Here’s what ya do: Get the checkbook out. Sit down. Write a big check for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
The 2020 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® goal is $175 million. That number is significant because 2020 marks the 175 th anniversary of Southern Baptists sending workers to the nations. The annual offering makes up almost 60% of the International Mission Board’s revenue and helps to support 3,535 missionaries and their families.
I’m not a shoebox kind of guy, even though the church I attend does the boxes. Cold cash, or whatever cyber equivalent you choose, is the way to go.
It’s not marketing genius. It is the old, quite simple appeal to Southern Baptists to give sacrificially to send workers into God’s harvest.
This year is yet a mystery. Churches have scrambled to provide ways for their congregants to meet, worship, give, serve. If there is conflict in the SBC, if there is division in the SBC, if there are complaints in the SBC…we can all agree to join together in support of our oldest and the very foundational purpose of the Southern Baptist Convention, er, Great Commission Baptists.
_________
That’s Lottie herself in the pic, rather stern looking. I think she’s watching the arrival of a steamer full of shoeboxes.
“Shoeboxes! We don’t need no stinkin’ shoeboxes! God-called men and women – that’s what we need!”
And, yes, my millennial, skinny jeans friends, I am aware that this is not a binary choice (to use one of your fav words). One may do both. So, put your trinkets in a box if you wish but put a worthy sacrificial gift in the plate.
Lottie Moon , her life story is so compelling. She was a champion of women in the missionary field and lived her faith. She left the confines of the SBC defined missionary field and went into the interior , assuming the role of teacher, missionary and preacher as no male was available. The SBC missionary efforts would have been well served to listen to the message of missionary service that Lottie Moon spoke of and lived. Her sad end in this world has taken a legendary status while the truth is better. To sum up my thoughts, Lottie Moon lived… Read more »
🙂 🙂 🙂
Those were supposed to be smiley faces not question marks.
I have been pushing this in our church for years. I think I have a few convinced that Lottie Moon is more important than the shoeboxes.
I think Lottie is peeved that anyone would think you can’t do both shoebox and Lottie’s offering. It’s not a competition. Both are kingdom investments.
Do both.
It’s a competition, but I did acknowledge that it isn’t a binary choice.
I disagree that it has to be a competition. This reminds me of the old style way of viewing fellow churches as competitors rather than as teammates in Kingdom advancement.
All mission appeals for congregants disposable income are competitive with each other. There is a finite amount of resources and givers weigh the alternatives and make a decision. It’s just the way it is. The pastor can influence those decisions if he desires.
I don’t think Lottie ever asked Americans to buy cheap trinkets made in China to ship back to China to give to kids. Kids in neighboring countries find it odd that we do so plus some countries allow government sanctioned pilfering or selling of this boxes. That does not happen when IMB sends a worker.
That’s a really cynical viewpoint. Sad.
Louis,
I recommend reading Stephanie Jones comment below. I can’t improve on her excellent comment.
I have heard testimonies of many who were given shoe boxes as children and came to know Jesus as their Savior. Would you deny them the opportunity to hear about Jesus?
Pretty close to saying that if you don’t do the shoeboxes people will go to hell. Maybe you could rethink that.
This whole article just seems very condescending to me. There is no reason to attack another, very worthy ministry, for what they choose to do. I agree, it’s not a binary choice (also, why mock the queer community by your usage of words? But that’s another topic), that people can do both, but when you say ‘put your trinkets in,’ you make it sound as if it’s a waste of time. That it has no impact. It does have impact, and it’s not a competition. So long as the gospel is going out, isn’t that what the important thing is?
There are serious criticisms of the shoebox system. I’m not getting into that. Fact is, the marketing genius of the boxes has put them in many SBC churches where they have more prominence than the LMCO. I hate to see that. As I said, my own church does the boxes. My pastor knows my views but it isn’t a deal breaker.
“Binary” has exactly nothing to do with the “queer community” in this article. Simple usage of the term in a proper context.
If the churches don’t promote Lottie Moon Offering, then that’s their fault, not the fault of Operation Christmas Child.
Thank you William! Thank you Southern er… Great Commission Baptists! We on the field have had an extraordinary year. Many hundreds of us have been unable to be in the country God called us to because of Covid restrictions. I have been in four different countries trying to get back to my place of service since March. And yet, the Gospel continues to be preached, people continue to be served, God continues to be glorified. Our national partners enjoy giving out the boxes so I won’t badmouth the boxes! But, it is our lives planted in a place long-term that… Read more »
Having served 12 years as an IMB missionary, my wife and I understand the importance of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering . Writing a check is easy. We contribute each year. I also fill a shoebox. Filling the shoebox is fun and not that costly. We enjoy tracking the box. We know former IMB missionaries who receive the shoeboxes. We follow the distribution of the boxes on their Facebook page. Because they are old colleagues, we also Skype. Providing shoeboxes support valid ministries. My decision is to give first and foremost to Lottie Moon. Then taking nothing away from this… Read more »
John Brackin, thank you for your great reply from someone who knows from experience about the subject. Any additional giving to missions is just that additional, Lottie Moon is the floor. The money given to any additional effort should not subtract from supporting missions. I believe most SBC members take the correct approach . I appreciate your input as it rings true and thank you for your service . Your excellent comments should close the subject and it was good to ponder , for a while..
A quote I heard on the radio just today: “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that. Now, I don’t know whether you care for the things she cared about — I certainly didn’t care for her positions — or whether you think she lived up to that quote. What I know is that it’s good advice. I can tell (I believe this isn’t the first year you’ve written about it?) that you care greatly about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the… Read more »
Oh, Tony? Stephanie, I will reflect on what you have written.
That is my wife. Very articulate don’t you think? I agree with her comments 100%.
You are a smart husband.
You have reason to be proud of her!
I helped sort Shoe Boxes in NC. Some, from impoverished countries contained used articles, which is all the donor’s had to give. They sacrificed a great deal to fill a shoe box. We replaced used or inappropriate articles with new ones and some child received their first Christmas gift and heard about Jesus for the first time! Thank you Stephanie for your fine comments. People need to be reminded that mission giving is not a zero sum game. We have been blessed in America and can give to multiple mission causes.
As someone who serves overseas and has been at distributions of these boxes, it’s a little different than what OCC would have you believe. The boxes seem to make the giver feel good. And packing a box doesn’t make one a missionary. Some of what is packed is foreign to the kids that receive them. They don’t know what it is and often have to ask how to use it. Many of the items in the box can be purchased in their villages and communities for far less. The $9 doesn’t cover all expenses. It covers OCC’s cost. When these… Read more »
Excellent, first hand comment on the subject. I’ve heard the same from other overseas personnel.
I love Lottie and have always felt it hits at the heart of missions because it funds long term missionaries. That long term work is where the bulk of missions fruit comes from.
The shoeboxes are fine, they have their place. But they are nothing more than a supplement to the long term missions work. Years of sacrifice by godly men and women are how we see the gospel advance.
Amen!
LMCO best bang for your buck for the great commission work. Money much better spent than to any other entity in the SBC. One can send their money too keep plastic hair dudes in expensive suits and silk hankies while drawing mid six figure salaries and 7 figure severance packages OR send it to lower middle income Missionary’s who actually win people to Christ and fulfill the great commission instead of padding their bank accounts at the expense of SB members. The only SBC entity I will ever send my money too. I do send the shoe boxes too. (not… Read more »
I see no reason to denigrate Operation Christmas Child, except maybe jealousy. Most of the critics of Billy and Franklin Graham are people who are jealous of the way God has used them to reach the world with the Gospel.
I am a fan of both, Shoe Boxes and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
You don’t have to choose. SUPPORT BOTH!
A small SBC church that does both. Grace Baptist Church, Brazoria, TX. By the way, this year (AD 2020) the same church sent over 12,000 shoeboxes. “That year, 2014, was transformational at Grace Baptist Church. Little answers to prayer began to mount exponential results. Church members took the challenge heartily. And some members in the church discovered the economic value of couponing. ‘There were times the store was paying us to carry out toothbrushes or combs,’ Cherry recalls. The final tally was 532 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes that year—and God provided the funds to cover the shipping costs…” “The Lottie… Read more »
I agree that Shoe Boxes vs. the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is not an “either or” choice. Lots of SBC churches will do both. I preached in a church in rural Arkansas, and they proudly showed me the pile of shoe boxes they were sending. I asked about the LMCO, and they replied. “Yes, we used to do that; now, we just send the shoe boxes.” Sigh. Surely, the appeal of the shoe boxes is that they are physical, tangible. They also provide both adults and children something to DO. Our SBC missions funding system is great (I’ll post on… Read more »
I kind of miss the emphasis on the Lottie Moon offering. It was a big deal in my home church. The church I belong to now has a Christmas offering for its global missions partners. We know specifically who they are, where they serve and what their needs are. I have no problem digging a little deeper, making a little extra sacrifice. It takes about $20 to fill a shoebox and put money in to cover shipping and expenses. Oh, what’s an extra $20, right? But then this thought comes to mind. If I’m going to give another $20, I… Read more »
I have visited Lottie’s house in Pingdu (China)a couple of times. It was a humbling experience each time, and a precious reminder of her heart to see lost people hear the Gospel.
William,
We praise God for our IMB missionaries and are off to a good start with the Lottie Moon offering. What a joy to be a part of what God is doing in the world.
woody