Your IMB E-Letter
Dec. 4, 2013
 Video: On the ground and ready to help
Did you know your Lottie Moon Christmas Offering gifts can be a double blessing? Because your missionaries already were living and partnering in the Philippines when the worst typhoon in history tore through, they were able to provide immediate aid and ministry. And that network will be in place long after other relief agencies have left. You have given generously to Typhoon Haiyan relief work – but it’s your faithful, consistent and sacrificial giving to the Lottie Moon offering that puts personnel in place before, during and long after such tragedies.
SHARE THIS VIDEO: From the Philippines, missionaries say thanks. Another missionary shares her story of being in the hardest hit area. See also Philippine typhoon sparks global Baptist relief effort.
 FIRST PERSON: AIDS stricken in Zambia: ‘Salvation to the least of these’
Missionary Troy Lewis has seen a lot of death from AIDS in Zambia. But he also sees a difference in the lives he’s able to touch, thanks to your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It doesn’t get more important, more vital, more real than this, he says.
Sunday, Dec. 1, was World AIDS Day.  Flat Lottie journeys
Flat Lottie took to the road to find out how your mission dollars have been used throughout Asia this year. Check out her adventures! And don’t miss these related features:
- Where’s Lottie?
You might be surprised by what “Lottie” is doing these days. - Flat Lottie in the USA!
It takes everyone to spread the Gospel to the hard-to-reach places, whether by going, praying or giving. Download your own Flat Lottie and add your church to the map!
Thanks from Africa!
“When the mud is deep or the roads are rough, with our Land Cruiser we can reach the lost because you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering,” says Steve S. of Zambia. Read other personal notes of thanks on the Facebook page of the Zambezi Cluster, which includes Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
 Week of Prayer for International Missions
This year’s Week of Prayer for International Missions features stories about missionaries, their partners and U.S. churches – all committed to being totally His. Many churches are celebrating Week of Prayer this week, Dec. 1-8, but you can schedule yours anytime with these resources:
- Day 1: Divine appointment
Abraham Rios of Seville, Spain, is grateful for Southern Baptist believers who were willing to be obedient and point him to the Savior. - Day 2: Pieces of God’s puzzle
Steven Kunkel is not a typical missionary. He’s an MK with autism who grew up in South America but is now making a difference in Japan. - Day 3: An unlikely partnership
A Georgia congregation with zero Deaf experience is determined to prove they can make disciples among the Deaf Malagasy. - Day 4: A matter of a tithe
A young Quichua church planter trained by an IMB worker follows his mentor from Ecuador to one of South Asia’s largest cities. - Day 5: Living among them
Gena Wilson calls her Scotland neighborhood “urban-deprived.” But it’s where God called her to take Jesus and “do life.” Cancer hasn’t stopped her. - Day 6: Closer than they seem
A church in Bakersfield is reaching the Tijaltepec Mixteco in Mexico – and the 700 Tijaltepec Mixteco immigrants in their own California neighborhood. - Day 7: His hands and feet
The Brandings are grateful to Southern Baptists for being a part of their work to reach 2.5 million Burmese living in southern Thailand. - Day 8: Embrace partnership sees fruit
Praying blindly was not easy for an Arkansas church who couldn’t contact their people group for five years. But now the Bedia are hearing the Gospel.
 Olympic torch relay a way to pray for Sochi
As the Olympic torch travels across Russia, pray for the cities it passes through on its way to Sochi.
Learn how you can help place a Gospel witness into the hands of 30,000 people in two months through Olympic evangelism pin outreach.
 VIDEO: A Harper family update
Missionaries John and Mary Harper (names changed) ask Christians to continue to intervene on Mary’s behalf as they learn to live with the devastating effects of ALS. They know the most difficult part of the family’s journey lies ahead, but they are thankful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that has sustained other Southern Baptist missionaries working in Central Asia and elsewhere around the world.
Visit imb.org/giving to give now to the offering. Read more about the Harpers’ ministry in Central Asia and their battle with ALS.
WorldView: Returning home for Thanksgiving
The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the Bible’s most moving descriptions of God’s grace. The Lord doesn’t have to take us back when we come stumbling home, but He will, if we ask with a repentant heart. This season, come home to the One who is waiting for you.
Visit WorldView Conversation, the blog related to this column.
Video: Prepare to finish well
Estate planning accomplishes the objective of caring for family, but it can also provide the opportunity to think about the impact one’s life’s work can have on fulfilling the Great Commission. Watch this video and consider the testimony of Ann Elizabeth Harris of North Carolina. You, too, can set up a perpetual endowment for missions. Learn more and let us know how we can help.
 7 ideas for boosting your church’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
It’s that time of year – time to take up the missions offering! Need some fresh new ideas to get your church involved and excited about supporting international missions? Here are some ideas inspired by Lottie Moon herself.
Find more inspiration in our gallery of ideas shared by churches to promote the offering.  Prayer bookmarks
This set of eight prayer bookmarks will remind you and your church family to pray for missionaries, national believers and partnering U.S. churches who are being totally His. Use them during a week of prayer in your church.
Speaking of missions
Missions by the Book: The greatest command
“‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:36-39, HCSB).
Quotable: Be totally His
“This year’s Week of Prayer for International Missions, Dec. 1-8, is a fresh opportunity to glimpse how churches and individuals are giving their whole hearts, their hands and their voices to Him, to make His name known to all peoples. Why not join them? Be done with small dreams and conditional commitment. Be totally His.” --Eric Bridges, Worldview: Unconditional – it’s all or nothing with God
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