DALLAS — What if it were
your mother? Or your wife?
Through its Mission:Dignity
ministry, GuideStone Financial Resources assists retired Southern Baptist ministers
and their wives who have significant financial needs. Sixty percent of
Mission:Dignity recipients are widows.
“These precious women served
for decades alongside their husbands in small churches with modest incomes and
little or no retirement contributions,” explained John Ambra, Mission:Dignity’s
director. “Now, they struggle to pay for basic necessities like food,
utilities, prescriptions or other medical care.”
Lenora Day is one of the
women for whom Mission:Dignity provides assistance. Married for 54 years, Day’s
husband died in 2001. Her son and daughter also died soon after.
After 44 years serving
alongside her husband in ministry, Day was trying to make it on $721 a month
from Social Security.
“I guess I’m what they call
a widow indeed because I don’t have a soul that can look after me,” she said.
After learning of the Mission:Dignity ministry, Day applied and was quickly
approved.
“Widows like Lenora Day are
helped by the generous support of individuals, Sunday School classes and
churches across the Southern Baptist Convention who make it possible to provide
these faithful servants of God an extra $200 to $530 each month,” Ambra said.
“Our goal is summed up in our name: We want to provide these men and women the
dignity they deserve.”
“The DNA of GuideStone rests
with dear soldiers of the cross — the very people this ministry was founded to
assist more than 90 years ago,” said GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins.
Funding for Mission:Dignity
comes primarily from the direct gifts of individuals, Sunday school classes and
churches across the Southern Baptist Convention.
Individuals, Churches and
Sunday School classes can join Southern Baptists across the country to help
make life better for God’s retired servants in need. To order free bulletin
inserts and Open Hearts Open Hands video visit www.MissionDignitySBC.org or
call (888) 984-8433).
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sharp
is executive officer for denominational and public relations services for
GuideStone Financial Resources.)