Since making the announcement that we are about to become a full time missionary family, I have been approached multiple times about the whole concept of missions and how missionaries are funded.
I have no problem addressing these questions, and others like them. But since I have been repeatedly asked about these issues, I thought it would be beneficial to write a brief explanation of mission funding to answer some of those questions.
Please Please understand, THIS IS NOT A PLEA FOR MONEY. I have just been really surprised at how many people have asked me about it, and I am sure there are many more who have these questions but simply haven’t voiced them. So here goes.
Everyone reading this probably knows someone who has gone on a mission trip, or has gone themselves. Many of us have received letters or emails describing what the missionary is about to do, along with a request for financial support.
The question is, why doesn’t this person get a job, save the money, and support themselves? Are they just looking to have an adventure on everyone else’s dime? Are they simply irresponsible, impulsive? In some cases, perhaps this has been true. But the vast majority of missionaries I know, and I know a lot, have gone with a pure heart.
Those are legitimate questions to ask. So lets answer them.
The first question is why don’t they fund themselves? Or better yet, shouldn’t an able-bodied person focus on working hard instead of gallivanting all over the place? Yes, able-bodied people should work. But God does call some of them out of the workplace and into the harvest. Do you think that He should call people who are handicapped? It would be rather cumbersome for a non-able-bodied person to get around on the mission field. I think God can use either one, but surely we can agree that whether a person is capable of working is really not a factor in whether they are called to ministry.
But as far as the self-funding is concerned, let’s be honest, saving the amount of money it takes for a long term mission trip is very hard. Think about it. People work and earn and save all their lives to fund just a few years of retirement. If we expected everyone to save and fund their own long term mission, no one would be able to go until they were well advanced in years. By then, they would be married, have children, most likely carry debt, and the costs would rise and rise while the feasibility of the trip would radically dwindle. This is especially true if they are a family entering missions. The cost is too high for them to realistically be self-supported. In some cases, however, it is true that some people have tremendous financial resources and can be self-sufficient. But this is rarely the case.
The second question is, are they just being irresponsible, or seeking a thrill? Well, when we take teams on mission trips, typically I am looking for people who’s heart is to serve and be ready to do the difficult things as well as the fun things. But, at the same time, taking someone along who is looking to go on a new adventure isn’t exactly a bad thing or necessarily wrong.
Suppose a young person graduates high school or college and decides to go on a mission trip. Some people look at that and write it off as a thrill seeker looking to see the world under the guise of a noble cause, so they call it a mission trip. First of all, ask yourself, is this a common thing for a young person in this culture and day and age? The vast majority of that demographic are seeking thrills in drugs, sex, and alcohol. Of all the other places they could be looking to find excitement, they have chosen to do it in a wholesome and eternally profitable way. You really want to quench or criticize that desire? That is something that should immediately be encouraged and cultivated. Even if they are simply looking to have an adventure before they settle down and pursue their career or get married, so what? What better way for them to spend that energy than investing it in God’s kingdom? Just think, they may come away after just one trip, (as most do) and forever have a heart for global missions, and they will be the future funders of the expansion of the kingdom! Isnt that a cause worth giving to? Even if you don’t give financially, at the very least pray for this beautiful young person who is bucking the trend for their age group and willing to spend themselves working for God’s kingdom.
But you know what? When you support this person, you aren’t just giving to an individual, and their own personal growth and development, you are also contributing to the things they accomplish for the kingdom of God. Every orphan they visit, every sick person they pray for, every lost person they give the gospel to, is due in part to your help. Even if it is a one time trip, it is made possible by those who give to send them. So, the giver has his or her worldview enlarged, and begins to see the world as God sees it, and they have a vested interest in seeing the mission completed, and also enjoys a special bond with the person they are supporting. There is mutual prayer going back and for as they pray for each other and for the mission. None of this would happen if the missionary didn’t ask for support.
Another question we could ask is why doesn’t God just allow this person to win one of those lotteries or gain an inheritance to fund the mission for life? If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, why doesn’t He just make the missionary a millionaire so they don’t ever have to worry about funding or rely on their brothers and sisters for support? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
The answer is ‘No’ that would not be wonderful. It would rob both the giver and the receiver of some of the most amazing blessings that come with funding missions God’s way. There are Christians who have been given the gift of giving, and they find it a joy to do so.
When a missionary receives a financial gift, it is extremely humbling. I say this from experience. People often give me money for local and international mission work. There have been people who have entrusted me with $10,000 checks for the ministry. There have also been people who have sacrificially handed me $20, and I knew full well that this was their entire spending money for the week. Those are equally humbling experiences.
First of all, it is an affirmation that people believe in what you are doing. There is a recognition that they are not giving to you personally, but rather to what God is doing. They see the hand of God in it, and want to support it.
Secondly, it is a holy, sacred thing. There is a responsibility to allocate those funds properly and not misuse them. Thirdly, there is an accountability factor involved. It becomes a pleasure to happily report back to the giver how the funds were used and what was accomplished through their gift. This is biblical. In Acts 15:12 , after their missionary journey, we read that “The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.” They reported back to the church after their mission. We should do the same. It affirms to the givers that we were faithful with the gift, and encourages giving to future exploits.
Giving to missions is also a blessing for the giver. They become partakers in the work. Just like when people give to the local church. It’s nice to have a pastor who has time to commit himself to prayer and preparation, and is available for counsel. Its nice to have a church with good lighting and air conditioning, etc. Every time we give to the church, we make these things happen. When we give to missionaries, we become co-workers with them. They are the hands and feet of Jesus, in a physical sense, but we are the hands and feet of Jesus as well, since they wouldn’t be there without us behind them, sending them. Not everyone is called to go, since, if everyone did in fact go, there would be no one to do the sending! In truth, there are a lot more senders than goers. But all share in the work.
I have a friend who sent two of his kids on missionary trips. He had the financial capability to simply pay for their trip. All of the sudden they were gone. To tell you the honest truth, I felt slighted! I didn’t get the chance to invest in that work of God.
If a missionary doesn’t ask for support, he actually robs the church of their opportunity to invest in what God is doing.
Scripture has a lot to say about money, about missions, and supporting those who preach the gospel. There are many Old and New Testament passages we could refer to. The apostle Paul is a great missionary example. Paul definitely came down on both sides of the issue. To the Thessalonian church, he reminded them of how he had no problem working hard among them so that he would not be a burden to them while he shared the gospel with them. (1Thess 2) To the Corinthian church he wrote extensively in 1 Cor 9 about his rights as an apostle to make his living from the gospel, as all the other apostles did, but that he didn’t take advantage of this because of his heart to win them.
But Paul also thanked his financial supporters when he wrote to the Philippian church, “10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.
18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
Paul had people who supported him, and he thanked them for their aid. And he encouraged them by reminding them that they would receive a reward for it. But at the same time, there were others that he did not want to be a financial burden to, and he didn’t even ask those people for help.
In the same way there are many today to whom it is better to not ask for money for the furtherance of the gospel. They would be offended by those pleas. But at the same time, there are also many who understand that it takes money to spread the word, and they are cheerfully willing to invest in the kingdom by financially supporting those endeavors, and they will receive a reward from the Lord for their faithfulness. They have no desire to go and do the work, and they find fulfillment in playing the role of the sender, understanding that it is as much a calling as actually going. They find as much joy in giving to missions as those who physically go.
God is a father to the fatherless, and the friend of sinners, but the way He has chosen to do this is through us. We are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, and it takes more than just the person who is physically on the mission field to make it happen. Every person who contributes to sending the missionary plays a vital role in making it happen. When you give to a missionary, you become a missionary. They wouldn’t be there without you.
I heard an interesting quote from either Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin in which he said, “I went to the moon, but only because there were 400,000 other people at NASA who worked to make it happen.” He knew that he could never have accomplished that amazing feat if it weren’t for the combined effort of all the people who worked to make it happen. Every person at a computer, every person in communications, every mechanic, every janitor, and every person who funded that project was part of the team.
I can honestly say without hesitation that we could never have made all those trips to India or Mexico without our financial supporters. I and the various teams that have gone over the years were the sent ones, but we only got to go because there was a body of senders behind us. We could never afford to pay for all the staging, lighting, buses, event centers, etc., to put on those crusades where tens of thousands of people heard the gospel. We couldn’t afford to pay for all the food and medical provisions that we have given out over the years. All that ministry became possible because there were people who believed in what we were doing and joined us in prayer and financial support. Without them, we would never have even gone on those trips. They share an equal blessing and will enjoy an equal reward.
So I hope that answers some of the questions people have about funding missions,. If its not something that you feel a burden in any way to support, well then you should not feel obligated to do so. God loves a cheerful giver. He desires the attitude to be one of excitement and joy in the act of giving. So if you feel like a missionary is being awkward or manipulative, and you don’t want to give, don’t! God doesn’t need your money. God will lay it on certain people’s hearts to support His work. He knows how to get things done without having to use unwilling vessels.
Finally, why do I write this? Well, for two reasons, One is to help a lot of people who have read our vision but have a hard time grasping the concept of a fairly successful, able bodied family selling everything and becoming full time missionaries, with the financial support of the body behind them. I have been asked about these issues repeatedly, so I thought I would take a minute to give some perspective.
Second, I write this for all the under-funded missionaries out there. I’m sure you (the reader) know some people on the mission field who could use your faithful support. Perhaps this gave some simple answers that helped you gain a better understanding and now you’ll feel comfortable giving those gifts.
Now, as far as my family is concerned, I have been asked if we are making a rash, impulsive decision to enter mission work. Are we looking for an adventure, and forgetting about our children?
The answer is absolutely not. I have worked very hard to climb the ladder in my company, and to build our financial situation to the point where I’m finally feeling like I’m established in life. We have poured ourselves into serving the Lord over the years and have been blessed with an abundant ministry that bears much fruit.
From a wordly perspective, it is foolish for us to give up everything we have worked so hard to build. But we recognize that it is the Lord who gives us the ability to get wealth, and that any ministry we are involved in is a result of His blessing, not our hard work. It’s all His. He is the one who gave it all to us, and if He is calling us to a new chapter in life, then He is able to sustain us.
It has taken us three years to finally yield to an obvious call of God on our life and pursue this vision. When I wrote about how God called us, seriously, I only included a few of the ways He confirmed it to us. I thought that would be enough to convince our friends and family that we were following what God has been telling us over and over, and not some whim or thrill seeking adventure.
The issue of money is a genuine concern. What if we come out of the gate with a lot of support, but people grow weary and it dries up? That’s a legitimate question to ask.
If we don’t have enough funding, I have absolutely no inhibitions about getting a job for supplemental income. If we go and do this mission for one, two or three years, and it just isn’t working out, what’s the worst that happens? We come home and pick up where we left off? That’s not a failure, that’s an amazing testimony for us that we were able to go on a family mission and accomplish all sorts of wonderful things for the glory of God!
I am not afraid to be ambitious, work hard, get my hands dirty, and do what it takes to support my family and get back into the workplace.
But quite honestly, I don’t think that is what will happen, at least not right away. I have seen God come through too many times before in regards to the things He called me to in ministry. There have been times of miraculous provision, where He came through in ways that blew my mind apart, and there have been times where we have had a projected budget, planned accordingly to meet it, and saw Him provide for those needs. He has been faithful every single time.
Our children are also a consideration. What will become of them?
Well, the short answer is that they will be fine. There are plenty of full time missionary families within the ywam organization. The bases we are going to have structure in place for children to flourish in missionary families. Beth and I have visited both bases and are confident that our children will adapt quickly to base life, and we will not be neglecting time with them in any way. In fact, considering the amount of ministry we currently are involved in, in all likelihood we will actually enjoy more time together as a family than we do now.
We are really looking forward to how the Lord will use not just Beth and I, but our entire family as we step out together in faith and follow His call.
I write this not as a plea for money, but because it is important for us that our family, friends, brothers and sisters are behind us when we embark on this endeavor. There is no ulterior motive here. If some are having a hard time understanding how the financial aspect of mission funding is supposed to work, then we want to talk openly about it, without necessarily doing so for the sake of seeking their financial support. What we desire is for you to be on board with us, and with global missions as a whole, being able to confidently pray for us and back us up in ministry. Those whom the Lord gives the desire to give financially to the work will do so, and we thank God for them, but we would never want to manipulate or coerce anyone to give where they don’t feel led to. What we desire is that people have a general understanding of how missions funding is supposed to work, so that when they speak of missionaries, they speak positively and pray that God would not only provide for their needs, but continue to send out even more laborers into His harvest.
Please feel free to contact me with any other questions you personally may have regarding this work. I’ll be happy to respond. bill.kyll@yahoo.com