JEFFERSON CITY –The MBC this week is mailing packets of promotional materials to churches across the state to help them prepare for the 2015 Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering (MMO).
The packets should arrive early in July, giving church leaders ample time to prepare for MMO’s fall promotion and week of prayer, slated for Sept. 13-20.
The scriptural theme this year is 2 Cor. 9:13: “They will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others.”
“This theme captures the heart of Missouri Baptists, who give generously through MMO to statewide projects in key ministry areas,” according to John Yeats, executive director of the MBC.
MMO is our state’s annual missions offering. The gifts of Missouri Baptists through MMO support four areas of ministry:
(1) Sharing Christ’s love – disaster relief, Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, hunger funds, Christian Women’s Job Corps, Crisis Pregnancy Camp, Language Youth Camp, youth evangelism and missions, International Student Ministry Missions Conference, state fair evangelism, and evangelism/discipleship strategies
(2) Sending Missouri Missionaries – partnership missions, sports evangelism, collegiate summer missions, and associational partnerships
(3) Starting more Missouri churches – next step requests for church planters, strategically developing church planting missionaries, and Reach the Nations (a project to evangelize, disciple, train and plant healthy churches among the quarter-million foreign-born people now living in Missouri and studying on our campuses)
(4) Strengthening Missouri churches – mb125, men’s ministry projects, Minister’s Juggling Act, Ethnic Pastors and Wives Conference, next-generation internships/apprenticeships, church revitalization projects, and training for MBC regional leaders
The promotional packets feature a getting-started guide, posters, bulletin inserts, prayer guide, the allocations budget, and an order card.
Most of these resources are available as free downloads at mobaptist.org/mmo. The move toward electronic resources enables the MBC to significantly reduce postage fees and invest more in MMO mission projects.
The statewide goal this year is $710,000. In 2014, Missouri Baptists exceeded the goal of $700,000, so the bar has been set higher this year.
“We encourage you to set a faith goal for your church and use the promotional resources to show how the Lord uses even the smallest gift to do great things,” said Yeats.
There are three simple ways to order MMO materials:
• Complete the order form in the promotional mailer, and send it back. The postage is paid and all materials are free of charge.
• Click on mobaptist.org/mmo to download materials or to place an order electronically.
• Call 1.800.736.6227, ext. 303, to tell us which resources to send.
