Live With Urgency
“Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power,” is the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 7-14, and for the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.Your gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering help support North American missionaries who share God’s transforming power with the 258 million unbelievers in the United States, Canada and their territories. According to the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB), most NAMB missions personnel receive support from the offering as well as from their state conventions through the Cooperative Program.
“The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering allows me to spend all of my time working with students, while other campus leaders must spend time raising support,” said Mike McQuitty, collegiate evangelism missionary at Syracuse University in New York.
“The offering is vital as we work together to resource and assist our churches to be innovative and creative in reaching our area for the glory of God. One church cannot reach this region, but hundreds of churches working together can,” said Bill Lightly, an associational missionary serving in Colorado.
When Kay and I were in Idaho recently for a meeting, we had the opportunity to meet a wonderful pastor, his family and the First Baptist Church family of Bonners Ferry, only 20 miles from the border of Canada. The pastor, Richard Dugger, is passionate about both local and international missions. Even though they average about 125 in attendance, the church already has mission work in India and will launch work in Africa this year.
Richard expressed gratitude for Rob Lee, executive director for the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention. Rob is one of the new work state convention executive directors who grew up in the area. He served previously as a missionary at Utah State University, where he met his wife, JeQuita, whose parents have roots in McKee, Ky., and were involved in church planting in Utah. Rob’s parents were involved in church planting in South Dakota. As a native, he understands the culture and challenges of the Northwest, and is working strategically to reach the territory.
The Utah-Idaho work is very dependent on the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and CP funding through NAMB.
Jimmy Barrentine of Iowa, another new work state convention, recently shared with me the exciting story of Cornerstone Church. Located near the campus of Iowa State in Iowa City, Cornerstone plans to start a church near the campus.
To support the new plant, Cornerstone (1,400 in attendance) will send out 100 students and 12 families, and will also pay for six staff persons.
All of these examples represent an incredible Southern Baptist partnership in missions and church planting that I pray will not be lost in the future.
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posted by: Bill Mackey on March 9th, 2010