Lottie, Annie offerings top previous records

RICHMOND, Va. (BP and local reports) – Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board (IMB) expects to report an all-time record Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) total of $177.6 million as the Richmond, Va.-based entity closes its 2020-21 fiscal year, while the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions also posted an all-time record.

Chitwood

“This [LMCO] total reflects the unending commitment of Southern Baptists to be a Great Commission people,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood, in announcing the estimated total.

“Together we are reaching the nations and advancing a kingdom message that Jesus saves.

“In a year where the world continued to be plagued by a pandemic, natural disasters, wars and division, we did not back down, and we will not back down in our efforts to see the Revelation 7:9 vision fulfilled,” he said.

IMB also received $96.8 million from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program for 2020-21, which, combined with other sources of revenue, made it the best financial year in the organization’s 176-year history.

Chitwood expressed his thankfulness for the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Birmingham, Ala. National WMU executive director-treasurer Sandy Wisdom-Martin led teams of WMU members and mission partners from around the country to send thousands of hand-written notes to churches who were not actively participating in the offering.

Ezell

Meanwhile, trustees for Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board (NAMB), meeting in Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 4-5 heard that the Annie Armstrong Offering (AAEO) for North American Missions set a new record for the 2021 offering of $66.5 million.

“The hard part about this year is we didn’t really know exactly what to expect,” said NAMB President Kevin Ezell, “but thank goodness, Southern Baptists love their missionaries and give sacrificially, and that’s why it’s humbling and with a great sense of gratitude that we can share the total this year is $66.5 million.”