Published: April 04, 2009 11:39 pm         

Women on a mission: Presbyterian group spreads faith ... at home and abroad

“I think sometimes people wonder what the women do. We do a lot.”

Presbyterian Women of First Presbyterian Church of Enid do everything from hold bake sales to send trees to Africa, said LaDonna Lass, first vice moderator.

“We do missions locally, and we do missions worldwide. We send packages to our college kids for finals week. We do school supplies. We’ve done garage sales and bake sales. We do Meals on Wheels. We give cradle crosses to babies at baptism. We started a children’s library. We have been buying books for it, (and) before that we bought toys for the preschool building,” said Lass.

Fellow member Sharon Goodwin added there are so many missions it is hard to remember them all.

“We also donate money to send kids to camp during the summer. They don’t necessarily go to our church,” said Goodwin.

The women donate to World Wide Mission and Presbytery Synod. They also help bring guest speakers to Enid and make cookbooks.

One mission the women were excited about was sending trees to Africa.

“We purchased Moringa tree seeds to send to Africa. We also purchased malaria netting for missions over there. The oil, the leaves, the bark is all used. It is grown throughout the region. The trees were a source of nutrition up to 10,000 years ago. We raised money to send them over there,” said Lass.

The tree has many benefits to the people in Africa.

“It grows well there. They don’t have to take care of it like we take care of things we grow here,” said Goodwin.

Besides missions, the women also have social events and Bible study.

“We have a board meeting once a month and a circle meeting once a month where we have Bible study and fellowship,” said Roslyn Wilken, moderator.

The next social events coming up for the women are trips to festivals.

“The very next thing we are going to do is the herb festival in Sand Springs. At the end of April there is another festival in Jenks,” said Becky Cummings, special events coordinator. “In September we are doing our tea. We celebrate the Cherokee Strip. It is a fundraiser for our missions. It is fun to see everybody dressed up in period costumes.”

They do it all while enjoying each other’s company.

“There is a wide age variance. It is nice to hear stories of the ladies older than me, when they share their knowledge and faith,” said Wilken.

“We build friendships and camaraderie,” said Lass.