A Word from Your Mission Strategist, Steve Laughman
175 years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention established what we now call the International Mission Board. Reaching the nations with the Gospel is at the heart of who we are as Southern Baptists. We have always understood that we have been invited by God, in fact commanded by Him, to participate in His missional task. What role will you play?
A few months ago, we invited Doug and Dana Roberts to share with our pastors about how we can become more engaged in the work of the IMB. As Southern Baptists, we know that our Cooperative Program dollars support this work. We also know that every penny given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goes to support the work on the field. But we wanted to know more. Here are some of the things we learned from them:
· Although COVID has dramatically affected the way missionaries complete their task, even causing some to have to leave the field temporarily, the work is still being done all over the world.
· A large percentage of Southern Baptist churches did not report any giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering last year. The goal for 2025 is to have 75% of all SBC churches supporting LMCO.
· There is a great need for missionaries. The goal for 2025 is to have 500 additional missionaries on the field. It should go without saying that these missionaries will come from our local churches. To that end, we need to be prayerful and intentional about equipping people for missions.
I am extremely thankful for the work being done throughout the world by our IMB personnel. If you want to be better informed of how we are proclaiming the Gospel, go to imb.org where you will find videos, statistics, and even links to start the process of becoming a missionary yourself. If I can help you navigate this process, please reach out to me. My prayer is that we will see a wave of people from our churches being called to missions. Let us help you.
This isn’t just a season for missions. It is most importantly the season where we celebrate the birth of Jesus. My hope for you this Christmas is that God’s peace will comfort you, that His joy will overwhelm you, and His presence will encourage you. As we think about our Savior who took on flesh and dwelt among us, may we experience all that He intended for us.
From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!
