JEFFERSON CITY (MBC) – The Missouri Baptist Children’s Home is helping “Lisa,” a 13-year-old, overcome the trauma of human trafficking through the ministry of Freedom 43:19. Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries is preparing to help military veterans cope with Post-traumatic stress disorder at a soon-to-be-opened Baptist Home in Smithville. And more than 100 college students are serving in Missouri Baptist churches as they answer God’s call to missions.
All of this – and much more – is possible only because Missouri Baptist church members give faithfully to the Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering (MMO). Our annual state missions offering supports more than two dozen ministries. These include Christian foster care, disaster relief, church revitalization, and other projects that help transform lives and communities with the gospel.
Later this month, the Missouri Baptist Convention is mailing packets of promotional materials to church leaders across the state to help them prepare for the 2022 state missions offering. 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. 11-18.
The theme of this year’s offering is drawn from Romans 12:10. Near the end of this letter, Paul instructs his readers in Christian ethics, urging them to love without hypocrisy, detest evil, and cling to what is good. He continues, “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.”
Reflecting on this passage, MBC Executive Director John Yeats notes, “What a privilege Missouri Baptists have to honor one another by contributing to God’s work of grace in the hearts of people across our state. When we give back to Him a portion of His abundance through MMO, we are investing in the transformation of lives and communities with the gospel all across Missouri.”
Last year, 744 Missouri Baptist churches supported MMO and gave an all-time record amount of $824,436. Yeats expressed his hope that the number of participating churches tops 800 this year: “If your church hasn’t been taking up an MMO offering, please review the promotional resources arriving soon and bless your people with an opportunity to give willingly to the Lord’s work across our state.”
The statewide goal this year is $740,000.
Supporting missions projects
MMO is our state’s annual missions offering, named after Rheubin L. South, the late MBC executive director who pioneered the annual giving emphasis that today supports projects in four areas of ministry:
(1) Making disciples – sports evangelism; VBS ministry training and resource development; youth evangelism and missions; moral injury training; and the state fair ministry of the Missouri DOM Fellowship.
(2) Collegiate ministries – summer missions mentoring initiative; a licensed practical nursing (LPN) “farm system” through Baptist Homes; Hannibal-LaGrange University’s “Freedom on the Inside” prison ministry; a metro collegiate ministry initiative; internships for college students focused on hospice care; training for global missions at Southwest Baptist University; collegiate ministry networks; and a partnership between Missouri Baptist University, the International Mission Board, and local churches to engage in international missions.
(3) Multiplying churches – next-step requests for church multipliers; partnership missions in Mexico, Italy, Minnesota/Wisconsin, and Montana; strategic missionary development; and a new church plant in Smithville that focuses on military veterans.
(4) Developing leaders – disaster relief equipment and volunteer readiness; Missouri WMU; church leader development; a conference for new pastors, revitalizers, and replanters; Missouri Baptist Resound Network; collegiate disaster relief internships; hunger relief; and Baptist Builders.
In addition, 17 percent of MMO receipts go to the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, which provides spiritual guidance, counseling, and a safe haven from abuse and neglect at five state campuses.
And 10 percent of MMO gifts go back to the associations of contributing churches, where the funds support regional mission projects.
Promotional packets
The promotional packets feature a getting-started guide, posters, prayer guide, allocations budget, associational report, clip art, sample giving envelope, 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.
“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,” says Yeats.
There are four simple ways to order MMO materials:
• Complete the order card in the promotional mailer and send it back. 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.
• Send an email to cdowell@mobaptist.org.