mission north America By David Crowe Same Mission...Different Name   To learn more aboutthe Mission: North America Offering, visit www.homemissions.net.

The mission of the Home Missions Department has always been to plant Free Will Baptist churches across North America. Of all the things we do, this is the top priority! Many programs have been established over the years to help accomplish this enormous task. The Church Extension Loan Fund was established so Free Will Baptist people could invest their money at a good rate of interest (as high as 5.5% presently). That money then could be loaned to Home Mission churches and established Free Will Baptist churches to buy property and build buildings. C.E.L.F. is one of the strongest aspects of Home Missions today.

Over the years, Home Missions has sponsored Roll Call Sunday, to encourage evangelism and growth in our local churches. Materials for evangelism and church planting have been developed for this area of ministry. The Home Missions Department also has worked with the Master’s Men Department to sponsor Operation Saturation, and many have gone out to help in the mission churches. We remain the endorsing agency for Free Will Baptist military chaplains in all branches of service.

Hundreds of churches have been planted and taken to self-supporting status. Richard Atwood is presently training missionary couples in Boot Camps at our offices and around the country. Larry Powell is following in the footsteps of some of the greatest men I know, as general director of Home Missions. His leadership and vision has led the department to record numbers of missionaries being approved and placed on the field. He has led Home Missions to record lows in missionary deficits and record highs in giving to Home Missions. God has blessed the ministry of Home Missions over the years and is continuing to do so.

For many years now we have sponsored the Benjamin Randall Offering each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Home Missions participates in the Together Way Program sponsored by the National Association of Free Will Baptists through this offering. This year we are changing the name of our yearly offering. You will hear us talk and preach about Mission: North America. This is the name of the offering and will be the focus of everything we do at Home Missions. Our official name will remain Free Will Baptist Home Missions, but our focus will be on the mission given to our department when it was established by the denomination over 50 years ago. That mission is to plant Free Will Baptist churches across North America (including all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. territories).

By giving to the Mission: North America Offering in November, you can help the entire program of Home Missions. We will continue to emphasize our heritage and history, including not only Benjamin Randall and the Northern Free Will Baptists but Paul Palmer and the Southern Free Will Baptists, the Free Communion Baptists of New York, the Six-Principle Baptists of New England, and the General Free Will Baptists of Europe.

Please join us as we sharpen our focus and fulfill our mission.

ABOUT THE WRITER: David Crowe is the director of development of the Home Missions Department. Read more about the vision and work of Home Missions at www.homemissions.net.