Online missions support meets growing needs worldwide
RICHMOND, Va. (Christian Examiner) – The International Mission Board (IMB) has partnered with AmazonSmile, Global Hunger Relief, Kingdom Growers Coffee, and more to pair generosity and gift-giving.
One of the easiest ways to donate to IMB is to shop on Amazon.com for Christmas gifts via AmazonSmile, which donates 0.5% of the price of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to a charity you select. IMB is searchable by the name "International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention."
IMB encourages participants to use AmazonSmile's option to share via social media that you've just supported IMB through the Amazon foundation, IMB says.
One of IMB's main needs is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, 100 percent of which goes to send and support missionaries around the globe. In 2014, missionaries and their ministries reported 1.75 million people heard a gospel witness, 275,000 became new believers, and 14,000 new churches and 4,000 new groups were formed, according to IMB.
Kingdom Growers Coffee has partnered with IMB to support the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering by agreeing to donate 10 percent of coffee purchased at its designated online store.
"The Kingdom Growers Initiative partners with IMB missionaries, working in coffee producing areas, with industry tools, trade information, agricultural support and trade advocacy," the company website says, adding the benefits to communities are long-term.
Kingdom Growers coffee provided income for 51 families in 2014 and planted churches in Central America.
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The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering provides language training for missionaries, education for missionaries' children, Bibles in local languages, church planting and discipleship materials, and medical supplies for clinics, among many other things.
IMB also encourages using text-to-give. By texting "IMB" to 80888, $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance to donate to Lottie Moon now. "Imagine the impact of thousands of $10 gifts — they add up quickly!" says the IMB.
Donating to Global Hunger Relief (GHR), a Southern Baptist initiative, directly equips IMB missionaries to respond to crises by providing food, water, and aid to people in need, the IMB said.
Donations made to GHR online through Baptist Global Response are divided between 20 percent to the North American Mission Board and 80 percent to the International Mission Board.
Donors may also visit the IMB Giving website to learn more about giving assets and property via trusts and wills to receive tax and income benefits.