Projects aid CAC, Ava church

of Marion, Ill. Others prayed at the church while small groups went out to share the gospel.

At the party, Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers served hundreds of hamburgers and hot dogs. Steeleville Baptist Church set up a craft table where around 20 children heard and received the gospel, Vermillion said. He has since baptized one of the kids who trusted Christ there.

After the event, the Kiwanis Club invited Vermillion to come tell their members about the block party. His notes from his talk are full of numbers and details—meals served, haircuts given, school supplies received. But he also shared the eternal results of the outreach—for the people who accepted Christ, and for his own church.

“Our church is now very open to reaching out to all people in our community across culture and language barriers, and also to people who have grown up here and lived here their whole lives,” he noted. Looking back, God had been preparing the church—and Beardstown—for a move of his Spirit.

“It’s one of those things you look at and know God was in it before we even got started,” Vermillion said. His church is overwhelmed, grateful, and humbled to have been part of it.

“It’s made an eternal impact on a lot of people’s lives.”

– Meredith Flynn

Mission illinois offering

Why Illinois matters

Everyday headlines affirm church influence urgently needed—especially here

Several recent news stories have left us surprised, even stunned. The report that, at the stroke of the governor’s pen, LGBT history will be part of the Illinois public school curriculum starting next year leaves some Christian parents wondering how to handle the controversial subject at home, and other parents contemplating alternate education options.

In an opinion column for USA Today, Jay Keck told how his daughter, who later proved to be autistic, was affirmed by the school system in her sudden desire to identify as male, despite the objections of her parents who were trying to get help. The principal of the Chicago-area school even presented her diploma under her assumed male name at her graduation, again ignoring her parents’ request.

And this story hasn’t made the news yet, but it will probably show up on Facebook. In one quaint Illinois burg, a featured children’s book at the public library is about two worms who want to get married, but they can’t decide which of them will wear the bridal gown. Earthworms are hermaphrodites, which seems by the author’s implication to justify some gender-crossing behaviors in humans. It’s a celebration of love “in all its forms,” the book jacket says—for preschoolers.

The stories that alarm us and dismay us are not only about sexuality and gender and identity. They’re also about the multiplicity of gambling parlors for throwing away one’s pension check, abortions through all nine months of pregnancy, and readily available pot in violation of federal law. The moral decline of Illinois has happened so quickly, and most of it at the hand of the government. Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t recognize this state. Would he even claim it as his own?

When we look across Illinois today, we see issues that once troubled cities are prevalent everywhere. From the smallest farming community with a school house or a bar, to the toughest neighborhoods in the largest cities, to the marble hallways of our Capitol and courts—the moral rudder is broken. And in those places the work of Illinois Baptist churches is needed like never before. Usually in this space we would publish a feature article based on one of the Mission Illinois videos. Three of these stories were told in the special section in the July 29 issue of the Illinois Baptist, and they’re available online. These churches are taking on the responsibility to bring gospel light to dark places. But what we need to say this year is, like those churches, won’t you focus on our state mission field in a greater way?

Because of sacrificial giving by Baptists in Illinois each September, IBSA is able to help churches grow stronger in evangelism, leadership, and ministry impact. And IBSA helps start a dozen or more churches every year in places where there is little gospel witness. About 420 churches give about $350,000 each year. And IBSA is grateful for the partnership that supports camps and campus and next-gen ministry, church planting and leader development, and more.

But some potential impact of our work is lost, because fewer than half of IBSA churches support the Mission Illinois Offering and Week of Prayer. This annual offering is just as vital to ministry in Illinois as the seasonal offerings for Lottie and Annie are to other SBC missions. And frankly, mission work in Illinois calls for sacrifice on our part.

If your church supports Mission Illinois with giving and prayer, thank you.

If it has been a while since your church had a focus on state missions, please consider the growing need for biblical truth in Illinois. Think about the role stronger churches and more churches would serve in establishing a beachhead against moral decline. A gift to the Mission Illinois Offering is one way to fortify Baptist presence and values in Illinois.

And if you will, please join the Week of Prayer. Illinois needs relentless intercessors right now.

Featured missions stories

Next-Gen Ministries

IBSA trains ministry leaders for students, from pre-K through college. This story from FBC Atwood shows a church that successfully focuses on reaching young people with the gospel, in ways both old and new.

Sharing Christ

At least 8-million people in Illinois don’t know Jesus as their Savior, but when churches train members to share their faith, great things happen.

As in this story featuring a former convict and FBC Metropolis.

Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer

Sept. 8-15

Enlist

The Week of Prayer is September 8-15, but there are plenty of opportunities for prayer throughout September. Please consider these ideas for encouraging prayer.

Devote time to prayer every Sunday or Wednesday in September. Review the statistics about lostness in Illinois. These are not just numbers, they are people.

Pray for salvation. Check Wikipedia for the population of your county or town. According to the experts, more than two-thirds of those people do not know Jesus Christ. You may consider using the “Who’s Your One?” initiative to help church members identify lost people they will pray for.

Pray for Illinois missionaries by name. Use the daily devotions as brief prayer prompts in worship services and in personal prayer. They are in the MIO Prayer Guide/bulletin insert that was mailed to churches in July, printed in the Illinois Baptist special section July 29, and downloadable at MissionIllinois.org.

Schedule a special prayer meeting for state missions. Some churches use the Wednesday during the Week of Prayer, others use Sunday morning or Sunday night. Pick any time that works for you, day or night.

Share the responsibility. Ask Sunday school teachers and small group leaders to focus prayer on state missions during September. Ask the missions team or WMU or men’s group to pray for state missions in their September meeting.

Download the videos and other resources at MissionIllinois.org

Mission studies for children, youth, and adults

Pulpit announcements

Electronic clipart

Worship ideas

Everyone Hears

Many Illinois places have no evangelical witness. IBSA helps churches, such as Immanuel Baptist in Benton, saturate their communities with the gospel, to reach new people and start new churches.

Illinois Focus

State missions is about ministry and gospel advance right here. Nate Adams tells how IBSA missionaries develop leaders, mobilize volunteers for missions, and equip churches to share Christ. And it’s possible because churches, like yours, partner with IBSA to bless Illinois.