Called to Serve: Sandy Wisdom-Martin, WMU Exec.Dir.
Sandy Wisdom-Martin began her new role as executive director/treasurer of Birmingham based WMU (Woman’s Missionary Union) in October of last year. She is succeeded by Wanda Lee who served as Executive Director of the national organization for 16 years. According to Lee, Wisdom-Martin’s “quiet presence puts people at ease while building confidence in the actions to be taken,” and she leads “from a place of complete surrender to the Lord.”
Previously, Wisdom-Martin was Women’s and Missions and Ministries Director for the Illinois Baptist State Association and Cooperative Program Missionary with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. These roles, along with numerous other circumstances along the way, shaped her into the person she is today. From being discipled and learning that God had a plan for her life at a young age, to joining a missions program called Acteens as a teenager, her experiences “set the stage for me to be able to hear and respond to God’s call on my life,” she says. Despite her lengthy list of qualifications, Wisdom-Martin insists she is not qualified to be executive director of WMU. She references 2 Corinthians 12:10 and says “being weak is not especially comfortable- but it is the means by which God’s holy power can be freely released.” She left behind a comfortable life, but her reward will be “to be a witness to what God and God alone can do in our midst.”
Wisdom-Martin’s biggest goal for WMU in 2017 is for people to understand why WMU exists. Wisdom-Martin says, “We put our hearts into this ministry because God said to care for the poor.” It is this belief that fuels her passion. “We are not defined by what others say about us nor what we think about ourselves. We are defined by the One who calls us by name.”
- Rachel Biddy
