JEFFERSON CITY – Lizzie Crouch saw 25 students come to faith in Christ as she served as a camp counselor at Redemption Ranch in Lincoln County, Mo.
Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer Ann Stevenson led the incident management team that provided help, hope, and healing to Nancy Warrick, whose home was destroyed in a flood.
And Colleen and Henry Shuler led a ministry team from Southwest Baptist University to serve at Baptist Hill Assembly near Mt. Vernon, Mo., where kids are loved and hear the gospel message.
All of this – and much more – is possible because Missouri Baptists give faithfully to the Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering (MMO). The annual state missions offering supports more than two dozen ministries, including Christian foster care, disaster relief, church revitalization, and other projects that help churches transform lives and communities with the gospel.
This month, the Missouri Baptist Convention is mailing packets of promotional materials to church leaders across the state to help them prepare for the 2025 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. 7-14.
The theme of this year’s offering is drawn from Ephesians 2:10, where Paul reminds Christians: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
Reflecting on this passage, MBC Executive Director Wes Fowler noted, “Today, Missouri Baptists are privileged to share Christ’s blessings with others by contributing to God’s work in the hearts of people across our state.”
Last year, 672 Missouri Baptist churches supported MMO, giving a record $1,072,207, far outpacing the goal of $760,000 and shattering the previous record of $990,740 set in 2022.
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 seven areas of ministry:
(1) Prayer & evangelism – sports evangelism; a student evangelism conference; VBS regional training events; Resounding Disciples; a students’ preaching lab; and the state fair ministry of the Missouri DOM Fellowship.
(2) Collegiate ministries – a summer missions mentoring initiative; collegiate interns and apprentices; and Redemption Ranch Youth Camp.
(3) Missions mobilization – partnership missions in Mexico, Italy, Minnesota/Wisconsin, and Montana; and Missouri WMU.
(4) Disaster relief – DR readiness; collegiate DR internships; an emergency food fund; a hunger relief network; and Baptist Builders.
(5) Church planting / Send Missouri – strategic missionary development; and next-step requests.
(6) Church renewal – Resound Network training and development; the Leader Care Network; a conference for new pastors; church-leader development; and a Pathway journalism retreat.
(7) Entity relations (MBC-affiliated institutions and organizations) – family foster care, anti-trafficking services, and other ministries of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home; a four-year biblical studies degree for inmates (HLGU); gospel-centered healthcare professional development, and other ministries of Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries; resources to strengthen the financial leadership skills of Missouri Baptist pastors (Missouri Baptist Foundation); the Center for Global Connections Missions Training Program (SBU); missions mobilization (MBU); and a pastors and wives dinner hosted by the Christian Life Commission.
In addition, 10 percent of MMO gifts go back to the associations of contributing churches, where the funds support regional mission projects.
Funds raised above the MMO goal are placed in reserve for future mission opportunities. At the same time, 10 percent of gifts above the goal is given to Missouri WMU, which promotes state, national, and international missions in MBC-affiliated churches.
Promotional packets
The promotional packets feature a get-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.
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.