BLUEFIELD, Va. — Both Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia and Bluefield College are committed to training leaders who can transform their communities, say spokespersons for the organizations.
While working in South Africa, Sara Hubble helped find families for abandoned babies.
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Now the recent appointment of 2007 Bluefield College graduate Sara Hubble to WMUV’s board of trustees — the second such appointment in less than two years — is evidence the two Baptist organizations are achieving their goals, preparing and equipping women to lead and serve to make a positive difference in the world.
Following in the footsteps of May 2008 BC graduate Lesley Gray of Fieldale, Va., who became a member of the WMUV board in the fall of 2008, Hubble was named a WMUV trustee in the spring of 2010, bringing her leadership transformation full circle.
As a child, growing up in Richmond, Va., she found great joy and inspiration attending WMUV’s summer CrossRoads Camps. In fact, her first knowledge of mission work came from a Filipino missionary speaking at a CrossRoads Camp.
“I became very interested in becoming a missionary,” said Hubble, “and began taking every opportunity I had to learn more about it.”
After numerous summers as a CrossRoads camper and several years as a participant of the WMUV’s Girls in Action missions discipleship program, Hubble became a CrossRoads staffer, which further shaped her call to serve in missions.
“At first, I thought I would play a direct role in ministering to others through mission work, but then realized my calling was to serve in a daily role,” said Hubble about her passion for missions. “My calling is to educated people about mission work and to teach them how to live mission-oriented lives wherever they are.”
She chose Bluefield College to equip her for her calling. At BC, she majored in Christian studies, served as a leader for the Baptist Student Union, and participated in a number of student mission trips abroad.
“Bluefield College helped expand my passion for interacting and working with different people, cultures, and lifestyles,” said Hubble.
After college, Hubble left Bluefield for South Africa, where she worked with Door of Hope, finding potential adoptive parents worldwide for abandoned babies in Johannesburg. Bluefield College, she said, prepared her for that work.
“The situations I saw in South Africa made the basis of my faith and the truth of the gospel all more real,” said Hubble about her year in Johannesburg. “Through these situations my faith was reaffirmed in the truth that God places each of us on earth for a reason, and he has a plan for our future.”
She came back to Bluefield in 2008, and shortly thereafter accepted an invitation from the WMUV to serve on its children’s ministry council. As an acknowledgment of her dedication to the organization, she was later asked to serve on the advisory council of the WMUV board of trustees.
As one of just three members under the age of 30 on a board of 13, Hubble’s duties include reviewing budgets, supporting partner agencies, participating in strategic planning, and “working alongside other board members as a visionary for the organization.” In fact, one of the most recent WMUV projects she finds great joy in is the WMUV’s work with women in India.
“India is a country where Christianity is nearly nonexistent and a place where women hold relatively little status,” said Hubble. “However, the WMU of Virginia is reaching out and ministering to women in India in the hopes that they will evangelize to other inaccessible places throughout the country.”
And whether it’s across the world with the WMUV or at home in Bluefield where she works at First Century Bank, Hubble said she continues to strive to fulfill her calling.
“I am daily given the opportunity to offer encouragement to the people of the community and to pray for them when they are going through tough times,” said Hubble. “I want to help others, whether on a local or international level.”