Missions education and involvement for boys, a new tagline and social media were the focus of Woman"s Missionary Union"s report to the Southern Baptist Convention"s annual meeting.

Approximately 2,350 girls in grades 7-12 and their leaders, along with some collegiate young women, gathered for ?Blume,? where they were encouraged to appreciate their spiritual and missions heritage and consider ways they could share Christ with others and live a legacy of faith in their junior high, high school and college years. Blume, a missions event for teen girls sponsored by the national WMU, took place July 13-16 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Hispanic, Navajo, Russian and Chinese were among the 11 cultures represented by leaders who met with the common goal of increasing missions involvement in their churches through WMU. ?Living in an increasingly multicultural world, we all benefit from learning about one another from one another,? said Carolyn Porterfield, multicultural consultant for Woman's Mission Union of Texas and organizer of the Ethnic Leadership Summit hosted by WMU at its national offices in Birmingham, Ala.

South Carolina native Christine Burton Gregory, national WMU president from 1975-1981, died Jan. 22, 2011, in Danville, Va. She was 89.

Debby Akerman of Ocean View Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach was unanimously elected as president of national WMU by members of the organization during the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting June 14 in Orlando, Fla.

Joy Cranford was named this year's recipient of the Martha Myers GA Alumna of Distinction Award during the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting on June 14 in Orlando, Fla.

With the struggling economy, needs across the country continue to grow, as does the need for volunteers to minister and serve. As part of WMU's Volunteer Connection, missions experiences such as FamilyFEST, MissionsFEST and Collide provide volunteers an opportunity to partner with Christians in designated cities to support ongoing missions projects and to use their individual gifts to reach out, help others, and share the love of Christ.

National Woman's Missionary Union has selected Jessica Frasure of Glenrock Baptist Church in Fort Mill as one of six teens to serve on the 2009 National Acteens Panel for her outstanding leadership and strong missions involvement. The WMU Foundation also awarded her a $1,000 scholarship from the Jessica Powell Loftis Endowment for Acteens.

Southern Baptist churches with ongoing missions education programs appear to be stronger supporters of the Cooperative Program and Southern Baptist missions offerings, according to a review of data from the 2007 Annual Church Profile, a survey conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources.

Leaders of Texas and national WMU formalized their commitment to provide bilingual missions education materials to Korean Southern Baptist churches by signing a three-year agreement on Aug. 28.