Lottie Moon: 2009 ‘Who’s Missing? Whose Mission?’

RICHMOND, Va.?The International Mission Board’s 2009 theme for its annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) is “Who’s Missing? Whose Mission?” focusing on those still missing from God’s family and Jesus’ Great Commission call to reach them.

Who’s Missing?

Even after 2,000 years of Christian influence, more than 1.5 billion people don’t have a gospel witness among them. They are hidden behind cultural, physical, political and language barriers.

Many of the world’s people missing from God’s family live in concentrated pockets of lostness. The pockets Southern Baptists are focusing on in 2009 comprise:

?About 40 nations and 700 languages

?34 percent Muslim

?32 percent Hindu

?13.5 percent Animist

?6 percent Buddhist

?6 percent unknown religion

?4 percent nonreligious/other

Although there is a small percentage of Christians, the rest are a mix of ancestor worshippers, shamanists, and Jewish, Taoist and Sikhist adherents. About 80 unreached people groups still have no contact with the outside world.

The LMCO Week of Prayer, Nov. 29-Dec. 6, will feature people groups who represent these pockets of lostness.

Every penny given to Lottie Moon is used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the gospel overseas. The offering represents 54 percent of the International Mission Board’s total income, with another 35 percent of the IMB’s income is received from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program.