NAMB’s mission: Sharing, starting, sending

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (NAMB)-The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. Our defined mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, start New Testament congregations, minister to persons in the name of Christ, and assist churches in the United States, Canada and U.S. territories in effectively performing these functions. This is accomplished by focusing on three major objectives: sharing Christ, starting churches, and sending missionaries.

Most North American Mission Board missions personnel are jointly funded with state Baptist conventions, associations and churches, and receive support from the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering(r). The 2008 goal is $61 million-100 percent of which will directly support missionaries and their ministries.

Total gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering in 2007 exceeded $59 million. Since its inception, more than $1 billion has been given through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

NAMB’s budget for 2008 is $130,400,000; 47 percent of the budget comes from AAEO and 37 percent from the Cooperative Program. The remainder comes from investments, gifts, and other sources.

Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., NAMB was formed in 1997, and is the successor organization of the Home Mission Board (which began in 1845), the Brotherhood Commission and Radio and Television Commission.

In addition to more than 5,000 missionaries, NAMB missions efforts are enhanced by more than 2,600 endorsed chaplains (serving in military, institutions such as prisons and hospitals, and in corporate settings), and more than 140,000 missions volunteers (e.g. World Changers, Disaster Relief) who are seeking to reach the estimated 250 million unbelievers in the United States, Canada and their territories.

Southern Baptists have a goal of starting more than 2,000 churches each year.

Church and community ministries such as Pregnancy Care Centers, literacy missions, Baptist center ministries, week day ministries and immigration and hunger ministries result in more than 30,000 professions of faith each year.

Strategic Focus City (SFC) emphases for 2008 are Baltimore and San Diego. Since it began in 1998, NAMB’s SFC emphasis has yielded more than 400 church plants and more than 55,000 volunteers in nine cities.

All seven Southern Baptist seminaries, including the Canadian Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, have Nehemiah Project mission professors in place. Because of this partnership to mobilize new church planters, almost 900 church planter interns have been appointed to serve in summer, semester and full-time capacities.

In summer 2007, some 25,000 World Changers participants partnered with 1,100 churches in 88 separate projects across the United States, which resulted in 900 decisions for Christ and the repair and renovation of 1,700 homes.

More than 1,474 high school and college students answered God’s call as summer, Sojourner, Innovator and semester missionaries last year, resulting in 1,016 professions of faith.

In 2006, more than 5,700 people came to Christ through the faithful witness of 2,600 SBC-endorsed chaplains.

Crossover San Antonio, held prior to last year’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, and coordinated by NAMB, resulted in 959 professions of faith. More than 3,000 churches have accepted the Acts 1:8 Challenge to reach their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and ends of the Earth.

Almost 74,000 disaster relief volunteers from 41 state conventions are trained to respond to disasters. In 2007, 17,989 volunteers served in disaster relief ministry opportunities.

More than 11,500 NOAH (New Orleans Area Hope) volunteers participated in the continued efforts to rebuild houses and minister to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans, La.

Through The Bridge, a NAMB-designed and maintained web portal, almost 90,000 Southern Baptists got connected to the mission field and found a place where they could be on mission in 2007.