Scripture continually reminds us of the grace that God has demonstrated to us. One such verse is Psalm 145:16 which encourages us to offer praise to God for all the ways He takes care of His creation. The verse reads, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (NKJV).

Allow these words to remind us that God has opened His hands to us so that we may open our hands to others. Do you have open hands to show and share the love of Jesus Christ with others? “Open Hands” is the theme of this year’s North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO), which is based upon this passage.

September is the month in which the NCMO is highlighted in many N.C. Baptist churches. As you give an offering designated for NCMO, you support vital ministries and mission efforts that impact our state, nation and world for Christ. Your donation also helps others understand the importance of becoming personally involved in doing things that help hurting people.

The ministries that the NCMO supports include N.C. Baptist Men (NCBM), also known as Baptists on Mission. Disaster relief is just one of the 18 different ministries of Baptists on Mission that is supported by the NCMO.

Thanks to your generous support, when hurricanes struck Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico last year, N.C. Baptist disaster relief volunteers responded with open hands to help people rebuild their lives. Through the efforts and witness of these volunteers, numerous victims of the hurricanes and other natural disasters have come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The NCMO also goes a long way toward impacting lostness by helping establish new churches across North Carolina. In 2017, our team of church planting consultants worked with approximately 100 new churches that are reaching out with open hands into their respective communities and seeing people who speak a language other than English come to faith.

NCMO not only provides critical support to vital ministries, it also provides opportunities for North Carolina Baptists to get personally involved in missions on the local, state, national and international level.

This special offering funds two mission training camps operated by NCBM in Shelby and Red Springs that offer church groups the opportunity to learn how to do disaster relief and become engaged in local missions projects. Through several national and international partnerships, more and more N.C. Baptists are participating in short-term mission trips across the United States and around the world.

NCMO also helps support a variety of outreach and missions activities right here in North Carolina through partnerships with our local Baptist associations.

I thank you in advance for your generous and faithful support of this offering that is helping to impact lostness and create a culture of disciple-making in our state and beyond. If you have never given a special offering to support missions through the NCMO, I invite you to honor a friend or relative this September by giving an NCMO gift named in their honor.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To learn more about the North Carolina Missions Offering and the ministries it supports, visit ncmissionsoffering.org.