As I write my final article for 2015, I want to take this time to encourage each Kentucky Baptist to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. Just like you, I was saddened by the recent news from the International Mission Board of plans to bring some missionaries home from the field because of a lack of finances.

One of the reasons I am so proud to be a part of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention is the fact that we emphasize the importance of giving cooperatively. I am proud of the fact that our missionaries in the Southern Baptist Convention do not have to be concerned about raising their own financial resources. They can focus on their ministry of sharing the gospel and not have to be concerned with that aspect of their ministry.

Here at Clear Creek, we are constantly reminding our students about the importance of giving cooperatively. We always look for ways to share information with them about how they are on the receiving end of the cooperative spirit among Kentucky Baptists through gifts to the Cooperative Program and what that means for them at Clear Creek. Our desire is for them to learn the importance of cooperative giving while they are students here and then take that mindset with them as they leave here to serve in the local church wherever God plants them. For many of them, that is right here in Kentucky.

During this season of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, we take another opportunity to present to our students how they can start their cooperative giving right now. Each week in our chapel services, we highlight a video of different missionaries and ministries that the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering supports and we show it to our students. The videos really encourage them to give what they can now to help our missionaries.

I have personally been on the international mission field serving with some of our missionaries. I have observed how a lack of financial resources can be an obstacle for our missionaries to fulfill their ministry calling to the best of their ability when they do not have all the resources they need.

Donnie Fox is president of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, 300 Clear Creek Road, Pineville, KY 40977; toll-free: (866) 340-3196; ccbbc.edu; email: dfox@ccbbc.edu.