2017 Annual Report - North American Mission Board

INSPIRING THE CHURCH TO LIVE ON MISSION

2017 ANNUAL REPORT

letter from the president This world is in desperate need of hope. Ultimately, the only hope that’s going to last—in this life and the next— is the hope of the gospel. Our sole purpose is to equip God’s people to share this hope in their communities.

I’ve come to realize that people who don’t know Christ are more interested in hearing the gospel than many believers are in sharing it.

So, we’re determined to send the hope of the gospel into some of the darkest places in North America, and we do this primarily through Send Network and Send Relief.

Send Network helps churches discover church planting missionaries, develop their calling and then deploy them into the mission field to establish a faithful gospel presence where there is none. These new churches will reach their communities for generations to come and see numerous people come to faith in Christ.

Through Send Relief, we come alongside individuals and churches to provide resources that they can use to meet tangible needs, build relationships and ultimately change lives through the power of the gospel. Send Relief is all about building bridges that lead to meaningful relationships that open doors for gospel conversations.

The good news of Christ’s salvation propels us in all we say and do. Jesus drives every facet of our work at the North American Mission Board. I hope and pray that as you read through this report, you will be encouraged and challenged to join the mission.

Thank you for your desire to make a difference and for your partnership in the gospel.

Serving Together,

Kevin Ezell President North American Mission Board

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LIVING ON MISSION LIVING ON MISSION · 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

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EVERY CHURCH ON MISSION IS OUR MISSION North America’s needs are great.

Children go hungry. Neighborhoods become disaster zones after storms.

Entire communities have no church presence and no one to tell them about the hope found in Christ.

It doesn’t have to be this way; God has a plan to reach North America: the Church. The Church feeds neighbors in need. The Church removes storm debris. The Church establishes new churches in areas with no gospel presence. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is here to help.

We help equip churches to be on mission in their own communities and across the continent. Through compassion ministry, church planting, chaplaincy and disaster relief, we help congregations go to the lost and hurting.

We will do whatever it takes to help meet needs, restore communities and share the truth, and you have played a vital role in that. Take a look at the life-changing ministry made possible by your generous gifts.

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We will do whatever it takes to help meet needs, restore communities and share the truth.

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SEND HOPE Active Evangelism The hope of the gospel is the thread that weaves through both Send Relief and Send Network. Every story we tell and every statistic we share, ultimately, points to the story of Jesus. We help people take everyday conversations and turn them into gospel conversations.

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STORIES FROM THE FIELD “I learned that truly living life on mission means I can’t live in fear of saying the wrong thing or coming off awkward. The gospel is so much more important than all of my selfish fears.”

Abbey Caudell GenSend participant

REPORTS FROM AROUND NORTH AMERICA

138,500

downloads of the 3 Circles app

22,000+ professions of faith

reported by our 3,700 SBC Endorsed Chaplains in 2017

2 million 3 Circles Life Conversation Guides

have been distributed

“With our group, we visited over 1,000 homes. We had well over 200 gospel conversations and were out for about three to four hours. We had a great time!”

Steve Gaines former SBC president at the 2017 Crossover Phoenix evangelism event

Learn more at namb.net/Evangelism 8

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SEND RELIEF Send Relief launched in June 2016, with a rich legacy of compassion ministries preceding it, and is now actively equipping churches and people to meet the needs of their communities while building relationships that lead to gospel conversations.

We are laser focused on tackling big issues by creating robust resources, hands-on experiences, compelling training and practical next steps that allow individuals and churches the ability to be engaged in bringing about real change across North America.

Send Relief is about every church taking its next step on mission.We must be engaging people.We must be having gospel conversations.

— KEVIN EZELL NAMB PRESIDENT JUNE 2016 SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

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A GOSPEL RESPONSE TO PHYSICAL NEEDS People are hurting in your community every day. The enormity of the needs—poverty, refugees, foster care, human trafficking—makes it easy to feel overwhelmed. What can just one church—just one Christian—do? That’s where Send Relief comes in. We’re here to help identify how churches and individuals can impact communities for Christ. We’re here to inspire, equip and train as churches meet physical needs and share the hope of the gospel. When a network of thousands of “just one” churches and Christians step out in faith and on mission, the impact is expansive and eternal.

‘Meet a need, build a relationship and change of life’ is the mission we share with everyone we meet.

— D AV I D M E L B E R VICE PRESIDENT OF SEND RELIEF

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From long-term, local investments to short-term, long-distance assignments across the continent, Send Relief provides hands-on opportunities for individuals and churches to do and learn compassion ministry from missionaries on the field.

Send Relief’s 5 areas of focus:

POVERTY

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

FOSTER CARE & ADOPTION

CRISIS RESPONSE

REFUGEES & INTERNATIONALS

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STORIES FROM THE FIELD “Sharing coffee or eating lunch, helping a child with homework, sitting at a park with families, these are simple activities that encourage the nations who are now our neighbors. As a Christ follower, the greatest investment you can make in any community, is yourself.”

Lorna Bius Send Relief missionary

REPORTS FROM AROUND NORTH AMERICA

11,000 Adopting and Fostering Home podcast, downloads of the

a tool for families and churches ministering to children from hard places.

100% When the church meets the needs of our communities, bridges are built and relationships are created.

Almost

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900 professions of faith

related to relief efforts were reported by Crisis Response and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers in 2017

of every dollar given to disaster relief goes toward meeting the needs of those affected by disaster

new ministry centers were launched to support training and compassion ministry in Appalachia (poverty), Clarkston (refugees) and New Orleans (human trafficking).

Volunteers prepared

“What exists in my world is love for my neighbors. What exists in my world is love for the people who are loud outside my window when I am trying to sleep, or love for the boys who roll their dice and sell their drugs outside my house. What exists in my world is love for the people who have made this their community one way or another.”

Colleen Smith inner-city missionary

Send Relief Crisis Response

teams simultaneously supported hurricane relief efforts in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

1,600 crisis buckets

filled with cleanup supplies were distributed to families during the 2017 hurricane season.

3.7 million hot meals

for disaster-affected families and relief workers in 2017

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief celebrated its th year of ministry

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Learn more at namb.net/SendRelief 14

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Together, we will change the story of poverty, bring relief in the midst of crisis, befriend the stranger and the hurting, care for the orphan and aggressively fight human trafficking. and we will not stop until we...

Send Help. Send Hope.

Send Relief.

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SEND NETWORK Going to Lost Millions living in North America have not been reached with the gospel. But a new church makes change possible in an unreached neighborhood. The Send Network partners with churches to plant healthy, multiplying churches. Send Network church planters immerse themselves in a community, learning the rhythms and culture as they establish relationships with the lost. A church plant grows out of the evangelism efforts of the planter and his core team. Your gifts equip and resource church planters and their teams across the continent.

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STORIES FROM THE FIELD “Church planting is an adventure. Multiple times now, I have stood on the platform with a church planter by my side and told our congregation, ‘Everyone who feels compelled or called by this man’s vision, with gladness I release you to join him.’ Church planting reminds me that it was never my church to begin with. Giving away our resources (funds and people) for the benefit of others is a Godapproved action.”

Will Browning pastor

REPORTS FROM AROUND NORTH AMERICA

$79 million

50%

invested in evangelism and church planting

of current Canadian National Baptist Convention

churches started since 2010

across North America

691 new congregations reported by partners in 2017

Partnering with churches to plant healthy, multiplying churches

more than

4,000

churches are actively partnering with Send Network to plant

new churches

We have identified

32 Cities

&

3 additional

strategic focus areas

that are receiving intense church planting efforts with fully supported missionaries

“We just celebrated our third birthday as a church! We have seen salvation, restoration, marriages healed and community groups formed.

We have seen great camps and hosted mission teams, and it has been wonderfully exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. But some of the biggest things God has done since we stepped into obedience and planted a church have happened deep inside my own heart and in our family.”

Brandi Parrish church planter’s wife

In 2017, partners reported

59.04%

of new churches were non-Anglo

80.7%

of the US population living within urban areas

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new church planting assessment centers established throughout North America (with more to come)

Learn more at namb.net/SendNetwork 20

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$20 A church planter was able to buy lunch and build a relationship with a Muslim neighbor.

$50 A Send City Missionary had bus fare for a month to travel in an unreached area of his city.

$150 A church plant’s community group was resourced with Bibles, books and other discipleship materials.

$400 A student missionary was able to spend time mentoring underpriviledged children in the inner city.

$500 A block party started gospel conversations in a community.

BECAUSE YOU GIVE Turning Dollars into Difference All of the North American Mission Board’s ministry is made possible by generous givers—churches and individuals just like you. Whether it’s Southern Baptist churches supporting the Cooperative Program* and giving sacrificially to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering or individual church members moved to sponsor a particular missionary, each plays a vital role in the salvation of the lost in the United States and Canada. Our missionaries are resourced and encouraged by people like you—people who believe in them and in the Great Commission. What difference can one dollar make? An eternal one. *Southern Baptist churches routinely give an average of 6 percent of their offerings to the denomination to support education, evangelism and missionary efforts. A percentage of our funding comes from this Cooperative Program resource. The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions is also collected by many Southern Baptist churches annually to fund the missional work of the North American Mission Board.

Give to North American missions at namb.net/Give.

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BY THE NUMBERS HISTORICAL GIVING

FY2017 REVENUE

$59.7

2017

3%

$42.8 $3.8

$58.9

2016

23%

$44.6 $4.3

$58.0

2015

42%

$43.1 $4.5

$58.2

2014

$42.5 $4.1

32%

$57.0

2013

$43.8 $4.3 $3.7

$0.0

$10.0

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

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$20.0

$30.0

Cooperative Program

$40.0

$50.0

$60.0 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering $59.7 Million

Investment Income/Other Revenue $33.2 Million

Cooperative Program $44.6 Million

Unrestricted Gifts $3.8 Million

Undesignated Gifts

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BY THE NUMBERS FY2017 EXPENSES

2017 DESIGNATED GIFTS

1%

2% 5%

7% 9% 6% 41% 63%

15%

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53%

Church Planting and Evangelism $82.0 Million

Missionaries $7.6 Million

Relief Ministries $8.8 Million

Church Planting $10,055,559

Disaster Response $7,816,215

Administration $16.9 Million

Education/Opportunities $11.8 Million

Missions Advancement $2.0 Million

Poverty $881,251

Other $134,696

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Sending the hope of the gospel

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SENDING THE CHURCH ON MISSION namb.net

North American Mission Board 4200 North Point Parkway | Alpharetta, GA 30022 namb.net