Humorous spots, video message ready for N. American mission emphasis

ALPHARETTA (BP) - You won't see the Chimpanzee office workers that were featured in commercials during the Super Bowl, but newly released Week of Prayer promotional video spots also are using humor to illustrate the importance of funding the work of North American missionaries.

Missionaries depicted as life-size "cardboard cut-outs" are featured in five video segments - produced much like television commercials - for use by churches during the Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 6-13, and throughout the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions emphasis.

The "Making Missions Come Alive" spots - free for download at www.AnnieArmstrong.com - are designed to be used during worship services, announcements and Sunday School to reinforce the need to support missions.

The video spots coincide with the release of a special video message from NAMB President Robert E. (Bob) Reccord, also available free for download at the AAEO website. In the three-minute segment, Reccord thanks Southern Baptists for a record offering in 2004 and issues a challenge to again support missions sacrificially in 2005.

The cardboard cut-out missionary spots vary in length from 45 seconds to one minute. A fifth video segment is a compilation of the four spots and runs one minute and eight seconds.