North American missions boosted by record $59.3M offering

by  Carmon Keith                                                                                                                    Vol. XXI, No. 4, April 2008

Southern Baptists' gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions exceeded the national goal for the second consecutive year, with $59.3 million received, the most ever in the history of the offering.

Geoff Hammond, president of the North American Mission Board, shared the news with national and state Woman's Missionary Union leaders at their mid-January board meeting at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, AL. Hammond noted that WMU is a valued partner in the work of reaching North America. "We cannot do our work without partners. We can't send missionaries without our partners."

In reaching the $59.3 million record, Southern Baptists exceeded the offering's 2007 goal of $57 million by $2.3 million.

"The North American mission field is becoming increasingly difficult but wonderfully challenging," Hammond said. "God is bringing the nations to be our neighbors. Increasing population, ethnic diversity, and secularism characterize the future of North America. Engaging people with the Gospel is critical. We want to help churches do the kinds of things they could not do without a mission board."

The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering accounts for 47% of NAMB's annual budget, with 37% provided by church gifts through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program to jointly support more than 5,000 missionaries and their ministries with state Baptist convention partners.

The 2008 offering goal is $61 million, and the theme for the North American Missions Emphasis is "Live with Urgency."

The national mission offering was established in 1895 by Woman's Missionary Union to support SBC missionaries in the United States. In 1934, the offering was named in honor of Annie Armstrong, WMU's founder and tireless champion of missions. [BP]

[Carmon Keith is promotions coordinator for the North American Mission Board. For more information about the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the Week of Prayer for North American Missions, visit www.anniearmstrong.com.]