On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Alabama-Crenshaw Baptist Association will host an On Missions Celebration (OMC) at South Luverne Baptist Church.

“Historically, every five years the Alabama Baptist Association chooses to host an On Missions Celebration. It used to be called World Missions Conference,” said Dr. Ben Chandler, director of missions for the Alabama-Crenshaw Baptist Association.

“It’s a time to invite missionaries, that we support through our cooperative program funding of the Southern Baptist Convention, to come in and share about their work, be it the state missionaries here in Alabama, State Board of Missions missionaries who work throughout Alabama in various roles of church life and North American Mission Board (NAMB) missionaries.”

Eight of the 27 churches in the Alabama-Crenshaw Baptist Association will participate in the OMC, and these churches will host eight missionaries. These eight serve as state missionaries, NAMB missionaries and international missionaries.

Churches participating are Highland Home Baptist Church, Bradleyton Baptist Church, New Ebenezer Baptist Church, Danielville Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Luverne, South Luverne Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church and Brantley Baptist Church.

Along with the OMC celebration, four services will be held on Sunday, Feb. 19 at each participating church. Each missionary will have a chance to share his/her experiences at these services; services will be held at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the churches previously mentioned.

The mission fair portion of the weekend will be held at South Luverne Baptist Church from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. A sack supper will be served at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and this is open to the public. There will be a $4 charge for the supper, and tickets can be purchased through one of the participating churches.

“We’re excited about these missionaries coming in and being a part of this big event. We want people to come to interact with missionaries and hear them speak to see what God is doing in the world. Then we hope people see where God is at work and join them,” Chandler said.

“We’re hoping that out if this event comes the decision by churches to participate in mission trips to go to these places that are being talked about or some other place that God leads them. We want them to renew their commitment to praying for missions, for teaching missions to all ages in the church and then we want them to see and learn the joy of giving to missions.”