North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell expressed gratitude to Southern Baptists, whose giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering increased 1.9 percent in 2012. The gain, Ezell said during NAMB trustees’ Feb. 5-6 meeting in San Diego, will translate into greater effectiveness in reaching North America for Christ. The offering totaled $57.2 million in 2012 – the second year in a row for an increase.
“It’s a humbling thing every day that we get to do what we do because of the sacrificial giving of Southern Baptists,” Ezell said. “Their heart for missions is unmatched.”
Ezell, in his address to trustees, again sounded a call for 15,000 new churches in the next 10 years so that Southern Baptists can begin to make gains on the SBC church-to-population deficit that developed over the last century. Ezell also noted that NAMB is partnering with state Baptist conventions to help revitalize churches that are plateaued, declining or near death. If 15,000 churches are to be started in the next decade, Ezell said, thousands of new missionaries will be needed. NAMB’s missionary “farm system” is designed to intentionally discover new missionaries, develop them for service and deploy them to the field.
“We’re raising a generation of young missionaries who are bold and absolutely believe in missions and absolutely believe in church planting. They are intent on penetrating lostness,” Ezell said.
Concluding his remarks, Ezell challenged trustees and all Southern Baptists to adopt NAMB’s new “10:2” prayer thrust based on Luke 10:2. At 10:02 (a.m. or p.m.) each day, Ezell asked that Southern Baptists pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into the field.
“We’re in desperate need, and these are desperate times,” Ezell said. “God has allowed us to focus, and we need to make the most of it.” – NAMB