What is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®?

Nov 23, 2004

Click image for related coverage

What is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®?

Southern Baptist churches collect this offering for the sole purpose of supporting international missions. Every penny of the offering goes to support the International Mission Board’s overseas budget, thus supporting our missionaries.

What is the goal of this year’s offering?

The 2004 offering goal is $150 million. Meeting this goal will sustain the new missionaries Southern Baptists sent when they exceeded 2003’s goal of $133 million. It also will send new missionaries qualified and preparing now to go. And it will allow those already on the field to continue ministries and efforts to reach more lost people groups than ever before.

What is the International Missions Emphasis?

This is simply an umbrella term for all events and efforts that lead up to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The traditional Christmas-season emphasis includes the Week of Prayer for International Missions and the International Mission Study. These events help promote the offering. Beginning in 2005, churches will have opportunity to begin their international missions emphasis with the Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization on Pentecost Sunday in late spring.

What is the theme of the International Missions Emphasis 2004?

“That all peoples may know Him” was originally a four-year theme that began in 2002, but it now will be our banner call for years to come. It reminds Southern Baptists that the ultimate purpose of missions is worship—all peoples glorifying God—and this is our reason for declaring the greatness of God to the nations.

Is the International Missions Emphasis a joint effort of the International Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union?

Yes. WMU prepares the International Mission Study and distributes the Week of Prayer materials. The International Mission Board will provide all missions leaders and pastors a separate planning guide. Although WMU and IMB materials focus on different parts of the world, both focus on the theme, “That all peoples may know Him. “

What parts of the world are being spotlighted this year in the International Missions Emphasis?

This year the International Mission Board began a focus on South Asia where nearly 1.4 billion people need to know the Lord. This area of the world, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives, represents one of the greatest concentrations of lostness on earth.

At the same time, a spotlight on the Muslim world continues. This “world” includes about 1.3 billion Muslims living in the Middle East, South Asia and other regions of Asia and throughout the world.

Woman’s Missionary Union, an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention, features Mexico in its 2004 International Mission Study.

Week of Prayer, a joint effort of WMU and IMB, will feature South Asia, Muslims and Mexico.

Email this Article Print this page