Missionary. What's behind the word? Your answer might be special calling, sacrifice, fun, adventure, serving God, recreation. Peel the word away and you'll find people who have sacrificed family, friends and church support systems to do what God has called them to do. You''ll find people with hearts full of passion who have chosen to obey God and be uncomfortable rather than disobedient and complacent. With this obedience and passion you find missionaries who do whatever it takes to connect someone to Jesus. They use snow-capped mountains for a church for skiers or horses to connect riders with Christ. They are in city streets demonstrating Jesus by giving food, water, clothing and hugs. They are starting churches in population centers that include many different people groups and population segments. So, what's behind the word missionary? Obedience, passion and sacrifice.

Today, more than 5,300 men and women are obediently living a life of service as North American missionaries supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®.

"We are so blessed by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering," says Kevin Madden, a church planting missionary in Westbank, British Columbia. "The funds from the Annie Armstrong Offering help as a supplement to my salary, and help us with many of the ministries we carry out as a church plant. The chairs we sit on in church were provided by Southern Baptists. It's hard to imagine our work and ministry without the kind of support we've had through the offering and through our network of partners. We've been blessed as a church, but the need is great."

Kevin is just one of eight Southern Baptist missionaries to be highlighted as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 5-12, 2006. The 2006 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering's goal is $56 million, 100 percent of which is used for missionaries like the Maddens.

As you give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and pray for our missionaries, look beyond the "word." The cost can be painful. But the results of obedience are immeasurable! Through your gifts to the Cooperative Program and the AAEO, you provide the necessary resources that enable them to effectively share Christ. Together, we can reach more people for Christ than alone. Join our missionaries in being someone's connection to Jesus.

Scroll down to learn how your AAEO and Cooperative Program dollars directly benefit the work of missionaries who are telling His story across North America. And click here to meet our Week of Prayer missionaries.

Missionary introduction by Jane Bishop, director of Missionary Mobilization, NAMB. Week of Prayer profiles by Jami Becher, former editorial assistant, On Mission.

funding north american missions

Local Church
Each Southern Baptist church prayerfully decides how much of its undesignated gifts will be committed to the Cooperative Program. This amount, which averages about 7%, is forwarded to your Baptist state convention.

State Convention
State Baptist conventions decide what percent of Cooperative Program gifts from the churches will be used for ministries and missionaries within your state, and what amount will be forwarded to the SBC for national and international missions and ministries.

SBC Cooperative Program
During the Southern Baptist Convention each June, messengers decide how CP gifts from the state conventions will be divided between SBC agencies. Half of all gifts go to the International Mission Board, 22.79% to the North American Mission Board, and a combined 27% to the SBC theological seminaries and other SBC ministries.

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
Every penny you give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering goes directly to support SBC missionaries in the United States, its territories and Canada. 75% of every AAEO dollar pays missionary salaries and benefits. The remainder of the funds are for the missionaries' evangelism and church planting ministries.