American Baptist Board of International Ministries Reports Hike in Missions Offerings
The American Baptist Churches (ABC) USA reported good news from the missions field, during the ABC Board of International Ministries (BIM) annual meeting in November.
According to IM’s executive director Charles H. Jones, nearly a dozen of “early-reporting churches” have meet or exceeded the goal of increasing the World Mission Offering by 36 percent. The offering hike, calculated during the ABCUSA’s annual meeting, was meant to help the denomination keep all its missionaries on the field.
According to the ABCUSA’s press service, Jones expressed his heartfelt thanks to God for these churches, noting that many have doubled or tripled their WMO giving, with a few giving up to ten times the amount they gave last year.”
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"God has used pastors, lay leaders, ABC region staff and BIM's own missionaries and staff to put this financial need and challenge before the churches," Jones said, during the BIM gathering.. "We praise and thank God that the response has been far greater than we could ask or think, at a time when many churches and regions are facing their own financial challenges."
In other business, the BIM Board President Rev. Elizabeth A. Burger reported that the denomination’s missionaries, staff and board members participated in the “WMO Blitz” throughout September and October, to raise funds for the mission. At that light, both Jones and Burger expressed their thanks for the work of a WMO Blitz staff team that included the Rev. Bob Santilli, Grace Herstine and Linda Wilkey.
"It is obvious to me that our churches want to see our global mission not only survive, but thrive--and increase--as we move ahead. We are very thankful to God for His goodness in this time of our great need," Jones said.
