EDITORIAL:
Mission needs worthy of spotlight
___The spotlight may be dimming, but the needs remain. Throughout the past month, Baptist churches across Texas have focused on state missions. Our hearts have been touched as we have discovered and discussed the pressing needs of Texas--the lost, the hopeless, the homeless, the imprisoned and countless others in need of God's grace and healing touches.
___The spotlight may be dimming. This focus on the Texas missions task is drawing to a close. But the needs remain. This month, we began collecting the annual Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions. The goal is $5.6 million. And the needs that can be met by wise use of that money are just as great as ever. We must press on, even beyond this season of focus on Texas missions. We must make certain we provide every cent of that Mary Hill Davis Offering goal. Every dollar will make a difference in human lives--and ultimately in eternity.
___That's because the Mary Hill Davis Offering can help us share the gospel with the millions of Texans who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, insists James Semple, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' State Missions Commission.
___"Texas' population is 20 million, and at least half of those people are unchurched," he explains. "And of those who are members of a church somewhere, we don't know how many actually don't know the Lord."
___Texas' unchurched and unevangelized population is greater than the populations of 42 other states, Semple notes. At least 10 million unsaved Texans represent a population larger than 114 sovereign nations listed in the World Almanac.
___If Texas Baptists care about the eternal souls of our fellow Texans, then we must care about reaching our Mary Hill Davis Offering goal. It makes a lasting difference.
___For example, previous Mary Hill Davis Offerings supplied $1.5 million to help the BGCT Church Starting Center provide support funds for 656 churches started between May 1999 and April 2000. Those churches now have a total membership of 33,353, and they have been instrumental in bringing 10,410 new Christians to faith in Jesus.
___During the past five years, the Mary Hill Davis Offering has played a crucial role in helping Texas Baptists start 1,417 churches, eclipsing our goal by 17 congregations. Those new churches include 605 congregations that are predominantly Hispanic, the state's fastest-growing people group. Also included are 161 African-American churches, 361Anglo congregations and churches that worship in more than 20 languages.
___In addition to the vital responsibility the Mary Hill Davis Offering has for starting churches, it also provides irreplaceable support for a vast array of ministries.
___For instance, Mary Hill Davis funding will help provide ministry all along the Rio Grande; partnerships with Baptists on such fields as Germany, Spain and the American Northeast; ministry to juvenile offenders and to families of prison inmates; Christian Women's Job Corps; outreach to some of the 5 million Texans who live in multi-housing; training for Hispanic ministry leaders; evangelism on university campuses; evangelism in the state's five largest cities; and about 40 other projects.
___You may be tempted to think your contribution to the Mary Hill Davis Offering can't make a difference. That's not true. Woman's Missionary Union of Texas, which promotes the offering, offers facts to the contrary:
___ $3 will provide a simple book about Jesus for an adult learning to read.
___ $5 will buy a "Jesus" video.
___ $6 will purchase a sack of feed for dairy goats that River Ministry agricultural consultants provide to help families help themselves.
___ $20 will provide an orientation for a Mission Service Corps volunteer who will teach English in China.
___ $35 will provide a student with one semester-hour of instruction at Hispanic Baptist Theological School.
___ $60 will buy a 100-cup coffee urn to be used by Texas Baptist Disaster Relief.
___ $5,000 will provide communications equipment for a disaster relief communication coordination center.
___ $5,000 will provide support for a Texas Partnerships volunteer coordinator in Germany.
___The spotlight of our annual focus on state missions may be dimming. But the needs remain. If you have not made a worthy contribution to the Mary Hill Davis Offering, please do so. Eternity is waiting.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
The Baptist Standard
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