Texas Baptists encouraged to exceed Mary Hill Davis Offering goal to provide Harvey relief efforts

The Week of Prayer for Texas Missions and the Mary Hill Davis Offering is September 10-17, 2017. With a statewide goal of $3.6 million, the offering will go to support mission endeavors around Texas through strategic partnerships in 2018. In response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey in South Texas, all gifts given above the offering goal will be designated to provide disaster assistance to impacted areas through Texas Baptist Men and Texas Baptists.

“Texas Baptists are a generous and compassionate people,” said Carolyn Porterfield, WMU of Texas interim executive director-treasurer. “We believe God will bless every dollar given and every act of service accomplished. By having funds that exceed the offering goal, we can do two things: continue mission work around the state and contribute to the long-term recovery efforts that will go on for months and perhaps years.”   

Some ministries that will be involved in the long-term disaster recovery efforts of Texas Baptists, such as BOUNCE Student Disaster Recovery, were already positioned to receive an allocation for the offering next year.

“From the beginning, WMU and the Mary Hill Davis Offering has been a great partner to BOUNCE. Through the MHD Offering, students have been and will be mobilized for disaster recovery efforts, to improve the quality of life for people in times of great need and to reflect Christ. Generous gifts to the MHD offering help to make this happen. I'm so grateful for their support," said David Scott, director of BOUNCE.  

Allocations for the 2018 offering will help fund church starting, Texas Baptist missionaries, Christian Women’s Job Corp, Hispanic summer missions, Special Friends Retreats, Baptist Student Ministry, River Ministry, strategic refugee outreach and a number of additional projects.

“It is no accident that this is Week of Prayer for Texas Missions,” Porterfield said. “God knew our state needed to be blanketed in prayer during these days. Missions efforts, both scheduled and unscheduled, are most effective when God's people come together in prayer.”

This year, the Mary Hill Davis Offering is highlighting four funding categories:

1. Serve Ministries – Caring for the whole person is a demonstration of the gospel and often opens the door for more effective sharing of the Gospel.

2. Advance Missions Equipping – These ministries equip both clergy and laity to have a missional mindset and tools to lead their congregations to be more effective in reaching their communities as they share the Gospel and serve others.

3. Love the Least of These – These ministries seek to serve those who can be forgotten or overlooked.

4. Tell Ministries – These ministries enable Texas Baptists to be a witness.

Available resources to promote the Mary Hill Davis Offering in your church include videos, an eight-day prayer guide, themed offering envelopes, sermon suggestions and social media graphics. Click here to view these free promotional material.