Home David Mays May 24, 2008
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Four Key
Criteria for Missionary Support David Mays There are many
opportunities and limited resources. How
does your church decide which missionaries, projects, and organizations to
support? Here are four primary
considerations. 1. Does it fit within your definition of
missions? It helps to have a
written definition or "scope" of missions. Who and what is eligible for support from
the missions budget and what falls more properly in another budget or
department of the church? If the
request falls outside your purview, you can refer it to the proper group. [Many churches have separate budgets for
benevolence, local compassion ministry, and/or same culture evangelistic
ministry.] 2. Where does it rank among your priorities
for missions? Some ministries,
people groups, organizations, and workers are more preferred, more important,
more strategic, more urgent or more critical to your church than others. If your priorities are written out, you can
see at a glance where this request or opportunity falls on the continuum of
importance for your church. For
consideration of priorities and strategies, see the CD, Developing a Missions Strategy that Fits Your Church by David
Mays, www.davidmays.org If the request or
opportunity passes the above criteria, then consider two more. 3. Consider the organization What do you know
about the organization in regard to its purpose, values, ministry focus,
doctrine, financial stability, track record, and operational ethos? For detailed questions see "Agency
Partnerships - Criteria for Assessment and Review," Stuff II, p. 16, and "Questions for Considering Mission Agencies as Partners," Stuff III, p. 27 (www.davidmays.org) 4. Consider the worker What do you know
about the training and experience of the worker? Consider subjective factors such as
character, call and competence. How
well do you know the person? How would
you describe the candidate's spiritual formation and maturity, integrity,
relational skills, perseverance, and family relationships? For more detail,
see the Competency Profile outlined in Send
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