During this time of year, we talk about our Global Ministries Offering. Each year we collect a special offering, which is over-and-above our church budget. The offering focuses on the many ways we support missions. It is not the only way we support missions, but it a significant way we join together for the benefit of others.
The offering begins each year in March, and it is collected until the following March. We are invited to pledge a monthly amount, or we might choose to make a one-time gift. The church will vote on a Global Ministries Offering Budget for 2018-2019 on February 22, allocating how the offering will be used. We will celebrate GMO Sunday on March 4 by bringing our pledges for this offering or making our gifts towards this goal.
The GMO Budget is comprised of international and national, regional and state missions. We partner with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, supporting field personnel, or missionaries, throughout the world. We support the Baptist World Alliance, working with Baptists in every country. We partner with ministries feeding the hungry, providing clean water, responding to disasters, educating young ministers, caring for the poor, visiting the prisoner, and supporting the vulnerable. Through the GMO, we also help the Brasil Mission Team, Brotherhood, and Jail Ministry.
It is hard to see at first, but budgets tell stories. If we look at the numbers on the GMO budget, we notice stories of people who are hurting and need relief. We notice the opportunities for building bridges and connecting people. We see new opportunities for people’s lives, and even our own. We see how the numbers share stories about God’s grace, which are taking place throughout the world.
On Thursday, March 1, we will have a GMO Celebration Dinner. We will gather to celebrate those stories, hearing more about the ministries supported by the GMO. We will also welcome Colleen Burroughs as our speaker. She is the founder of Watering Malawi. Watering Malawi works on clean water projects and other community development in Malawi, Africa.
-Tripp