Louisville—The Kentucky Baptist Convention has selected Shirley Cox of Mount Vernon as Kentucky’s 2008 Mission Service Corps Missionary of the Year.

Mission Service Corps missionaries are self-funded missionaries who are commissioned by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board.

Since 2002, Cox has served as a photographer and journalist for Kentucky Baptists. A native of Eastern Kentucky, Cox recalled that she began writing to tell the stories of “ordinary people that God is using in extraordinary ways to impact the lives of others.”

As an MSC missionary, Cox reports on the ministry efforts of Kentucky Baptists, primarily in Eastern Kentucky.

“Many ministries and missionaries in Kentucky have been encouraged and strengthened through the gifted writing of Shirley Cox,” said Eric Allen, director of the KBC’s mission service and ministries department. “She is an example of how God can take something as small as an ink pen and use it for His glory.”

Cox’s articles are frequently featured in missions newsletters for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Her work also has appeared in the Western Recorder, the KBC’s weekly newsjournal, and in Baptist publications such as “Missions Mosaic,” “On Mission,” and “Altitude.”

Each year, the KBC recognizes an MSC Missionary for his or her commitment to and effectiveness in ministry, evangelism or church planting.

As the state honoree, Cox will serve as Kentucky’s nominee for the National Missionary of the Year award to be presented by the North American Mission Board later this summer.

Cox and her husband, Bud, have two children and two grandchildren.