Mission ght
COMMISSION
When 1 was growing up, my mama taught me that two wrongs never make a
right. She never told me two goods can constitute a problem. But they can.
Here at the International Mission Board we currently face two goods
and a problem.
For the past nine years, gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering5 for
international missions have increased, rising at a steady rate. No problem there. Certainly a
good. It seems only yesterday the offering surpassed $100 million. Wow, I remember thinking.
Pinch me. I don't dream in numbers that big.
And over the same period — coincident with the offering — the number of missionaries ap¬
pointed has also steadily increased. Again, no problem. And again, certainly a good. Just
last year we announced the number of missionaries serving with the 1MB had topped 5,000.
Incredible, I thought. Viewed from a 1976 perspective when that figure was first proposed, I
was one of little faith, skeptical we would ever have the resources to reach that goal. But by the
end of this month, Southern Baptists will have 5,500 of their sons and daughters serving across
the globe.
These are certainly two goods, So where's the problem?
The problem is our giving hasn't kept
'For everyone who has
will be given more
—Matt. 25:29 (NIV)
pace with our appointments. But the number
of people appointed continues to rise at a
rate faster than the amount of money needed
to support them. There is a gap— a gap that
widens each year.
As a people, we have embraced the com¬
mand of Jesus to take the gospel into all the world. We preach it from our pulpits. We teach
it in our Sunday School classes. We rejoice when our sons and daughters, parents and siblings,
neighbors and friends respond— and swell with pride as God continues to call. But we don't
support it with increases from our wallets.
This isn’t just a now problem, it's a now and future problem. There are now 6,000 to 7,000
people in the pipeline— people who are preparing or prepared, capable and qualified, called
lo go. We could easily have over 8,000 missionaries on the field in the not too distant future.
Yet our ability to do so will be tenuous at best if the gap between giving and going continues
lo grow.
We have done a good job of calling out the called, but have fallen short on supporting.
We've upped the ante on one side of the equation and neglected the other.
OK, the readers of this page aren't the ones this editorial should address. If you're reading
this, I suspect a huge commitment on your part. But 1 make no apologies, even though some
of the words here have edges sharp enough Band-Aids® should be distributed with them.
Take them. Hurl them, edges up. Make no apologies.
And don't forget the Band-Aids.
Blessings.
—Rill Bangham
Editor in Chief
bbanghain@imb.org
Editor in Chief Bill Bunghum
Design Editor Dan Beatty
Editor Mary Jane Welch
Managing Editor Kathy Wade
Copy Editor Robin Martin
Designer Vivian White
Editorial Assistant Virginia Adams
Message Coordination Anita Bowden
Contributing photographers
Roy M. Burroughs, Warren F. Johnson,
Sandy King, Janelle Sou
Contributing writers
Erich Bridges, Kasey Cartv-Campbell,
Brittany Conner, Mark Kelly, Manda Roten
Contributing designers
Stephanie Delgado, Alan Perrow,
Dennis Waterman
Photo services
Vicky Bleick, Annie Edwards, Barbara Kunt/c
theCOMMISSiDN focuses on today’s applica¬
tion of the Great Commission of the Lord
Jesus Christ as it is carried out bv Southern
Baptists and fellow believers worldwide
(Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:4648,
John 20:21, Acts 1:8).
We encourage churches to reprint material
from UieGDMMISSDN to use in mobilizing
church members for missions. Permission fo
reprint is granted for ail content of IheCOM-
MSSOV (unless noted as copyrighted), but
credit must be given to this publication.
theCOMMISSDN (ISSN 0010-3179) Ls pub¬
lished nine times a year by the International
Mission Board (if the Southern
Baptist Convention, 3836 Monument
Avenue, Richmond, VA 23130-0767.
Periodicals postage paid at Richmond, Va.
Vol. 65, No.9, December 2002
Subscriptions: f/u’COMMSSOsf is offered
free to Southern Baptists with an interest
and passion for international missions.
Cl tun. lies die encoui aged to subscribe
in bulk for their congregations.
For subscription matters call I-800-.866-3621.
Postmaster: Send address-change notices
to IMB Resource Center, PO. Box 6767,
Richmond, VA 232.30-0767.
Correction hi the November 2002 issue,
page 37, the population figure fi>r the ilui
people group should read 10,905,000.
