Mandisa Hundley, one of last year’s “American Idol” finalists, doesn’t want any regrets.
MandisaAnd that includes missions.
Mandisa (who uses her first name) marvels at how missionaries “work day after day … that the body of Christ can be built up.”
So she’s ready to do “anything that I can do” for missions – which is why she readily agreed to host the most recent volume of “Missionary Moments Video Vignettes.”
The video missions segments, now in their sixth year, highlight the work of six international and six North American missionaries supported by prayers and Southern Baptists’ gifts through the Cooperative Program.
Suggested uses of Missionary Moments Video Vignettes – each hosted by Mandisa and less than three minutes in length – include highlighting the Cooperative Program in morning, evening or midweek worship services; during offering times or as sermon illustrations; in Sunday school departments or classes; and for church missions emphases.
“I have been hearing about missions for years,” ever since going to work at LifeWay Christian Resources after graduating from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Mandisa said.
Before, however, she hadn’t known much about missionaries. But at LifeWay, “that’s when I heard about all these people either in short-term missions or giving their entire life going out to win people to the Lord. I have nothing but respect for them.”
Her aversion to regrets is reflected in her American Idol venture, with Mandisa recounting, “I went into American Idol thinking I just never wanted to look back and wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t tried it.
“At the end of my life, I never want to say, ‘I could have worshipped harder’ or ‘I could have had a bigger effect on people.'”
At LifeWay, Mandisa became a phone sales representative in the fall of 2000 and later worked briefly for LifeWay’s women’s enrichment events before joining Bible teacher Beth Moore’s worship team as a singer for her Living Proof Live conferences.
Mandisa said Moore “has such a heart for the lost. She always takes a moment to talk about missions in all the conferences I’ve seen her at. She’s always wanted to make sure people know that there are people out there who are doing this full-time and are really giving their lives to it.”
As Mandisa embarks on a singing career in Christian music and in churches across the country, she asks to be remembered in prayer “that every step I take would not be my own, but would actually be down the path that God has for me.”
After being in the American Idol spotlight, Mandisa said, “I’m the same person. The only difference is that people can pronounce my name now. – I still enjoy worshipping. I still enjoy spending time with my friends and going to church. None of that has changed.”
In addition to Missionary Moments Video Vignettes, available for $6 at www.sbc.net/cp, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee produces a number of resources to demonstrate the value and impact of cooperative missions and ministries. Among these is a print-version “Missionary Moments,” a weekly prayer guide resource for a church service or a small group recounting the stories of Southern Baptist missionaries across the globe supported through the Cooperative Program. It’s available free online or in print via www.sbc.net/cp.