The Missionary Messenger Volume 1- Issue 1 | Page 12

From the Editor Welcome to Houston! We are so excited to have you join us in the Lone Star State for the 2013 CME Unity Summit which includes the Executive Board. It is a privilege to be the host for the 95th Celebration of the birth of the Women’s Missionary Council. Plans for this great celebration began more than a year ago and will culminate in a few short days. First, I want to provide an explanation for the delay in your receiving black and white copies of the last couple of issues of The Missionary Messenger, our treasured publication. In early August, I received an email from Rev. Dr. Roderick Lewis, General Secretary of the Department of Publications, which stated that he had been holding the last issues of both The Christian Index and The Missionary Messenger in hopes that the problem with the printing press would be resolved; however it was not. Therefore, he had to run the publications in black and white because the cost of outsourcing them would have been too great He assured me that the Department of Publications and Heidleburg (the maker of the press) are working diligently to resolve the problem. Missionaries, we know about crisis situations and I assured Dr. Lewis that we would work with him until the problem is fixed. Therefore, I am asking us, as subscribers and readers, to continue to support both The Messenger and The Index with our prayers and with our renewal subscriptions. Finally, we have come a long way since the beginning of the Women’s Missionary Society in 1918 and we must remain essential in the 21st century as Missionaries Called to Reach Back, Stand Firm, and Move Forward. This month as we celebrate our past, promote our present missionary ministry and look forward to our future, we must keep focused on our mission to share the good news, salvation through Jesus Christ with unsaved men, women and children at home and abroad. In so doing, we will always be relevant and essential to the kingdom of God. I say thanks and “well done” to the missionaries who have labored for the past 95 years. Happy 95 th Birthday to the Women’s Missionary Council Rita