News Articles by Sammie Jo Barstow

How far is the journey from utter hopelessness to a life full of joy and hope? It might be as long as the path from welfare to a salaried job. Perhaps it would be traveling from not being able to provide for yourself and your children to developing skills and abilities in parenting and household […]

      BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--How far is the journey from utter hopelessness to a life full of joy and hope?
      It might be as long as the path from welfare to a salaried job. Perhaps it would be traveling from not being able to provide for yourself and your children to developing skills and abilities in parenting and household management. It could be the distance from feeling your life is of no value to finding confidence in a personal relationship with Christ.
      Terri, Sheryl, and Stacey can answer that question. They live in different geographic locations and in some ways their stories differ, but in many ways they are similar.

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--"Jesus went to church."

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--Assessing the need for -- and tallying up available resources -- are the starting points in five key steps for launching a local Christian Women's Jobs Corps ministry:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--Things change; things stay the same.

Perhaps there is no country where this is more true than modern-day Turkey. Contrasts in culture, government and religion during the past two centuries are readily apparent in this country which is the focus of "Dispelling the Darkness in Turkey," the 2000 International Mission Study (IMS), published by Woman's Missionary Union.

NEW YORK CITY (BP)–Once upon a time, promotion of events and activities in the religious community consisted of a telephone chain, a couple of posters and an announcement in the Sunday bulletin. Adults active in ministry for many years will remember when a poster crudely lettered with stencils and decorated with two or three colored […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–Asked to name a few miracles in Old Testament times, one might mention that God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, demolished the walls of Jericho and delivered Jonah from the belly of a large fish. Even more familiar, perhaps, are the accounts of miracles performed by Jesus as he healed the […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–“Find a need and fill it” is more than a cliche for Karen Anderson Holcomb and Sarah Standerfer Groves, authors of “Certain Call: Missions Dramas and Choruses for Youth and College Students.” When their paths crossed in the early ’90s at an Acteens conference in Nashville, Tenn., they had no idea that a […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–“Russia will never let go of my heart,” the late Ken Murphy reflected in his book, “Russian Harvest,” about the five-year missions partnership between Baptists in Kentucky and Russia. Published by Woman’s Missionary Union in Birmingham, Ala., Russian Harvest describes the 1993-98 partnership between the two Baptist groups encompassing more than 1,500 volunteers. […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--Lives are being changed. That's the bottom line. As Christian Women's Job Corps, a ministry of Woman's Missionary Union, marked its third anniversary March 1, 2000, leaders could celebrate that more than 1,350 women have taken steps to move from homelessness, hopelessness and joblessness to lives that include jobs, financial security and self-sufficiency.