By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptists are passionate about missions in North America and around the world, but this fall they will be encouraged to look closer to home for ways to advance the Gospel, according to state leaders.
Taken from Mark 1:38, which records Jesus reminding his followers, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people,” this year’s giving theme is “Nearby – the needs next door.”
Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn noted this is an important focus.
“One of the commitments I made to Louisiana Baptists when I accepted this position was that Louisiana will be evangelized,” Horn said. “Our participation in the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering plays a critical role in seeing this become a reality.”
Some of the missions and ministries dependent upon the Georgia Barnette Offering are church planting; compassion ministries; prison outreach; ministry to victims of sex trafficking; Disaster Relief efforts; Louisiana Baptists’ multi-media outreach strategy, “Here for You”; and Woman’s Missionary Union Scholarships to Louisiana College.
“It can be easy to overlook local issues like homelessness and poverty, and that our home churches need encouragement,” explained Louisiana Baptist Women’s Missions and Ministry Strategist Janie Wise. “We thought it was important to emphasize compassion to those who live near us who have physical and spiritual needs.”
Sept. 12-19 has been set aside as the Week of Prayer for state missions and ministries. Resources, including videos demonstrating the scope and impact of the Georgia Barnette Offering have been mailed to churches across the state. Additional resources are available online at www.GeorgiaBarnette.org. This year’s offering goal is $1.7 million.
“We know we can reach this goal, and even exceed it” Wise said. “The Week of Prayer helps to spread awareness and calls us to the need to give as part of Christ’s mission. We believe it’s a worthy challenge and we believe our churches can do that through praying, giving, and going to share Christ with others throughout Louisiana. The more we do together, the stronger we are to reach this state for Christ.”
Wise noted that Louisiana Baptists have a biblical responsibility to these local missions and ministries around Louisiana.
“It ought to overwhelm us half our state is not reached for Christ,” Wise added.
Even though the week of prayer for the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering is a month away, churches are encouraged to begin promoting it now. Online promotional pieces can be accessed at www.GeorgiaBarnette.org. Once there, users can access videos of churches and ministries featured for each day of the week of prayer, drama and sketch ideas, sermon outlines, teaching guides, promotional tools, clip art, a list of speakers and worship ideas.
“Matthew 22: 37-39 tells us to “love the lord our God with all our heart soul and mind…. And our neighbor as ourselves,” said John Hebert, Louisiana Baptist missions and ministries team director. “What a delightful focus to consider that every believer should care about our neighbors in that way. What’s even better is that we care about their spiritual condition in a way that motivates us to meet the needs of those next door. The generosity of Louisiana Baptist through the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering fuels the efforts that helps us go to those all around us in meeting needs and sharing Christ.”
The offering is named after Georgia Barnette, the first elected and paid WMU executive director/treasurer in the state (1915-1929). She would travel by boat, pirogue, horse and buggy, and train from her home in New Orleans to visit state missionaries who were planting churches throughout the state.
Because of generous giving, Louisiana Baptists are able to continue the vision of Georgia Barnette more than 114 years after she first led women to begin taking up an offering for state missionaries in 1907. The offering was named after her in 1937.
