WMU President Lauren Sullens: ‘If it were a color, I’d bleed the Cooperative Program’

Posted

By Roger Alford

MONROE, Ga. – There’s no mistaking Lauren Sullens’ enthusiasm for getting the Gospel to the nations.

That’s why, as the new president of the Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union of Georgia, Sullens plans to herald the Cooperative Program, which has been described as perhaps the greatest evangelistic initiative in modern church history.

“If it were a color, I would bleed the Cooperative Program,”   Sullens said. “Through the Cooperative Program, we have the opportunity to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. The Cooperative Program gives us the opportunity to support the biggest missionary sending agency in the world.”

Some 1.4 million Georgia Baptists in 3,600 churches have long played an integral role in supporting the Cooperative Program, which funds the work of some 10,000 missionaries throughout North America and more than 3,600 around the world.

“I would love for churches to have a revival in their Cooperative Program giving, in their support of our missions offerings, and in missions discipleship, so that they are all praying and giving and going,” said Sullens, who was elected WMU president last month.

Sullens, who, at 40, is among the youngest women ever to serve as Georgia’s WMU president, said her life has been shaped by the organization. She participated in the WMU’s Girls in Action and Acteens programs as a child and teenager, and she became a WMU leader in her local church at age 21.

Those who know Sullens best are especially excited about what she will bring to the WMU presidency.

“Lauren has an unwavering heart for Jesus and a passion to make Him known,” said Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Georgia Baptist Women at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “As a pastor’s wife, she has always had a lot of responsibility in the local church but has made leading missions discipleship her priority.  Lauren is a gifted communicator who will help lead all Georgia Baptist women to discover a lifestyle of missions.  She is energetic, has fresh ideas and has a definite calling to serve as WMU president in Georgia.”

Kelly Evans, who first met Sullens more than a decade ago in Ellabell, Ga., described her as a “well-rounded Christian lady” who has the understanding to lead women into the future.

Evans said Sullens and her husband Clint, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Monroe, have a heart for missions and are burdened for the lost.

“She is a passionate wife and mother to her family,” Evans said of the new WMU president. “I could really go on and on about why Lauren is going to be a beneficial president to the women of Georgia WMU.  She is fun and has a great listener's ear.  She also lives her life by the Bible, unashamedly.”

Sullens, a college-trained teacher and homeschool mom, wants to use her position to encourage Georgia Baptist women and to remind them that God has a specific plan and purpose for each of them.

“WMU is full of a variety of women – career women, stay at home moms, older women, younger women, single women and married women,” said Sullens, a mother of five. “I want them all to see that God can use them in the particular places that He has them.”

____

To schedule Sullens at your church or event, contact her at clintandlauren@liv.com.

Georgia Baptist Women, Georgia Woman's Missionary Union, wmu