CP facts – July 2008

International:

Did you know that our IMB missionaries have seen baptisms double from 308,000 in 1997 to more than 609,000 in 2007? (IMB web site)

Did you know that in 1997 IMB personnel were working among 584 people groups? Today, nearly 1,200 people groups are the focus of Southern Baptist evangelization efforts. (IMB Guide)

Did you know that the numbers of new church starts jumped dramatically from 3,352 in 1997 to more than 25,000 last year? (IMB web site)

Did you know that in Sagana, Kenya through Theological Education by Extension and Bible study programs three older churches have been revived and four more churches started? (Mosaic June 2008)

Did you know that WMU has committed to a three-year partnership with Ricks Institute in Liberia. This school was started in 1887 but destroyed in the recent civil war. Kindergarten through 12 grade students attend free. (Mosaic July 2008)

Did you know that 2007-2008 marks the 100th anniversary of Royal Ambassadors? Millions of projects have been done to help others in Jesus’ name. Millions of boys have learned about the work of missionaries and how they can be on mission too. (Mission Education Magazine)

Did you know that in Peru many of you prayed, gave generously and came to help with the disaster relief last year after the earthquake in August 2007. The people in Ica have been very responsive to God’s Word since the earthquake. There is one church in Ica that is associated with our Baptist convention here in Peru. Before the earthquake this church did not have any new works. Since the earthquake the church has formed several teams that go out each week and they now have six new works. There are also two churches in Lima that are supporting 3 other new works.

Did you know that Team Warsaw is engaging the Poles with the Gospel in many different contexts. VitaNovis is an evangelistic internet ministry with which Team Warsaw is experimenting in hopes of sowing the Gospel broadly among the postmodern culture. About 2,000 Poles visit this site each month, encountering the Gospel through art, music, photography and literature. (Hope 4CEE Newsletter summer 2007)

Did you know that the missionaries in South Europe are seeing amazing results from their efforts to reach the Muslim world by ministering to refugees from the Middle East and Africa? The OASIS center was established with the goal of sharing Christ with refugees who would in turn help spread the Gospel. (Hope 4 CEE Newsletter summer 2007)

Did you know that IMB missionaries Milton and Lara Magalhaes have seen God work in Lithuania through nationals responding to the Gospel and believers sharing Christ with others? As a result, they are in the process of helping establish a third generation church plant. (Hope 4 CEE Newsletter spring 2008)

Did you know that three years ago in Southern Europe, Georgia and Milan were impoverished and had a dilapidated farm, and Milan lived away from home in order to work? Today, as a result of an agricultural project that provided three heifers to this Croatian farming family, the couple has five Holstein cows, a monthly income, a tractor, a freshly painted barn and a new Bible study group. (Hope 4 CEE Newsletter spring 2008)

Did you know that Marin Shulman is a young Jewish girl who came to know Jesus in Ufa, Russia in 2005? She now partners with IMB missionaries in Ufa to reach street kids. (Hope 4 CEE Newsletter spring 2008)

Did you know that in Chisinau, Moldova, Larry and Diane Martin have a lot of help planning churches? The Moldavians have caught the vision of church planting and are actively sending missionaries both home and abroad. One Baptist church, Holy Trinity, has 7 mission points established and 4 out-of-country missionaries. (Hope 4 CEE Newsletter spring 2007)

Did you know that because of the distribution of food supplies following Hurricane Felix the village of Singsindoors for evangelism and church planting were opened? The village leaders invited missionaries to show the ‘JESUS’ film in the Miskito language. As a result 28 baptized believers are meeting under a shed that they constructed themselves, and have selected one man to attend our Bible Institute and serve as their pastor.

National:

Did you know that in 2007 a total of 153 new chaplains received SBC endorsement through NAMB? The total chaplain count is 2,671, and more than 5,700 people came to Christ through their faithful sharing of the gospel in settings such as prison, military, institutional, corporate, and healthcare facilities. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that in 2007 theEvangelism Response Centerhas 3,040 volunteers who serve as Telephone Encouragers (TE). In 2006, they directly engaged 14,100 callers, and another 15,000 calls were placed as call backs when TEs were not available because of demand. A total of 7,080 people made decisions related to their walk with Christ, including 781 for salvation. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that since Hurricane Katrina, the missionaries in New Orleans have become an integral part of starting and operating Operation NOAH Rebuild as well as assisting the reconnecting of churches to their communities? New Orleans Baptist Ministries and Operation NOAH Rebuild have provided an opportunity for Southern Baptists volunteers to partner with Louisiana Baptists in a way never possible in the past. For information on volunteering in the effort, see (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that Special Ministriesmissionaries and volunteers lead by example in innovative evangelism outside of the walls of the church through resort and leisure ministries, sports evangelism, truck stops, and seafarers centers. A great example of God's blessings in 2006 is what happened in the U.S.territory of American Samoa. Because of the coordination of discipleship efforts of the various ethnic congregations of the island, there were 567 professions of faith reported in 2006 among international seafarers, with 177 of those being baptized in the waters off the island. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that Domestic HungerFunds (funds benefiting the hungry in North America) totaling more than $1.4 million were distributed to the states last year. More than 2,000 hunger ministries reported more than 30,000 professions of faith. There were more than 50,000 volunteers working in hunger ministries, and 8,700 new volunteers were trained in evangelism. Last year, the gospel was shared with more than 650,000 people because of the opportunities provided through hunger ministries (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that Southern Baptists established more than 1,458 new congregations in 2007? Of these, 55.3 percent are ethnic and African-American congregations. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that theNehemiah Project, which has established seven church planting centers on Southern Baptist seminary campuses, trained and helped place 669 long term church planters? Since the Nehemiah Project began, more than 1,061 people who have served as short-term interns preparing for church planting roles. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that Canadian leadership set a prayer goal of establishing 1,000 healthy, reproducing churches by 2020? Partnershipscontinue with several SBC mega-churches toplant flagship churches in Canada. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that NAMB's missionary count was 5,153 on December 31, 2006. Of this number, 2,942 are missionaries and their spouses operating under various levels of cooperative funding with state conventions and local associations, and another 2,211 are long-termMission Service Corpsmissionaries. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that 1,623 high school and college students answered God's call tosummer, sojourner, or semester missions. Semester missionaries made 9,041 gospel presentations resulting in 677 professions of faith and 626 rededications. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that an estimated 125,000 Southern Baptists participated in short-term projects through NAMB during the year. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that in 2006, 41,000 Southern Baptist trainedDisaster Reliefvolunteers worked in 156 responses. Volunteers from 41 state conventions prepared 631,000 meals, repaired 6,176 buildings, cleaned 4,331 yards of storm debris, and purified 259,000 gallons of water. More than 19,000 new Disaster Relief volunteers were trained. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that the World Changerssummer mission opportunities saw more than 22,036 participants in 86 projects.PowerPlant, a mission opportunity mobilizing students in church planting and missions, saw 1,157 participants in 12 projects. Together these ministries made 12,414 presentations of the gospel resulting in 1,150 recorded professions of faith. (NAMB, 2007)

Did you know that Cleveland Hopebegan its first year of church and community wide implementation in Northeast Ohio in 2006. In addition to thisCities initiative, work began onEmbrace Baltimoreand Vision San Diego to begin mobilizing churches and in partnership with state conventions, LifeWay and churches across North America. We anticipate developing a three year strategy to spiritually impact these great cities.

Oklahoma

Did you know that The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma encourages individuals and congregations to financially support Baptist missions through estate and planned giving, church building loans, and church funds management? Because donors are dedicated to the organization’s mission, the Foundation distributed approximately $10 million to 300 charitable organizations in Oklahoma, across the nation, and around the world in 2007. The Foundation remains the state’s largest religious foundation. (2007 Report)

Did you know you provided a portion of the budget for Baptist Village Retirement Communities through your Cooperative Program gifts? You helped them minister to senior adults in providing apartment living, assisted living, and in some cases, full time care. (2007 report)

Did you know that the Baptist Village Retirement Communities has the opportunity to minister to over 2,000 senior adults every day as well as to their children, grandchildren, family and friends? Thank you for giving through the Cooperative Program. (2007 report)

Did you know that Baptist Village Retirement Communities employs over 700 employees who work together to serve senior adults every day. (2007 report)

Did you know that more than 500 women attended the Women’s Emphasis at the State Evangelism Conference in January? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2008)

Did you know that more than 10,000 miles were reported on March 8 when churches were challenged to Pray ACROSS Oklahoma—a statewide prayer walking effort? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2008)

Did you know that close to 3,000 women attended the Oklahoma Ladies’ Retreat at FallsCreekConferenceCenter—the largest attendance in BGCO history? Close to $20,000 was given at the retreat to fund a new missions center at CrossTimbers—the Children’s Mission Education Camp. (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2008)

Did you know that more than 200 mothers and daughters attended two weekend events at CrossTimbers camp? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2008)

Did you know that 393 were trained at the StateVacationBibleSchool Training Clinic? Several Thousand were trained at the associational VBS Training.

Did you know that 26 churches in 11 associations brought children to the State Bible Challenge in 2007?

Did you know that four regional equipping events were held in August called S.W.E.E.T. Spots (Statewide Women’s Equipping and Education Training)? The locations included Lawton, Durant, Muskogee and Woodward. (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2007)

Did you know that the annual Ministers’ Wives Weekend encouraged ministry wives in their unique calling? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2007)

Did you know that a new equipping event in cooperation with LifeWay Christian Resources and the conventions of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri was held in October? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2007)

Did you know that the annual Missions and Ministries Celebration focused on the issue of poverty and was held prior to the annual convention? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2007)

Did you know that the women’s missionoffice continues to lead the efforts in promoting the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the Edna McMillan State Missions Offering? (Women’s Missions and Ministries 2008)

Did you know that through the ministries of OBHC 97 professions of faith were reported in 2007? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that since 1903 more than 10,000 children have called OBHC home? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that through the ministries of our Hope Pregnancy Centers, 7,846 babies have been born since 1986? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that OBHC received 10,023 calls for help in 2007? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that 109 individuals and families received adoptive services in 2007? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that 289 children lived on one of our four campuses in 2007? (Oklahoma Baptist Homes for children 2007)

Did you know that through their Cooperative Program support of Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Baptists have enabled OBU to produce more current missionaries for the International Mission Board than any other college in the world?

Did you know that Oklahoma Baptists are undergirding college-level Christian studies education in seven other states which don't have Baptist colleges through their support of Oklahoma Baptist University's Ministry Training Institute?

Did you know that through their CP support of Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Baptists are helping address the nation's nursing shortage? OBU has a record number of nursing students this year, and OBU has the oldest baccalaureate nursing program in Oklahoma.