|
 |
If projections hold, Southern Baptist
giving to the 2003 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering will
be up enough to enable the International Mission Board
to loosen restrictions on missionary appointments imposed
in 2003. Even with the restrictions, IMB missionaries
and their partners baptized more than half a million new
believers last year.
(Photo by Mike Creswell) |
Celebrate
Lottie
Moon offering projected up 18 percent to 22 percent
If
initial projections hold, Southern Baptist giving to the 2003
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® will well surpass the $133
million goal. And if that happens, restrictions imposed on
missionary appointments in 2003 will be loosened, International
Mission Board President Jerry Rankin said March 10.
Read
more about the offering and churches that have reported
great increases in their 2003 giving.
top^
 |
| Michael Dean, who coordinates ministry
to internationals for the Greater Boston Baptist Association,
teaches a Bible study for international students at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Photo by Gibbs
Frazeur) |
That
all peoples may know Him
Reaching
internationals in Boston — and around the world
In
many respects Michael Dean’s work is as an international missionary,
planting seeds of the gospel in students, business professionals
and their families before they return to share what they’ve
experienced in their home countries. But Dean and his wife,
Michelle, are among nearly 5,200 missionaries in the United
States and Canada supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter
Offering® for North American
Missions being received in many churches now. IMB President
Jerry Rankin urges Southern Baptists to give just as sacrificially
to the Annie Armstrong offering as they have to the Lottie
Moon offering. “The North American Mission Board also
has had to defer sending missionary personnel in a crucial
hour,” he said. “Southern Baptists must seize the opportunity
to impact our nation and Canada with the gospel.”
Read
more about the Deans
and about the offering.
Your
church can befriend internationals in your community. Check
out colleges, international corporations and other businesses
that use international workers. Find out whether any of the
people groups represented
are unreached.
*Annie
Armstrong Easter Offering® is a registered trademark of
Woman’s Missionary Union.
top^
Going
Wannabe
a missionary?
Check
these tips and traps.
top^
Resources
Prayer
guide: Loving the Lost
The
2004 version of the Loving the Lost prayer guide
is now available. One great use for this free 30-day
guide: Give to church members who pledge to continue praying
after the Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization
May 30.
Learning
about the unreached: Storying scarf kit
About
70 percent of unreached peoples learn by hearing rather than
reading. Telling the stories of the Bible is a significant
way missionaries reach them. Use the storying scarf kit to
show your church how missionaries communicate with oral learners.
Learn about tools volunteers can use to prepare to work in
an oral culture. $6
New!
East Asia Web
Take
a quiz on China, look at an interactive map, meet China's
ethnic minorities, visit a virtual classroom, find specific
materials for all ages. — Do
all this and much more on East Asia Web.
top^
God
stills the mob … and changes a life
As
you hear about The Passion and maybe watch the movie
yourself, remember Christians around the world so changed
by Jesus' sacrifice that they are willing to stand strong
in the face of persecution. During the holiday season last
year, many among the Songhai of West Africa heard the gospel
through the JESUS film or received Christian cassettes.
Later Fred,* an African church planter among the Songhai,
had a dream about a mob that would come to beat him. Several
nights later, the mob arrived at his house after dark, led
by the man he had seen in his dream. Fred asked the leader
into his house and boldly witnessed to him. The man prayed
to receive Christ. Christians praised God for the new believer,
but still face persecution. Because Fred's wife is a Christian,
many in the community have stopped buying from her small plastics
business that supplements the family income. Find
more reports of answered prayer.
*Name changed
for his protection.
top^
Forward
this to a friend
Do you have friends who also are
interested in international missions? Forward this e-letter
to them and encourage them to use the box below to get their
own subscription.
Subscribe here
-------
You are currently subscribed to %%list.name%% as: %%emailaddr%%.
To unsubscribe send click here.
-------
|
