Can We Shake Off the Acceptance of Missionaries as Beggars?

Below is an article I found on www.paracletos.org.

I love the points it bring up for us to consider...especially since the "traditional" way of looking at missions and treating missionaries has not been overly successful. Really not healthy.

The author of this blog states in another article that, "12,000 missionaries quit every year, and two thirds of that is preventable. That’s 8,000 singles, couples, families that come home in a basket and are often kicked to the curb. Many of them are not only lost to the cause of world missions, they are lost to the Church as well. And many of them could be people you know and love. It doesn't have to be that way. It shouldn't be that way!"

He also offers hope with this statement, "Imagine how much time and energy would be freed up for missionaries if they were not expected to do all of the vision casting, or all of the partnership development, or all of the traveling and speaking and presenting. Just think of how much better they could concentrate on their field responsibilities if they knew their partners were keeping a finger on their financial pulse."

So here it is....vitally thought provoking!

Financing Missions: Practical Suggestions

• What if we had the same level of commitment that we expect our missionary partners to have?
• What if we refused to let our missionary partners go to the field underfunded?
• What if we refused to let them do all the support raising by themselves?
• What if we all put our heads together to find a more efficient way for missionaries to raise their support?
• What if we as a team made a faith promise that our missionary would be fully funded?
• What if we were personally involved in helping to raise that support?
• What if each person in a team of 10 took on the responsibility of finding 10% of the total support needed?
• What if you made a list of 25 people you thought would be interested in supporting your missionary teammate and asked them to get involved?
• What if you asked each of those 25 who responded positively to make their own list of 25 potential partners?
• What if every donor committed to finding another donor who would give the same amount?

Bonus question: What if you came up with 5 more questions of your own?
I don’t believe we’ve come close to tapping the full potential of biblical partnership.

That concludes his article.
No, money does not grow on trees, and even if it did, we would fear the tree dying or being chopped down.
Yes, we need to trust God to inspire the hearts of creative people who believe in His plans to reach the world for His glory!

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