Technology for Growth

If you have already read this issue of the Message magazine, then you have noticed God’s abundant provision for ABWE. We have seen growth in both the number of missionaries serving around the world and in the number of supporters of those missionaries who depend on ABWE for the effective management of that support.

125,000 names on the ABWE mailing list
22,000 different donors
10,000 gifts processed each month

If these numbers boggle your mind, imagine what it takes to manage all this information in a way that effectively serves both supporters and missionaries! Donors need their receipts and access to their giving information for tax purposes. Missionaries need to receive their funds in a timely fashion in hundreds of locations around the world.

Imagine the communication needs for ABWE’s over 1000 “employees” who work on every continent of the world! Every day literally thousands of emails and documents are transferred around the world and back.

Information management technology is not a luxury in the 21st century – it is a necessity! The software that ABWE has been using for the last 12 years is no longer adequate for the needs of our growing family of missionaries and supporters.

What’s the bottom line, you ask?

A new software system is required to manage the information vital to the maintenance of missionaries on their fields. Coordination of finances is just one picture in the gallery of information that needs to be efficiently managed in order for the ministry of ABWE to be effective around the world.

The new system integrates features that currently are managed independently. Virtually every department benefits from the new system – recruiting, training, inventory, project management – and finances! The missionaries will be better able to manage their accounts, stay in contact with their supporters and communicate their needs.

The cost of this new system has been estimated at $500,000. Plans are in progress and the goal is to have the new system in place, with staff trained and functioning by the fall of 2004. Thank you for praying and giving to help us become more effective in the task of world evangelism.