By Tony Martin
Associate Editor
A combined curriculum line for Royal Ambassadors (RA), Girls in Action (GA), and Children in Action ministry programs in local churches will debut this fall from the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham.
The move is being made in response to requests from ministry leaders for children’s missions and discipleship materials that are simple to use, contain more robust Bible study, and offer in-depth mission studies, WMU says. The comprehensive curriculum will be named Missions Journey: Kids, and is suitable for boys, girls, and coed groups.
“The big surprise for our RA, GA, and Children in Action groups is that the regular core curriculum they’re used to will completely go away this fall,” said Tammy Anderson, executive director-treasurer of Mississippi Woman’s Missionary Union/Women’s Ministry (WMU/WM) in Jackson. “All three children’s missions organizations will use it. Only the core curriculum is changing. The organization will be staying the same.”
The new materials will include Missions Journey: Kids Leader, designed for teachers; Missions Journey: Kids Adventure, the student piece; and the self-descriptive Missions Journey: Kids Leader Kit.
Anderson noted that the identity of the children’s groups won’t change. WMU/WM will continue to carry resources for RAs, GAs, and Children in Action, she said, including badges and patches, achievement plans, and identity items such as bracelets, footballs, posters, and flags.
The curriculum is extremely flexible, Anderson noted. “Whether a Mississippi Baptist church has WMU/WM in it or not, or a children’s missions organization or not, a lot of this material can be woven into Sunday School or any other small group they’re already familiar with.”
The curriculum will be available by subscription, just as the older material has been. If a church is already enrolled in the current subscription program, the subscription will convert to the new material. The cost will be the same.
The new curriculum will focus on missions work in the U.S. and around the world. It will be structured as a balanced blend of missions discipleship and Bible study, Anderson explained. Students will explore the lives of heroes of the faith, from contemporary missionaries to the great men and women of the Bible, she said.
For more information, visit https://wmu.com/MissionsJourneyKids. For those who do not have a subscription or want to modify a current subscription, visit https://wmustore.com/children, or call (800) 968-7301.
Anderson may be contacted at tanderson@mbcb.org. Woman’s Missionary Union/Women’s Ministries, the RA and GA ministries, and Children in Action are supported by gifts to the Mississippi Cooperative Program.
