Celebration, challenge mark WMU report

Celebrating historic milestones and the highest offering ever for international missions was the focus of national WMU’s report to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Wanda Lee, WMU’s executive director-treasurer, and Debby Akerman of South Carolina, national president, said WMU wrapped up a yearlong celebration of their 125th anniversary at this year’s missions celebration, June 8-9.

WMU thanked Southern Baptists for the largest amount ever given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, more than $154 million in 2013.

“When the women organized as WMU in 1888 and accepted the challenge of raising funds for a church in Cuba and for women to help Lottie Moon in China,” Akerman said, “I know they never dreamed an offering of this size would be the result many years later.”

Akerman, of Myrtle Beach, was re-elected to a fifth and final term as president of national WMU.