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OUR LIVES

09: SUPPORT US, NOT JUST PROJECTS

Balance your missions giving. Make it your priority to invest in people—in
missionaries, not just missions projects or trips.
Missionaries: Based on the supreme model of the Incarnation, “the Word become flesh,” the missionary en-
terprise is based on people, “boots on the ground” all over the world. Projects and trips only work because of
missionaries. These long-term missionaries learn language and culture, develop relationships with the national
church, and cultivate goodwill within its leadership, both nationally and locally. In short, the work of the Assem-
blies of God Missions cannot function effectively without resident missionaries: family units called by God to
live overseas and/or in their specific ministry settings.

Missions projects and trips can assist the work of the missionary, providing necessary funds and laborers to
build buildings, evangelize, establish new works, install water systems, and other types of missions projects.
When a group from a local congregation travels together, short-term trips can have life-long impact upon the
participants, and in some cases lead to the call of God toward vocational missionary service. The visiting team
can strengthen the impact of long-term missionaries.

Think Long-term. At the same time, be careful not to over-spend on short-term trips, at the expense of
long-term workers. (Consider: A short-term team of 15 people, raising and spending an average of $2500 per
person, is almost equal to a pledge of $800 a month for four years!—an amount it could take months for a mis-
sionary to raise.) Let’s be honest: Often the primary beneficiaries of a trip are the short-termers themselves. So
keep things in perspective: It’s not about us, it’s about them—the last, the least, the lost, and the missionaries
committed to reaching them through the slow, often-painful, process of cross-cultural life and service.

Healthy missionary churches do not do one

without the other. Prayerfully consider
how your church balances their
budget. As a general guideline,
consider an 85:15 ratio (mission-
aries to missions projects/trips).
Even though it may be much
easier to raise money for projects
and trips than for missionary sup-
port, remember it is those on the
field who lay the groundwork for
most projects to occur, and they
will remain long after you have
gone home.

7 TIPS FOR PRIORITIZING MISSIONS SUPPORT:

1. Start somewhere. One thing every church in the Assemblies of God can do, no matter the size, is give to missions. Obedient generosity always
begins with the first gift.
2. Consider tithing as a church. If it is right for individuals, why not organizations?
3. Balance out the quantity (number of missionaries supported) with the quality (increasing the amount of your support) each year.
4. Prioritize missionaries in some order: For example (a) from your congregation, (b) with relationship to your congregation, (c) from your district, (d)
missionaries you’ve worked alongside on the field.
5. Consider leaving an open slot(s) each year for newly-appointed missionaries, to help them rapidly build their initial support.
6. Increase the percentage of the annual budget each year for missions (trusting God to honor your faith to follow His heart for the world).
7. When a missionary hosts your team on the mission field, cover his/her expenses during the trip and offer, by faith, to support them on a monthly basis.

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