JEFFERSON CITY – The Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering supports 24 ministries in Missouri. This year’s theme is taken from 2 Corinthians 8:5: “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.”
Following are two short stories about how the gifts of Missouri Baptists support missions projects throughout the Show Me State.
Sharing Christ on campus
Evan, a high school student at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, had been praying for a classmate but wasn’t sure how to approach him with the gospel. Then, Evan attended a Youth Evangelism Conference at his church and felt compelled to share Christ with his friend.
Each year, the MBC sponsors a Youth Evangelism Conference, helping students gain the confidence and conversational tools to witness wherever Christ places them on campus. Between 300-400 attended the most recent conference – some in person and some through live-streaming.
Evan’s friend, a Latter-day Saint, heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And now, Evan keeps praying, trusting the Holy Spirit to draw his friend to faith in Jesus.
Pray for:
• Boldness for students to share their faith in Christ
• This year’s Youth Evangelism Conference
‘Freedom on the Inside’
Rodrick Sweet has a heart for prison inmates – so much so that he moved from Texas to Missouri to oversee a new ministry at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Hannibal La-Grange University’s “Freedom on the Inside” enables men in the correctional center to earn bachelor’s degrees in Christian Studies. So far, 18 men have begun their degree pursuit.
As inmates graduate, they are able to assist chaplains as “field missionaries” throughout the Missouri prison system.
Sweet asks Missouri Baptists to “Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily” (Heb. 13:3).
Pray for:
• Men currently enrolled in “Freedom on the Inside”
•Rodrick Sweet as he leads the “Freedom on the Inside” ministry