EDITOR’S NOTE: Paul Chitwood serves as president of the International Mission Board. The following is his appeal to Southern Baptist churches.
RICHMOND, Va. (IMB) – Because this year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is the most important offering in the history of the International Mission Board, I am asking every church to give 10% more to the IMB this year than you gave last year. If every church raises their giving by just 10%, we can fully support our Southern Baptist missionaries already on the field and those who are in the application process.
Let me explain why this offering is so important.
Before the end of January 2025, global population will cross 8.2 billion souls. And the number of those souls who will pass into eternity without hearing the gospel, or without believing the gospel they’ve heard, will be at an all-time high. Since lostness is growing, our mission force must grow as well. The gospel is the solution to every person’s greatest problem, but someone must proclaim it.
IMB President Paul Chitwood
Thankfully, the number of Southern Baptist international missionaries is growing again, which is a huge turnaround from where we’ve been. Between 2008-18, because of waning financial support for IMB missionaries, the SBC overseas missionary force was reduced by more than 2,000 people, and by 2019 we saw only 300 new applicants in our sending pipeline.
But today we can rejoice that God has replenished and grown our missionary sending pipeline. Pastors are calling out the called and churches are sending missionaries through the IMB again. Currently, more than 1,450 Southern Baptists are in the application process to be IMB missionaries among the lost.
Thankfully, the past three years of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering have been our largest in history. Every penny of that offering funds missionaries and their mission work overseas. Those offerings have allowed us to sustain the work and presence of our more than 3,600 missionaries and their 3,000-plus children. With new applications topping 1,450 and expected soon to grow north of 1,500, the number of Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas is finally growing again. The greater the lostness, the greater the need for the gospel, and we rejoice that the Great Commission work of Southern Baptists is resurging.
Now is the time to sacrificially support those we cooperatively send.
I’ve often referenced a conversation I had with a Mississippi Baptist pastor when I first came to serve with the IMB six years ago. His words to me, passionately and positively spoken, were: “Mr. President, everything IMB needs—more missionaries and more money—is in our churches. But you’re going to have to ask for it.” Taking his challenge to heart, I’ve been asking. And Southern Baptists are responding. The candidate pipeline has increased nearly fivefold in the last few years while giving has also increased.
But a growing missionary force will require even greater generosity on the part of Southern Baptists. I’m certain that can happen. Let me tell you why. Southern Baptists are some of the most generous people on the planet and each year we give generously to the things we value, giving over $600 million through our cooperative missions offerings.
Southern Baptists also give more than $2 billion to overseas work outside of the denomination.
I regularly reassure our missionaries that Southern Baptists are not broke and we have not lost our heart for the nations. What the IMB lost were the relational connections that are vital for Southern Baptists to give their support. Those relationships are what the IMB has been working to rebuild. We’ve assigned every Southern Baptist church to one of their IMB missionaries who stays in contact with them and helps each church understand how God is using their generosity around the world. We are finding new and creative ways to engage churches in praying for the lost among the nations, innovative pathways for more Southern Baptists to serve overseas through their IMB, and better ways to care for our missionaries.
So let me repeat my ask of you, because the importance of this offering is greater than ever before. I am asking your church to give 10% more to the IMB this year than you gave last year. If every church raises their giving by just 10%, we can support both the missionaries already on the field and those who are in the application process.
Our Southern Baptist missionaries serving through the IMB have the most important job in the universe—to share the gift of eternal life with those who otherwise would not get the chance to hear and respond. With a multiplying number of lost people around the world and the growing number of Southern Baptists willing to answer God’s call to take the gospel to the nations, this year’s Lottie offering is the most important in our history.
This Christmas season, I have a question for each Southern Baptist church: Will we give generously so we can send and support those whom God is calling from our churches? ν