Spare Change December 2017
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
Every year around this time we start talking about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. If you have not been in a Southern Baptist church long, or didn’t grow up in one, you may not be familiar with what this is. The simple answer is that this is an annual offering that SBC churches collect in the month of December to support our International Missionaries. Last year SBC churches collected $153 million to support our almost 4,000 missionaries. The funds collected from the Lottie Moon offering go directly to support these missionaries.
But who is Lottie Moon and why do we brand our big annual offering with her name? Lottie Moon was appointed to Tengchow and Pingtu, China in 1873. She served faithfully for 39 years. She taught in girls’ schools and made many trips to rural farm communities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although initially the people rejected her, she pressed on. She adopted traditional Chinese dress and learned the language and customs of China. She would win people over with her kindness and fresh-baked cookies. Eventually people did accept her and some accepted her Savior. Her work continues today, much of it in secret, since the Chinese government controls the religious activities in their county.
This woman's sacrifice and perseverance reminds us that we need to be on mission wherever God has sent us. We also need to be praying about giving to this amazing offering that supports missionaries like Lottie Moon. Will you pray about giving to this special offering? Our national goal is $160 million, our church goal is $15,500.
YES! Account
YES! stands for Youth Event Savings Account. We established these accounts a couple of years ago to help parents save for student and children’s events including retreats and camps. You can give by placing a check or cash in an envelope in either the offering plate or the drop box by the Welcome Center. Make sure the envelope has your name and the name of your child. You can also contribute to your child’s YES! Account through our online/mobile giving app Pushpay. When you make a deposit make sure to put your child’s name in the “memo” line. With Pushpay you can set up a recurring payment, so you don’t have worry about it.
One great thing about the YES! account is the money is always yours, it remains in your name until you withdraw it or pass it onto one of your other kids. It is not a payment to the church until you use it for an event. Kristi and I use the YES! account for our kids to save up for camp. It is such a blessing when summer rolls around to not have to worry about paying for camp, which is usually about $300 per kid.
Over time the money really adds up. If you give just $5 a week your child will build up $260 in a year. With that amount you will almost have camp paid for, while $10 a week will accrue to $520 in a year; with that amount you will pay for camp and probably any other event that your child might want to participate in. Don’t wait, start contributing this week!
The greatest thing about the YES! account is not the financial savings it will provide for your family but the fact that your child can participate in spiritually enriching programs and you don’t have to feel stressed trying to make it work or even worse, having to say no to them. The next time your child comes to you about that church event just say YES!