ABC General Board Raises Record Relief Funds on Final Day of Meetings

OFFERING BRINGS IN $11,600 FOR QUAKE, HOUSING AID

GREEN LAKE, WI (ABNS)—

General Board members of the American Baptist Churches USA raised more than $11,600 in their Sunday morning offering here to aid quake victims in Pakistan and help build homes for the poor in Brazil.

The board, which ended its four-day November meeting here on Sunday, customarily raises an aid offering of some sort at its final session. The amount usually is around $3,000 from the 100-plus board members.

This time they were challenged by their executive committee to contribute $5,000 for Pakistan aid and another $5,000 to build one of a number of houses that Habitat for Humanity will construct during next summer’s World Council of Churches meeting in Brazil.

The exact amount raised by the end of the board’s final session was $11,633.

Robert Roberts, the denomination’s interim associate general secretary for world mission support, said: “Through the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, American Baptists have shown their great generosity in raising nearly $5.5 million this year in disaster relief aid. That generosity is reflected in this gift by the General Board.

“We have an awesome God, and an awesome General Board, and an awesome denomination.”