Determining Financial Support for Missionaries

When I served as a missions minister at a church, I and my team would field several requests for financial support.  Financial requests aren’t always from new individuals and families seeking to go to the mission field.  Sometimes financial requests come from current missionaries we support.  No request for financial support for a missionary or ministry project is a bad request!  It is fundamental that the church and Christ-followers support missionaries in their calling. I was happy every time someone came along looking for more prayer and financial support for their mission.

For this post, let’s focus on new financial support for a missionary preparing to go into the missions field.  Remember, the missions field is all around us, not just overseas. Let’s dive in together and see how determining financial support for missionaries will impact your local and global missions.  

So John Que walks into your missions team meeting, plugs in his laptop and shares an extremely compelling vision of taking the Gospel to a remote area in the 10/40 window.  His entire family has heard God’s call and they want to obey in going. The presentation is pretty slick.  Each member of the family has fully shared the plight of the people group that they want to impact. Stories and visual aids help them convey why they are endeared to this group and why this people group desperately needs the hope and salvation that Jesus brings.

The presentation has a detailed timeline of when they would like to arrive in-country, has their start-up expenses listed as well as their monthly financial need. You even walk away with a sweet prayer magnet for your refrigerator door to be reminded to pray for them every time you see the magnet. They finish by thanking you for your time listening to their presentation and politely ask if the church would consider supporting them at $500 a month in financial support. 

You sit back in your chair, bouncing your pen off of your lip, and a thought comes to your mind.  Should we financially support this family?

At first, the thought shocks you!  This family is taking the Gospel to a group of people that do not have the words of Jesus yet!  How dare I think that? 

These moments are very taxing on a church missions team that are burdened to see the Gospel taken to every language and people group.  So what do we do? Do we have a choice of supporting or not supporting?
What if there was a way to ensure that these decisions were easier to make?  What if there was a way to help you and your team to think objectively and make the greatest decision for the Kingdom?

I believe there is a way to do that.  You and your team would need to create Financial Support Metrics.  I know Metrics may come across as too harsh or sound too much like a “business” term. “This is the church, let’s keep business out of this.” I’ve heard that all too often. Feel free to substitute in a word that is better suited for you and your team. 

However, having a measuring tool to allow you to determine whether financial support is necessary and to what amount is critical as we begin to think strategically and intentional with how we do missions.

Many times I’ve sat around a conference table following a missionary that has just left the room from giving their presentation.  The first question is always “Well, what did you all think?”.  From there the conversation moves into a phase of determining if financially supporting this missionary is an option for the team.  It can be a laborious process of coming to a decision if supporting this missionary family is the right choice and for how much. 

There is a much better way to go about this process.  Creating a set of financial metrics that are used across the board, will aid your team in determining if financial support is necessary and to what amount.  These metrics are unique to each church and should be created after your Core Convictions and Core Focuses have been determined.  You Core Convictions and Core Focus determine how you will create your financial metrics. 

I’d love to help your church create the financial support metrics you need in order to become rifle focused on what God has called you to do in your community and the world. Let’s talk more! You are welcome to send me an email at [email protected] or click on the Let’s Connect tab in the upper right-hand corner of the page and fill out the dialogue box that comes up.