Two caveats to this post today: first, I am writing to my friends in Southern Baptist churches, but I encourage every reader to consider how you might support missions this year; second, I’m writing out of a burden for lost people and a love for missionaries—not out of desire to emphasize what Pam and I plan to do. Nevertheless, we’ve committed to giving more than ever this year to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Here’s why:
- I get to know new missionaries as I help train them, and these believers are some of the most faith-driven, God-honoring people I know. I stand in amazement as I see single after single, couple after couple, family after family make their move to dark, risky places around the world.
- Missionaries around the world have dealt with COVID just like we have—some, in fact, are still in lockdown—but many have pressed on creatively to reach people during a pandemic. Frankly, I can’t imagine what it would be like to move your family overseas, only to be locked down for more than a year. Even more, though, I’ve been challenged by the creative persistence of our missionaries who’ve sought any means to share the gospel.
- I have many former students who continue year after year to serve faithfully around the world. I’ve taught for 25 years, and some of my early students have now served on the field for almost two decades. Giving sacrificially to help them fulfill their calling is the least we can do.
- Within the past 15 months, we’ve joined a church that has sent several couples to the mission field. These missionaries have not only often been my students, but they’re also members of the local body I’ve led for months as interim pastor. They are our church family—and our responsibility to walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ means we need to support them well. In fact, I’ve challenged all our church members to give this year a minimum of 10% more than they’ve ever given to this offering.
- During COVID, we’ve had more discretionary income as we were generally locked down—and we want to give it sacrificially. Frankly, we spent a lot of money pre-COVID on “stuff” and activities that don’t matter so much now. Some of that is because COVID slowed us down, and some of it is simply because we’re getting older. Either way, it matters to us that we give toward something that makes an eternal difference—and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is just that.
- The work of the International Mission Board is worthy of our support. No mission organization is perfect, but the IMB does well what they do—and they’re continually seeking to improve any place they need to improve. They recognize that the needs of the world are too great for any of us to settle into mediocrity.
Southern Baptists, would you join us in supporting our missionaries this year? And, if you want to know some practical ways to help your church give, see this post I wrote in 2020.
