IMB president Tom Elliff has posed the following question to each of us Southern Baptists, “Does anyone in the darkest corners of this broken world have a legitimate reason to believe that because you care, someone will soon be there with the gospel?” Wow! I trust his question gets your attention like it got mine.
In Matthew 9:35-36 we find Jesus going through all the towns and villages teaching, proclaiming the good news and healing; and when he saw the crowds he had compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then in verses 37-38 Jesus said to his disciples then and to us, his disciples today, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
The harvest Jesus is calling us to lift up our eyes and see consists of 7 billion people, 330 million in the USA and 6.67 billion outside the USA. The IMB estimates more than half the world’s population only has a slight chance to hear the gospel, and 1.7 billion are likely to die without ever hearing the name of Jesus. Two people die every second. The equivalent of a city of 150,600 people disappears into eternity every 24 hours. Without Christ, they will be separated from God, forever lost. This is why “the fields are still white unto harvest.”
The IMB provides the best screening, training, sending and supporting of missionaries available anywhere in the evangelical world. And, people who are compassionate for the lost and passionate about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth are responding to the call to missions. But a reason “the workers are few” is the lack of financial resources to train, send and support those whom God is calling.
As you prayerfully ponder what you will give through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year, also consider including a missions component in your estate plan that will perpetuate your passion to reach the lost beyond your lifetime. Call Laurie Valentine or me to show how stewarding a portion of estate could support a missionary(s) for a day, a week, a month or a year.
The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.
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