{"id":39429,"date":"2021-04-13T10:05:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T15:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=39429"},"modified":"2021-04-13T10:05:21","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T15:05:21","slug":"lottie-moon-christmas-offering-hits-cumulative-5-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2021\/04\/13\/lottie-moon-christmas-offering-hits-cumulative-5-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"Lottie Moon Christmas Offering hits cumulative $5 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

RICHMOND, Va. (IMB) \u2013 <\/strong>International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone in Southern Baptist life: On March 31, 2021, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering\u00ae surpassed $5 billion total gifts since collection to send missionaries to China began in 1888.<\/p>\n

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering<\/a> is an annual offering collected by believers around the world to support international missions. The offering is unique because 100% of the gifts are used to provide for missionaries who are spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI praise God for this significant milestone in giving through the Lottie offering as it indicates that the love of Southern Baptists for the lost has not waned, nor has their commitment to sending and supporting missionaries through the IMB,\u201d said Paul Chitwood, president of the International Mission Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also reveals the incredible success of the WMU in advocating, since 1888, for every nation, tribe, people and language to have the opportunity to hear the gospel \u2014 a partnership for which we are so grateful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Gifts were calculated from the inception of the Woman\u2019s Missionary Union<\/a> in 1888, when the organization first began raising money for international missions.<\/p>\n

In 1918, this international missions\u2019 offering was named the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions to honor the service of Lottie Moon (1840-1912)<\/a>, a single missionary who dedicated her life to serving in China. While overseas, she wrote letters challenging churches in the U.S. to send and support more mission-field workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWMU was birthed to pray for and systematically raise money for missions,\u201d said Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer for National WMU. \u201cIt\u2019s simply astonishing to think what started as a WMU offering in 1888 to send two women missionaries to help Lottie Moon has surpassed the $5 billion mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is absolutely a fishes-and-loaves story,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause commitment to the Great Commission was embedded in the hearts of WMU members, they gave sacrificially to fuel the Southern Baptist missionary enterprise. When the offering became a churchwide emphasis in the 1960s, the legacy of Lottie Moon beckoned all Southern Baptists to generosity for the sake of taking the gospel to the nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been blessed by the sacred opportunity to join a long heritage of faithful Christ followers to offer our resources to be deployed for the Kingdom,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd just look what God did!\u201d<\/p>\n

Through funding from the Cooperative Program and the Lottie offering, statistics gathered since 1845 indicate the IMB has been equipped to send more than 25,000 missionaries to serve in 189 countries. These dedicated men and women represent 228,000 years of gospel service.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the documented record keeping of its mission offering reaching back to 1888, Southern Baptists have been faithful to take the gospel to a lost world through the IMB,\u201d said Price Jett, IMB\u2019s CFO. \u201cFive billion dollars across 133 years is a phenomenal investment in the Great Commission, and we are so grateful for the trust Southern Baptists have placed in us to steward these funds well for the sake of the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

While people in close to 200 countries have been reached through Southern Baptists by their commitment to the IMB, the need to continue praying, giving and going is still urgent. Research indicates 7,070 people groups remain unengaged and 4.5 billion people are unreached globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as we consider the task before us and look to the future, the need to reach lost souls is even greater \u2013 so great that it is sometimes difficult to wrap our minds around the work we have yet to do to reach the billions who have yet to hear,\u201d Jett said. \u201cThe lives and eternities of real people are at stake. We have a great opportunity to reach them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gifts to sustain and grow IMB\u2019s missionary force \u2013 generosity that transforms lives for eternity \u2013 may be given online at imb.org\/give<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Southern Baptists, for allowing us to serve you in carrying out the Great Commission for these past 176 years,\u201d Jett added.<\/p>\n

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering\u00ae is a registered trademark of Woman\u2019s Missionary Union.<\/em><\/p>\n

Myriah Snyder is senior writer\/editor for the IMB.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone in Southern Baptist life: On March 31, 2021, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering\u00ae surpassed $5 billion total gifts since collection to send missionaries to China began in 1888.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":34448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[40,45,8,10,16,15,18,25],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLottie Moon Christmas Offering hits cumulative $5 billion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone 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