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 In Acts 1:8, Jesus says we are to be witnesses in Jerusalem (our home area), Judea (our state), Samaria (our nation), and to the ends of the earth (our world). With this in mind, Southern Baptists initiated the Cooperative Program in 1925 to provide ministry support for all these areas. The Cooperative Program (CP) has been and is a major benefi t to ministries here in our state as well as those in our country and around the world. The fact that this program is now 85 years-old certainly does not mean it is outdated or no longer relevant. Just the opposite is true. Because of the CP, literally tens of thousands of ministers have received their educations at our colleges and seminaries. Hundreds of thousands of children and seniors have been assisted through children’s homes and aging ministries. Numerous other programs and outreach ministries have assisted people from all walks of life. First and foremost, these agencies, institutions, and ministries have in their own way been “witnesses” bringing men and women, boys and girls to the saving knowledge of Christ.
We at Connie Maxwell want to thank SC Baptists for their support and partnership with us through CP giving. When individual Baptists give their tithes and gifts to their churches, the churches send a portion of this to the state Convention. From these funds, approximately 4 cents of each dollar comes to Connie Maxwell. This amounts to almost 12% of our operating budget each year. The remaining 88% comes primarily from direct church gifts, from individual donors and from our investment income. We receive very little money from children’s families or from the state; therefore, most of our income is a faith-based donation model similar to that of churches. The CP helps to provide the scholarships that allow children to get assistance from Connie Maxwell.
We need and depend on Cooperative Program gifts to continue our ministry to boys and girls at the same level Baptists have always expected from us and that children deserve. We trust that as we all pursue ministry efforts around the world and in pioneer areas of our country that we won’t forget or deemphasize the Jerusalem and Judea ministries gifts. Connie Maxwell not only provides safety, stability and shelter for children but also salvation opportunities. Many of our children come to us with no or little church backgrounds and our efforts allow us to introduce our Christian faith and be the “witnesses” Christ tells us to be. Many of the children are baptized as believers here at Connie Maxwell and then take their new-found faith to others in their families. Many parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers are “led by little children” in this missions effort to reach the lost.
With constant reduction of the little state money we currently receive and with smaller donations from individuals because of the dire financial problems many are having, we depend on the CP gifts and our endowment as never before. These endowment funds have come primarily from estate gifts from caring donors over the years and are invested to provide the necessary funding needed for children who come with no money resources to assist in their care. Thankfully, it has developed into a large account and must remain so if we are to continue this work that God has ordained. If the endowment corpus is ever depleted, Connie Maxwell will need to reduce its service and cut its ministry drastically. That is another reason CP giving is so important and why we are so thankful to be a part of this needed and important program of united sharing.
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