. After Moderator Ben Kingston called the meeting to order,a petitionary letter was accepted from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of Belgrade.

The Association approved the Special Missions Committee recommendation to help support Bro. Dustin Wisely’s mission work in Columbia. The Association voted to give $2,000 per month, designated for salary, beginning the first of 2020. As that work develops we will monitor the need to provide work fund support as well. In response to a question raised in October about the Association’s liability concerns, the Special Missions Committee also made a recommendation to amend our bylaws (Article VI (Officers) Section 3) as follows (underlined portion added to the existing section):
The duties of the officers shall be such as usually devolve on such officers of a deliberative body. Officers are, however, not authorized to speak or act as an authority at any time on behalf of the Association for any matter to which the Association has not directly spoken. The body approved this change. The Special Missions Committee will be continuing their work on this project.

Highlights from the various department reports included….

Missouri Missionary Baptist Loan Program:
Treasurer David Griggs gave the financial report followed by President Dennis Baker’s report in which he noted the need for our church to give special offerings to the Grant Fund in order that we might be able to help churches with emergency funds when needed.

Camp Garwood:
Camp Director Chris Polk noted the camp schedule for this year and pointed out that no new projects would be started this summer due to lack of funds, but that some projects already started would be completed. He noted that much help is needed to get everything ready for use this year.

Alive:
The date for this year’s Alive Conference is December 29 – 31, at Chesterfield, Missouri.

Missouri Missionary Baptist:
Editor Jim Hoffmann reported that increased monthly offerings are needed or we will have to have a special drive to raise funds in a few months as our income has fallen seriously the first part of this year.

Miscellaneous:
The messengers voted to sponsor another Renewal Retreat with Bro. Ben Kingston as the leader.

After all business was completed, Bro. Ben Kingston gave the annual message, On Being a Man after God’s Own Heart, from Acts 13:22. Following the message all pastors met with missionary-elect Dustin Wisely in the altar for a time of prayer specifically for him and his missionary work in our state. We then enjoyed food and fellowship as the church provided the noon meal.

by Don Burke, Clerk