ATLANTA (BP) - Southern Baptists gave a record $53,845,989 to last year's Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, exceeding the previous year's offering by 8.5 percent and nearly reaching the national goal of $54 million.

The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering accounts for 45 percent of NAMB's budget, while another 36 percent comes from church gifts through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program.

The 2005 offering's goal is $55 million. The offering will be promoted in most Southern Baptist churches in March beginning with the Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 6-13, and continuing through Easter on March 27.