RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Following a year when Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving shattered old records and removed appointment restrictions, Southern Baptists raised nearly that amount again by giving almost $134 million to overseas missions.
When the books closed on the 2004 offering May 31, Southern Baptists had given $133,886,221.58. The amount fell just short of the previous year’s $136 million total and short of the $150 million goal.
Despite the shortfall, it was the offering’s second-largest total in its 115-year history to support more than 5,200 missionaries on the field. On the heels of the Lottie Moon emphasis and in the months following, Southern Baptists also gave more than $16.3 million to relief efforts after a tsunami struck parts of southern Asia and the Pacific Rim regions Dec. 26, 2004.
“We are overwhelmed with this testimony of Southern Baptists’ heart for missions and desire to reach our world for Jesus Christ,” said Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board. “We were able to remove restrictions on the number of missionaries being appointed after the record offering [in 2003] but were concerned about whether or not that level of support would be sustained.
“While the slight reduction in the amount given does not enable us to move forward as much as we had anticipated, we will stretch the dollars and do all we can to use it to push back the edge of lostness.”
With more missionary candidates than ever before seeking appointment, Rankin challenged Southern Baptists to reach this year’s $150 million goal.
“Opportunities to literally touch the whole world are unprecedented,” he said. “Whether or not we are able to seize these open doors and increase our numbers of missionaries is contingent on Southern Baptists meeting our goal this year.”
Wanda Lee, executive director/treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, also commended Southern Baptists for their sacrificial giving in support of international missions.
“As local churches strengthen their focus on missions, it is exciting to see an increasing number of Christians grow in their understanding that the Great Commission is a personal mandate to each one of us,” Lee said.
“In her final address in 1938, former WMU leader Annie Armstrong said, ‘After the study of God’s Word comes the study of the fields. Then people pray, then they give.’ Her words still hold true today,” Lee said. “Developing a worldview through strong and thriving missions programs and initiatives is vital in Baptist churches. Through increased knowledge and awareness of the needs around our world, we can pray more effectively and will be convicted to financially and prayerfully support those who are called to full-time missions.”
Lee added that national WMU, in partnership with state WMU offices, would continue to provide strong leadership in the area of giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering until the $150 million goal is reached.
‘SUSTAIN THOSE MISSIONARIES’
In 2003, Southern Baptists learned that some missionaries were not able to go to the field because there were not enough funds to send them. That year, churches responded to the need by increasing their Lottie Moon Christmas Offering amount by 18 percent — the largest dollar increase in the offering’s history.
That response has helped remove restrictions and slowly increased the number of missionaries to 5,225 as of the end of May. David Steverson, IMB treasurer, said Southern Baptists again showed their desire to spread the Gospel throughout the world.
“Even after an 18 percent increase in [the 2003] Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Southern Baptists again responded well in 2004 with only a slight decline over the previous year’s record offering.”
The tsunami disaster that sparked massive relief efforts throughout the world, is another example of Southern Baptist’s heart for the world, Steverson said.
“Southern Baptists responded by not only giving nearly $134 million to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering but also more than $16 million to disaster relief,” Steverson said.
But in order to reach this world for Christ and respond to future needs, Southern Baptists must sustain their missionaries through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, he said.
Gordon Fort, IMB vice president for overseas operations, took Steverson’s comments further. “When over 50 percent of our budget comes from this annual free-will offering, we cannot adequately state the potential global impact it will have on reaching a lost world for Jesus Christ.
“We praise God that in this generation we are seeing the actual possibility of a Gospel witness to every language, people, tribe and nation.”
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