Introduction to MMO
The Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering (MMO) is our state’s annual missions offering, named after the late MBC executive director who pioneered the annual giving emphasis that today supports projects in five areas of ministry:
Prayer & Evangelism – sports evangelism; VBS ministry training and resource development; youth evangelism and missions; and the state fair ministry of the Missouri DOM Fellowship.
Collegiate Ministries – a summer missions mentoring initiative; and ministry to international students studying on Missouri campuses.
Missions Mobilization – partnership missions in Mexico, Minnesota/Wisconsin, and Montana; strategic missionary development; disaster relief readiness, DR internships and Missouri WMU.
Church Renewal – Resound Network training and development; the Leader Care Network; a conference for new pastors; hunger relief; Baptist Builders; and a Pathway journalism retreat.
Entity Relations (MBC-affiliated institutions) – moral injury training, a workshop for senior citizens, recreational discipleship for seniors, and a Certified Nursing Assistants Program (Baptist Homes); a four-year biblical studies degree for inmates (HLGU); the Center for Global Connections, and church-and-state pastoral reading groups (SBU); the Center for Global Engagement (MBU); and internships at the Missouri Baptist Foundation.
In addition, 17 percent of MMO receipts go to the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, which provides spiritual guidance, counseling, and a safe haven from abuse and neglect at five state campuses.
And 10 percent of MMO gifts go back to the associations of contributing churches, where the funds support regional mission projects.
Funds raised in excess of the MMO goal are placed in reserve for future mission opportunities. At the same time, 10 percent of gifts above the goal is given to Missouri WMU, which promotes state, national, and international missions in MBC-affiliated churches.
History of the Offering
Rheubin L. South became executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention in 1975, coming to Missouri from Park Hill Baptist Church, North Little Rock, Ark.
When South arrived, each Missouri Baptist agency promoted its own offering. The Missouri Woman’s Missionary Union promoted the convention’s offering for state missions. As mission causes and agencies multiplied, the different offerings became burdensome to Missouri Baptist churches. Having separate offerings meant that Missouri Baptist agencies were competing against each other.