This report includes contributions received by the Illinois Baptist State Association through the third quarter of 2025. For questions about this report, write to IBSA Operations Team, 3085 Stevenson Dr., Springfield, IL 62703, email JeffDeasy@IBSA.org, or call 217-391-3106.
Let mercy flow
The streams of mercy start in the worship services of 47,000 local churches. As the offering plate goes by, or as gifts are made online, 12 million members in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination support God’s mission work through the Cooperative Program. Representing 42 state conventions including our own Illinois Baptist State Association, these Southern Baptist congregations send a portion of their undesignated offerings to their state conventions. Some reach the goal of 10% or more. The SBC Executive Committee serves as the hub for distributing the funds.
Learn more about how your church’s CP giving matters at IBSA.org/CP
From there, Southern Baptists support 6 seminaries that train pastors and missionaries. We fund 2 mission boards for international missions (IMB) and North American missions (NAMB). We support 1 voice in the public square, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).
Our volunteers in yellow shirts are partners in Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, who team with Send Relief, the joint IMB/NAMB compassion ministry, and Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief.
Our network also includes 1 auxiliary, Woman’s Missionary Union, and 1 publishing house, Lifeway Christian Resources, which are self-supporting.
The gospel goes so long as the money flows through CP.
O’Fallon First, O Fallon 212,874.98
Woodland, Peoria 82,170.67
Maryville First, Maryville 79,787.12
Marion Second, Marion 74,460.33
Logan Street, Mount Vernon 73,065.05
Immanuel, Benton 71,250.03
Lincoln Avenue, Jacksonville 69,105.00
Metro Community, Edwardsville 67,518.72
Marion First, Marion 67,500.00
Tabernacle, Decatur 60,396.12
Harrisburg First, Harrisburg 59,973.15
Dorrisville, Harrisburg 54,239.61
Calvary, Monticello 47,371.11
Casey First, Casey 43,047.14
Du Quoin First, Du Quoin 42,900.67
Chatham, Chatham 42,758.54
Columbia First, Columbia 42,742.49
Marshall, Marshall 41,601.32
Effingham First, Effingham 36,408.83
Metropolis First, Metropolis 35,753.41
Anna Heights, Anna 34,818.00
Salem First, Salem 34,678.38
Carterville First, Carterville 34,043.34
Bethel, Vandalia 33,959.04
Elm Street, Murphysboro 33,750.00
Western Oaks, Springfield 32,461.00
Pinckneyville First, Pinckneyville 30,852.37
Beaucoup, Pinckneyville 29,796.00
Bethalto First, Bethalto 27,943.01
Waterloo First, Waterloo 26,823.98
Mt Zion First, Mt Zion 25,647.00
Eldorado First, Eldorado 25,182.46
Northside Missionary, Grayville 25,020.17
Ten Mile, Mc Leansboro 24,505.72
Carmi First, Carmi 24,000.00
Highland Avenue, Robinson 23,723.45
Island City, Wilmington 23,033.63 Unity, Vandalia 22,333.62
Friendship, Plainfield 22,302.00
Rochester First, Rochester 21,988.65
Emmanuel, Carlinville 21,568.71
Calvary, Alton 20,846.67
Ramsey First, Ramsey 20,677.80
Reaching unreached people groups
Project 3000 missionaries report God is at work
The World | It’s been two years since the International Mission Board (IMB) re-emphasized finding and researching unengaged and unreached people groups around the world. Project 3000 sends missionaries to explore the last 3,072 unengaged people groups who are thought to have no gospel access or missionary presence.
IMB committed no less than five years for these explorers to work in conjunction with IMB missionary teams and their partners already on the field. They go to cities, towns, and remote locations to learn culture, discern literacy, and help develop a ministry strategy.
At this halfway point of Project 3000, more than 39 missionary explorers are researching in all regions of the world. There are 65 more in the missionary pipeline who will be trained to join them. The information they gather is vital to local teams in not only understanding how to share the gospel but in coming up with a long-term ministry strategy. Here are a few of their reports from the field:
She’s reading the Bible!
Gabriela
Garcia, Americas
I could hear my neighbors next door performing their religious rituals as they chanted in unrecognizable words. I went to the window and saw them standing beside an altar of idols, cutting a live chicken and sprinkling blood all around. It made me sad, so I went down to spend time with the family who agreed to host us as we searched for unengaged people groups up and down this river area. I stopped dead in my tracks. Our host was studying her Bible. This is something we’ve never seen since arriving here. My partner and I started discipling her two weeks ago. God has been at work. For weeks, we’ve watched religious rituals that have no power to change sinful nature. My heart swelled with thankfulness for God’s goodness in the way He washes us from our sins and loves us with an everlasting love. Indeed, our God changes hearts and transforms lives.
Praise the Lord for your answered prayers as many in this unengaged people group have accepted the call to follow Jesus. We also celebrate the 10 leaders rising to serve in fulfilling the Great Commission in their community. We spent three days training and equipping these leaders with the tools to share the gospel, their testimonies and studying the Bible with their friends and family.
We invited them to a local church service where we taught the gospel. Afterward, the church was so inspired that they prayed over this unengaged people group and commissioned them to return to their community and begin the process of translating the Bible into their own language with the help of another organization.
PLANES, TRAINS, AND Project 3000 missionaries finding and researching the last 3,072 UUPGs, using every mode of transport possible to find these often remote peoples.
Found a new UUPG
John Pratt/Jacob Sims, Asia-Pacific Rim
We just left the home of an unengaged, unreached people group not on our list. They are not listed because nobody has found or interacted with them in a very long time. It took five hours on an abandoned dirt road to get there on our motorcycles. They worship demons and wear jewelry that shows the demons.
As we talked to them, the parents randomly brought up their 9-year-old daughter who had not walked for the last three years. This proved to be an opening to share the gospel with the family, and they also allowed us to pray in Jesus’ name afterward. As we prayed, the father began crying, “Jesus, please heal her!”
Please pray for the seeds of the gospel to take root with this family. They could very well be the ones to lead this people to Christ in the only village known of this unengaged people.
God’s Word is not void
Stephen and Lily Ferrell, South Asia*
I’ve always heard the remark that it may take multiple times for someone to hear the gospel before they accept it. Before now, we’ve never been in a situation where people have literally never heard the gospel or knew about Jesus. It was interesting to see those who have heard of Jesus at least once— whether from a relative or while away at school in the bigger city—are typically more interested in having a gospel conversation.
This realization encouraged us to keep sharing the gospel with those who have never heard and appear not interested. We shared with 45 people over the course of this trip. We pray the teams that come behind us for follow up will see that God’s Word never returns void and has continued to grow in this area.
(*Names changed for security)
10 leaders trained D.G. Anthony, South Asia
ON THE MOVE (Above) Missionary explorers often live on the go. This team uses a break to wash and dry laundry at a guesthouse. (Left) This little-known path led missionary explorers to discover a small church among the unengaged people group they were researching. All photos by IMB.
