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WANT
IMPACT?
Who wouldn't want their $10 donation to have the effect of $100
- their $100 donation to have the effect of $1,000 or even a $1,000 donation
to have the effect of $10,000? READ ON
The
Scriptures teach that God has a claim on the Christian's heart, time,
talents and money - the whole of life, because he has redeemed us and
desires His will for our life as world-changers.
Part
of being a world-changer is to demonstrate the love of Christ to our
communities and our world and to introduce Jesus to others through our
relationships. Traditionally the Church has encouraged Believers to
demonstrate Jesus' love wherever they find themselves, but also to send some
to other nations to proclaim the good news of Jesus' love and to care for
physical needs.
For
over a hundred years the Western Church has sent these
"missionaries" to other nations with success. In fact today, 75%
of all evangelical Christians reside outside the western nations and the
growth of the Church outside the West significantly surpasses that of the
Western Church. But the Church there is poor without the resources to fund
these people in full time ministry. This gives an interesting perspective on
Matthew 9:37-38. Today there may not be a shortage of labourers. We know
there are thousands of workers in the 2/3's world that are prepared to
minister. The 2/3's world Church has the manpower, but the Western Church
has the wealth. Therefore it may not be a manpower question, but a funding
question.
Traditionally
the Western Church has sent missionaries to the 2/3's world, but there are significant
advantages to funding indigenous workers to reach their own
people
- language and culture
are not a barrier. Even if a westerner
masters a language after several years, they may still be viewed as
suspicious simply because they are westerners.
- they operate freely in countries where visas are not granted
to non-residents for ministry work.
- They maintain the lifestyle of the people they minister to
which means the resources of the Church can be leveraged. On average
we estimate we can field a fulltime worker for 10% or less of the
cost of a western worker. This makes the sponsorship of
nationals a stewardship issue for the Church and Church members. At
5% to 10% of the cost of a western worker, you can leverage the value
of your support gift over 1000%. We are trusting that every
Church missions program would have a component for indigenous workers
as an effective means to accomplish the global missionary task.
- If a Church raised an additional 25% of its mission's budget
and gave this to indigenous workers, it could more than triple the
effectiveness of it's missionary impact in the world. (25% of base
x 10 times leverage = 250% of base, a 350% increase).
- The economic reality of the world is much different than the
perspective we have in Canada or the US. If you find yourself gripping
about living in Canada or the US, just take a trip to the 2/3's world. You will
never complain again. What strikes you when you travel is
that the great majority of the world is poor. As a family we
sponsor a fulltime church planter plus his family in India for $125.00
per month. We support fulltime theological students in Indonesia for
$40.00 per month. These students will start a church and lead 30
people to Christ before they can graduate from seminary.
- You can sponsor an entire Church building project for $1200 to
$5000, depending whether rural or more urban. There are several
Churches that have twinned with a developing world Church and provided
the funds for the Church building. In most cultures, the building
gives the Christian group status and profile in their communities.
For over 20 years I was a Board member with the pioneering
organization that seeks to bridge the resources of the West with the
manpower of the 2/3's world. Partners International, founded
in 1943 is a global ministry that has a passion to create, empower, and
grow communities of Christian witness through partnership with strategic
indigenous ministries primarily in the least Christian regions of the
world, for the glory of God.
If you or your Church would like to leverage your mission's program significantly, I invite you to investigate the website at
Partners
International now. Consider sponsoring a child, a student or a worker in
the 2/3's world and make your support extend at least 10 times as far - that's
1,000% more!
Now Read Open
Letter to Christian Business People
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