Texas Baptists give more than $230,000 for hungry through Mother's Day offering

Texas Baptists gave more than $230,000 to help the hungry through last Spring's Mother's Day offering.

Congregations donated $234,164 through the Mother's Day emphasis for the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering, which feeds and assists hungry people through 210 projects including 115 in Texas.

Texas Baptists' Executive Director David Hardage thanked Texas Baptists for their generosity, believing this was a great first step toward the convention's goal of eventually raising $1 million for the hungry on Mother's Day.

Texas Baptists willingness to give throughout the Spring shone brightly as churches not only gave to the Mother's Day offering, but also to help in the wake of disasters such as the fertilizer explosion in West.

"I am so pleased with the way many of our Texas Baptists responded to this Mother's Day offering, especially since several disasters occurred around the same time," he said. "Thank you to all who helped."

The top 10 giving churches to the Mother's Day offering are: First Baptist Church in Midland; First Baptist Church in Shallowater; Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo; First Baptist Church in Garland; First Baptist Church in Perryton; First Baptist Church in Big Lake; First Baptist Church in Allen; South Garland Baptist Church in Garland; Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas; and The Woods Baptist Church in Tyler. Texas Baptists reflected the compassion of mothers across the state and honored them by giving, said Ferrell Foster, acting director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission and coordinator of the offering.

"It was very humbling to see that thousands of Texas Baptists had given so much," Foster said. "That's a lot of money, and we had only five weeks to get the word out about it. This offering is going to become a habit in Texas Baptist life, and it is going to be a habit that helps hurting people, just as Jesus instructed. It's good to be a Texas Baptist."

The Mother's Day initiative provided a key boost to the hunger offering as Texas Baptists seek to raise roughly $780,000 for offering commitments this year.

"It's crucial that churches who have faithfully given to the offering through the years continue giving," Foster said. "We are grateful for all that Texas Baptists are doing to alleviate hunger and poverty in the name of Christ."

For more information about the offering, visit hungeroffering.org.