[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–The national chain of Baptist Book Stores and Lifeway Christian Stores has joined the 1997 campaign to collect funds for the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund.
Change canisters resembling soup cans will be available until December at the check-out counters of the 66 stores across the United States as a result of employees’ desire to be involved in a missions endeavor outside normal retail activity, according to Mark Scott, vice president of the Baptist Sunday School Board’s retail group.
“Because Baptist Book Stores and Lifeway Christian Stores reach so many persons, we can provide wide exposure to the cause of world hunger relief,” Scott said. “We believe this is a project that will appeal to Southern Baptists as well as other evangelical Christians who visit our stores.”
Gifts to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund received at the SBC Christian Life Commission or Executive Committee, both in Nashville, Tenn., are used completely for hunger ministry, with nothing taken for administration or promotion costs. Unless otherwise specified by the donor, 80 percent of the funds go to the Foreign Mission Board and 20 percent to the Home Mission Board. Missionaries and volunteers, in turn, use the funds to support nearly 200 hunger ministries in the United States and 58 other countries.
Richard Land, president of the CLC, said feeding hungry people “demonstrates our love and concern for them, providing the opportunity for us to share the gospel.”
He said hunger funds have opened the door in Bosnia, for example, for presenting the gospel to refugees, resulting in members of warring groups accepting Christ.
“The presence of these canisters in Baptist Book Stores and Lifeway Christian Stores will raise both funds and awareness of the importance of the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund to the work of the Great Commission,” Land said.
Baptist Book Stores and Lifeway Christian Stores are owned and operated by the Baptist Sunday School Board.