Answers to Your Financial Questions:
How is the money I send to ABWE used?
Why DOES it cost so much to send a missionary?
- In 61 countries of the world, the cost of living is higher
than in New York City. For example, it is four times as expensive
to live in Japan as it is to live in the USA. Some people think
of missionary work only in terms of living in a jungle village
along the Amazon. Today ABWE missionaries also serve in urban centers,
some of which have
the highest cost of living in the world.
- In addition to living expenses, the missionary has to
provide everything that is needed for ministry. For example,
renting a place to meet, supplying chairs, tables, musical instruments,
Bibles, song books and other literature, office supplies and
equipment,
utilities, cleaning expenses, transportation, visual aids. Much
of this infrastructure is already in place when a pastor moves
to a new church in North America.
- In one more attempt to be good
stewards of God's
money, ABWE requires its missionaries to set aside funds to bring
them back and forth for furlough; for health, life and accident
insurance, and for retirement. This money is in an account, so
the missionary does not have to write emergency letters to supporters, "Here's
my need; please send money."
Whom should we support?
Some churches and supporters have decided that sending missionaries
from Western countries is simply too expensive. Westerners should
stay home and let local people do the job. George Verwer, founder
of Operation Mobilization, spoke to this point in his address at
the Global Focus missions conference in Saskatchewan:
"I'm convinced we need North American missionaries
as much as ever. We need them despite increased costs. We need
them even though in some countries it seems national workers are
able to get on with the job at a much lower cost and in some cases,
more effectively. The phenomenal size of the task still ahead of
us is one reason I believe Western missionaries are still needed.
The task is too huge to make the national versus international
controversy an either/or proposition. We need to continue both
sending missionaries from our own churches and supporting national
missionaries in a biblical, sensible way that demands high accountability.
We still need many more people who are willing to take the gospel
to the millions who have never heard. The real issue is not whether
a missionary is an international or a national. It isn't
whether he's a North American going to the Middle East or
an Indian working in his own country. The bigger issue is, are
our missionaries men and women of God?"
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