Financial Support

This article, "Financing Missions" by A. Scott Moreau, is all about how missions are funded. According to the biblical perspective, "Paul trusted God in all circumstances to provide his needs" (Phil 4:12-14). He also worked to be able to fund his trips. Moreau states that," the most common method of mission funding has long been the voluntary contribution of members of local churches" (Moreau 1). Many churches set aside a certain amount of money to help fund their missionaries. There are also many private foundations and trust funds that can finance missionaries. Another way they are financed is through grants and treasuries. However, there is an issue for being able to afford to go. Making trips all over the world is very expensive and many of the wealthy people who give to mission foundations and trust funds don't have that money to give anymore. All in all, it is extremely important to trust God to provide the necessary means for your travel.

I thought this article was very helpful to me, because money is definitely an issue for a missionary. One of the verses he mentioned, Phillipians 4:13, says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Whenever struggles come my way, I always think of that and it gets me through it. It's the same way about being a missionary. I can be a missionary for Christ and He will strengthen me and provide for me. One of the things I learned from this article is that I really need to have an occupation like a Social Worker so that I can fund my trips. Also, since the economy we live in is so tight, people don't give as much money to churches as they have previously. That, in return, makes it harder for churches to give a percentage of their money to their missionaries. All in all, I liked this article because it was really informative. I think the part I liked most was at the end, when it said we should trust God for everything.

Morea, A. "Financing Missions." Network for Strategic Missions 2000: 1. Web. 25 March 2010. http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&page=v&id=3262.