State Missions Offering Kicks Off: 2015 Offering propels efforts to reach state for Christ

From church planting to disaster relief, ethnic evangelism to student evangelism, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s (BGCO) annual Edna McMillan State Missions Offering (SMO) provides critical funding to more than 20 vital ministries in the Sooner State.

The announced state giving goal of $1.135 million is within reach, if Oklahoma Baptist churches band together and give generously, according to BGCO Executive Director-Treasurer Anthony L. Jordan.

“Lives are truly changed for Christ through the Oklahoma State Missions Offering,” said Jordan.

Calling to mind the SMO’s theme of “We Are Oklahoma Missions,” Jordan added, “The Offering is a ‘we’ effort. The mission endeavors funded through this offering would not happen without the ‘we’ generosity of Oklahoma Baptists.”

Among the ministries Jordan highlighted include: a growing church plant in Yukon, a strategic church plant at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma Disaster Relief and the ReConnect Sunday School Initiative, each of which are featured in new SMO videos.

The Week of Prayer for Oklahoma state missions is set for Sept. 6-12, and a special prayer guide is available through the website, www.bgco.org/smo.

Also on the site, churches may order free printed materials, promotional posters and videos. At the link, there are downloadable resources as well. The BGCO Women’s Mission and Ministries Office, which leads the Edna McMillan State Missions Offering this year, began filling orders from churches on Aug. 11. Churches also may call the Mission Offering phone line at 405/942-3000, ext. 4335, to order materials or email the Women’s Missions & Ministries Office directly at surton@bgco.org. Deliveries can take up to two weeks.

“We are so excited to present these promotional materials for our churches,” said Kelly King, BGCO women’s specialist. “The videos, printed materials, posters and other resources help tell the story of how God is using Oklahoma Baptists to reach people for Christ.”

A new resource for 2015 is a children’s activity book. The book contains crossword puzzles, coloring pages and more to teach Sunday School students about sharing the Gospel to Oklahomans through the SMO. The activity book may be ordered through the SMO web page, or individual activity pages can be instantly downloaded.

“This children’s activity book is a powerful communicator for the next generation of Oklahoma Baptists. Adults, too, can learn from this creative book,” added King.

King also encouraged social media users to participate in the SMO. Go to www.twitter.com/okstatemissions or www.facebook.com/pages/Oklahoma-State-Missions-Offering/. To share the materials, use the hash tag #WeAreOklahomaMissions.

Funds received in 2015 through the SMO will be allocated to the following missions and ministry endeavors in 2016:

Associational Camps, Associational Smaller in Attendance Churches Outreach, Chaplaincy in the area of prisons and other places, Church Planting, Disaster Relief, Native American Ministries, the Robert Haskins School of Leadership, Student Evangelism, ReConnect Sunday School and more.

For more information about the Edna McMillan Oklahoma State Missions Offering, visit www.bgco.org/smo.