Week of Prayer – GOTM

Now more than ever, Tennessee Baptists are responding to God’s call to meet critical needs and serve the least of these with dignity, assistance, and the gospel. Compassion Ministries help increase awareness, develop strategies, provide resources, train volunteers, and connect people to address the issues that challenge our communities.

The Golden Offering supports Compassion Ministries through church-based ministries, food distribution, unplanned pregnancy support, foster care, prison and jail ministries, just to name a few.

Praying for Compassion Ministries

• Pray that Tennessee Baptist churches will see and respond to needs in their communities in such a way that people will come to know Christ.
• Ask the Lord to provide for the many churches serving the hungry through the feeding ministries.
• Pray that we would see communities transformed by the Gospel, through the ministries of our Tennessee Baptist churches.

There are communities and people groups all over Tennessee that need a gospel witness. Imagine what would happen if churches would plant new churches to reach people they can’t reach.

The Golden Offering supports Church Planting ministries by funding church planters, providing training, and funding new spaces for worship, discipleship and Bible study.

Some churches feel like we have Tennessee covered when it comes to church planting. This is one of the myths about our state.

Praying for New Churches

• Ask the Lord to call out church planters and mother churches across Tennessee to begin new churches in and among underchurched communities, under-served people, and unreached peoples in Tennessee with the Gospel.
• Pray for the new pipeline and church planting residency programs that will train a new generation of evangelistic church planters for the harvest.
• Pray for the new opportunity to reach Ukrainian refugees arriving in Tennessee. Ask God to give existing TBC Ukrainian churches the vision to minister to their fellow countrymen.
• Pray for the new political asylum seekers from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Haiti who are fleeing socialist governments. Pray for opportunities for Tennessee Baptists to engage them and that they will be thirsty for the Gospel.

Unwed mothers account for 44% of all births in Tennessee. To call this one of the biggest crises and opportunities would be an understatement.

The Golden Offering funds will be used to continue building the Amy Hood adoption fund started by TBMB. A portion of the allocation will also be distributed to families seeking to change a young person’s life by providing them a forever family.

Contact Beth Moore at bmoore@tnbaptist.org for more information.

Praying for Adoption Ministries

• Pray for God to move in the hearts of families to take the step of faith to adopt a child.
• Pray that Tennessee Baptist churches will encourage and support families walking through the adoption process.
• Pray that children waiting to be adopted will know and understand the love and care of their heavenly Father.

Two-thirds of young people who previously attended church say they stopped regularly going to church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22, a recent Lifeway Research survey shows. Collegiate campus ministries are vitally important! We have ministries on almost every major college campus in Tennessee.

The Golden Offering supports collegiate campus ministries through facilities, training, events, evangelism, and discipleship.

Praying for Collegiate Campus Ministries

• Pray for Tennessee collegiate ministers that they may lead a ministry of transformative discipleship that rises above current cultural and political divisiveness and develops lifelong leaders that serve the one true Kingdom.
• Pray that Baptist Collegiate Ministries may reach into the population of several thousand college students arriving in Tennessee from other nations and that
  those students may be open to receiving the gospel message.
• A next generation of leaders – broad in culture, race, and ethnic background – must be found and equipped to serve Christ in a changing Tennessee. Pray that we are sensitive and ready to discover and train them during their college years.

Ford is building the nation’s largest automobile plant in America in Haywood County to manufacture the all-electric F-150 Lightning truck. The population in the region is expected to increase by 90,000 over the next 10 years. Tennessee Baptists have an unprecedented opportunity to make Christ known to thousands of people, many who have never heard of him.

The Golden Offering supports the BlueOval City Initiative through creative hands-on ministry to workers living in RV parks, strengthening local churches, and preparing to plant 40 new churches in the area over the next 10 years.

We hope you’ll check out the video stories below to see all the excitement that is building in this corner for Tennessee.

Praying for BlueOval City Initiative

• Pray for continued unity among the churches in the BlueOval City area as they develop strategic plans for the season ahead.
• Pray for church planters to be called and trained to help establish the new churches needed in the BlueOval City area.
• Pray for the existing churches in and around BlueOval City to be healthy and strong as they plan for the future.
• Pray for volunteers needed to begin constructing and renovating the old Hebron Methodist Church facility that TBMB is leasing for a ministry center at exit 42.
• Pray that our churches will build relationships and share the Gospel with the nearly 3,000 construction workers living in the area.

Christians are commanded to take the gospel to all peoples. Missions discipleship ministries provide opportunities for adults, students, children, and preschoolers to deepen and strengthen their discipleship and impact. Tennessee WMU seeks to come alongside churches as we fulfill the Great Commission providing relevant and engaging resources for every age level to learn about and pray for missions and providing a variety of opportunities to be involved in missions.

The Golden Offering supports missions discipleship ministries like Christian Women’s/Men’s Job Corp, Missionary Care, WMU student scholarships, children’s missions discipleship events, and more.

Praying for Missions Discipleship Ministries

• Pray for Christian Women’s/Men’s Job Corps instructors and volunteers as they minister to participants in jails, prisons and classrooms. Pray that the words of their mouths will be pleasing to the Lord as they share the hope and truth of the gospel.
• Pray that WMU scholarship recipients will be a light on their university campuses and that they will boldly share the gospel with others.
• Pray for missions discipleship leaders as they encourage and equip preschoolers, children, students and adults to engage in missions learning and involvement that enables them to fulfill the Great Commission.

Did you know that 15% of GOTM funds given by churches goes back to their Association? These funds helps associations and their strategists to reach the spiritually lost in their community nearby and next door. Associations use Golden Offering funds for ministries like pastor training and cooperation, church planting, compassion ministry, counseling, and evangelism events.

For more information about how GOTM funds are used in your association, contact your Associational Mission Strategist/Director of Missions.

Praying for Associational Ministries

• Pray for AMS/DOMs as they continue to minister to the churches of their associations. Ask God to give church leaders a greater desire to work together to reach the “nations” coming to Tennessee.
• Pray for greater unity and harmony among the churches of the associations. Ask the Father to “make us one” as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
• Pray for a harvest of souls among those churches. There are more lost people in Tennessee than ever before, and we must be more intentional in reaching out to those “far from God.”
• Pray for the new Associational Mission Strategists in Tennessee as they seek God’s direction for the work of their associations. Pray that they will be able to develop strong relationships with the pastors and leaders within their associations as well.

Disasters often present open doors. Victims receive hope, encouragement, help and salvation every year. God has the power to bring beauty from the wreckage. As unpredictable as a disaster may be, they occur with great consistency.

The Golden Offering supports Disaster Relief ministries through training, equipment, and facilities.

Praying for Disaster Relief Ministries

• As disasters happen, pray that our volunteers will bring relief to those affected and have many opportunities to share the Love of Christ with them.
• Pray for those affected by disasters that they would seek the Lord during their trying time.
• Pray for strength, safety, and wisdom as Disaster Relief volunteers seek to bring Help, Hope, and Healing to those experiencing a disaster.