Girls, Mothers Put Missions Into Action
By Eva Wilson
November 2009
God “can speak to you when you’re very young,” Carol Kirkland told girls attending the KNCSB Glow missions retreat.
Kirkland was the featured speaker for the retreat held Oct. 2-3 at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. She and her family formerly served in Africa and are now home in Kansas.
Glow is a retreat for girls in grades 1-6 and their mothers. It stands for “God’s Light Over the World.” This year’s retreat focused on Africa. The theme verse was, “He is a light that will reveal salvation to the nations.” Luke 2:32 (GWT)
When Kirkland was a young girl, her church had a reading emphasis about missionaries. That sparked her interest, and she kept reading.
As an eighth grader, “God spoke in my heart and said, ‘I want you to be a missionary’.” So Kirkland made all of her major life decisions with that calling in mind. In fact, when her husband, Jonathan, asked her to marry him, she asked if he felt called to missions.
The Kirkland family served on a short-term basis in Liberia and Tanzania. Before leaving Tanzania, they felt God’s call to return and serve for a longer time. When they returned to Tanzania, they served four years.
Jonathan Kirkland is a doctor. He served in the mission hospital and also went by helicopter to hold medical clinics in remote areas. Carol homeschooled their children. She also led women’s Bible studies, taught English as a second language and helped with bookkeeping in the mission hospital.
Kirkland challenged the girls to be missionaries in their homes and schools. She also stressed the importance of praying for missionaries on their birthdays.
“On our birthday, we could feel people lifting us up.”
The girls and their mothers also staged a mission project for Sudanese people living in Omaha, Neb. They collected toiletry items for the Sudanese church led by Pastor James Guek. During the retreat, they decorated gift bags to be used in distributing the items.
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