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A record offering collection of over $150 million will help support the dispatch of hundreds more Southern Baptist missionaries to across the globe.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering – an annual collection and partnership between Southern Baptists and missionaries around the world – struck up a 8.9 percent increase from last year's $137.9 million and is expected to impact the spread of the Gospel.
"Not only will this unprecedented amount enable us to send more missionaries, it demonstrates the heart of Southern Baptists for missions and the high priority they give to reaching a lost world," said Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, according to Baptist Press.
The generous giving will help make the Gospel accessible to more unreached people groups, win and baptize more people, plant more churches, and disciple and train leaders, Rankin explained.
In addition to already supporting more than 5,100 missionaries around the world, board leaders anticipate sending 200 extra missionaries over the next two years, excluding the groups regularly appointed each year for mission work.
"Thank you, Southern Baptists, for stepping up to the challenge of global evangelization and funding the highest Lottie Moon offering in missions history," said Gordon Fort, vice president for overseas operations, according to Baptist Press.
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The more than $150 million collected was the largest gift in the Lottie Moon offering's 118-year history. Since 1888, total offerings have exceeded $2.8 billion.
"As a result, we will be taking new initiatives to engage unreached people groups and will have the financial resources to increase our capacity to send more missionaries to the front lines," Fort added.
The announcement of the record offering comes a week ahead of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting June 12-13 in San Antonio, Texas, where the denomination plans to unveil a 10-year evangelistic strategy to win souls.
Former SBC president Bobby Welch had challenged Southern Baptists in 2005 to set the ambitious goal of baptizing 1 million people as part of the one-year "Everyone Can" campaign. Still, baptisms this past year dropped for the second consecutive year from 371,850 to 364,826.
This year, Southern Baptists will focus on a long-term goal through the new 10-year strategy which will hopefully build on the energy that was put into the "Everyone Can" campaign, Will Hall, an SBC spokesman, told Family News in Focus.
Southern Baptists are gathering in San Antonio for the third time and will kick off its annual "Crossover" evangelistic event this weekend. Some 2,000 volunteers are expected to reach the unchurched population in Texas' second largest city.
