Sir: In the November 6 edition of the Christian Index, Dr. Jerry Rankin, President of the International Mission Board, issued an urgent message to Southern Baptists concerning the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Dr. Rankin said that missionary candidates are being deferred because missions giving has not kept pace with the number of missionaries God is calling. He then challenged Southern Baptists to prayerfully consider giving 33% more to this year's Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Baptist Press reported that Beth Moore, founder of Living Proof Ministries, spoke to employees of the International Mission Board on October 23. Moore said, "As evangelicals, we are in a crisis of unbelief...We've got to be people of God's Word. Believe what He says... And that sometimes means believing God for what seems impossible - like a 33 percent increase in this year's Lottie Moon Christmas Offering so the board can send all the missionaries God is calling out."

In August of this year, I spent five days with IMB missionaries Buck and Leslie Burch in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is amazing to me the sacrifices our missionaries make to fulfill the call of God on their lives. They leave the comfort and conveniences of the United States, uprooting their families to pursue God's call in foreign cultures. At times, as we were soberly reminded last December in Yemen, some of them literally give their lives for the sake of the gospel.

At this late hour, countless multitudes are slipping into eternity each day around our globe. The vast majority die without experiencing the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It is imperative that we send more missionaries to the foreign field, especially when so many are being called of God and ready to go.

I appeal to Georgia Baptists and Georgia Baptist churches with the words of Dr. Rankin, "Will you prayerfully consider giving 33% more to this year's Lottie Moon offering?"