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Will You
Support Us?
Responding to Requests Outside Your Areas of Focus
David Mays
Let's suppose your
church has a well thought-out missions policy or strategy with two or three primary
focus areas. You have been working
hard to generate support for and involvement in those priority ministries. But the missions is
highlighted, the more your own people come to you with their missions burdens
and desires. They seek your
support. What should you do?
§ I feel God is calling me to work in an orphanage
in Guatemala.
§ I believe God is calling me to start a
ministry among addicted and abused girls in our community.
§ We think God is calling us to work in AIDs ministry in Africa.
§ God seems to be calling me to an urban
ministry in Chicago.
§ I believe God is calling our family to
adopt an international child.
Will you support us?
How should you
consider the requests for support from your own people that are outside your
priorities or focus areas? Here are
some questions to consider:
- Does
our Biblical basis of missions statement
provide a foundation for this kind of ministry?
- Does
this ministry fit within our definition and scope of missions or does it
belong in some other ministry area of the church?
- Which
category in our budget does this ministry fit? Is this a category where we are over budget
and seeking to decrease expenditures or under budget and seeking to
expand ministry?
- Has
this candidate proceeded through our missionary preparation/mentoring
process? How well did he or she
do?
- Does
this individual meet all the objective and subjective requirements of
individuals we support in ministry?
- What
could we say about their competence, their character, their call, and
their cause?
- Should
we as a church give some small amount of support to all internal
candidates that qualify in terms of ministry and personal qualities,
regardless of our budget priorities?
- Would
it be helpful to have lower maximum support level for candidates that work
outside our focus areas while providing higher maximum support level for
those who work in our focus areas?
- Is God
possibly leading us into a fresh area of ministry through someone he has
clearly gifted and prepared from our church?
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