Lottie Moon offering nearly matches 2003 record amount

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) - Following a year when the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving shattered old records and removed appointment restrictions, Southern Baptists raised nearly that amount again by giving almost $134 million to overseas missions.

When the books closed on the 2004 offering May 31, Southern Baptists had given $133,886,221.58. The amount fell just short of the previous year's $136 million total and short of the $150 million goal.

Despite the shortfall, it was the offering's second-largest total in its 115-year history to support more than 5,200 missionaries on the field. On the heels of the Lottie Moon emphasis and in the months following, Southern Baptists also gave more than $16.3 million to relief efforts after a tsunami struck parts of southern Asia and the Pacific Rim regions Dec. 26, 2004.

Wanda Lee, executive director/treasurer of Woman's Missionary Union, commended Southern Baptists for their sacrificial giving in support of international missions.

"As local churches strengthen their focus on missions, it is exciting to see an increasing number of Christians grow in their understanding that the Great Commission is a personal mandate to each one of us," Lee said.

In 2003, Southern Baptists learned that some missionaries were not able to go to the field because there were not enough funds to send them. That year, churches responded to the need by increasing their Lottie Moon Christmas Offering amount by 18 percent - the largest dollar increase in the offering's history.

That response has helped remove restrictions and slowly increased the number of missionaries to 5,225 as of the end of May.