Is Missions Support Broken?

I recently read a piece written by a missionary. He gave eight reasons why he believed the current system of missionary support is broken and needs serious repair. As far as I can tell, current missionary support is the best it has been in history. The stories of what the Anabaptists did to reach other fields is another short of heroic. Hudson Taylor’s stories of support on his field are stuff faith is built upon. Modern missions agencies sometimes blame the poor support, or lack thereof, for David Brainard’s early death. I am not sure there would ever be a means of missions support that would be perfect and would not require faith. I do not know his personal situation and am I sure that, given the fallen nature of humanity, there have been missionaries unnecessarily hurt through carelessness, or worse.

I do not believe it is my place to give this missionary’s name or to repeat his points in full.[1] My eight responses are meant to serve as solutions to his objections. They lose some weight without the context but here they are.

 

"This is in no way meant to be a slam. Honestly. As a pastor, I have a few struggles too. But here are some solutions I have thought about.

1. Praise

There are people who literally work to retire to do what you do and travel the country.  It can be brutal. But look for the praises.

2. Trust

Trust God and resist the temptation to compete.

3. Transparency 

Be yourself. You don’t need the support as much as you need integrity.

4. Honesty 

Don’t pad your letters. Tell the truth. If you have a real relationship with the churches, they will enjoy that.

5. Perspective. 

You don’t create your revenue. God provides for you.

6. Reproduction

You should honestly be asking God to send you only to those churches whose ministries reflect yours enough you can represent them. The church down the road is there for a reason.

7. Christ

He is with you. Many if not most pastors also never get pastored. They learn to lean on Christ.

8. Retreat 

I promise you I am exhausted too. But I have a day of rest promised me."

 

I should say that this missionary responded to my points in a gracious manner.

 

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields.

 

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[1] Here is the gist of his eight arguments. 1. Years spent travelling cross country at great risk to personal safety 2. Professionalism 3. Politicking 4. Reporting 5. Lifestyle of Hiding 6. Camps 7. Being unknown 8. We’re exhausted

Remote Missions in the Continental United States

Seven o’clock AM. He climbs aboard a four-seat prop plane destined for tiny Stuart Island.  The wind is blowing badly. It'll be a rough trip. Today he’ll make three visits to remote peoples on two islands not accessible by public transportation. When he arrives, there will be no vehicle to pick him up. He'll walk to the homes or, in some cases, they may furnish a quad for quicker transportation.

Other days he’ll visit these, and other islands, by either chartered or private boat. The population of these tiny islands varies from a few hundred to a few thousand, depending on the season. The islands are inhabited by two vastly different people groups, the one, subsistence dwellers. They earn just enough to supplement what they can’t provide by living off the land. The other, wealthy people, drawn to the islands for their beauty, and their solitude. Both people groups have this in common, they aren’t fond of strangers on their island.

My son, Bohannan McKenzie, pastors Lighthouse Baptist Church in Anacortes, WA. His church is on the most populated of the San Juan Islands, and the last that is accessible by public roads. The others can only be reached by plane or ferry. Most of the islands in the San Juans have no public ferry system. The people who live on them do so precisely because they are secluded.

Bohannan also owns Anacortes Plumbing. That’s his invitation and his ticket in. These folks have their own tiny villages, their own postal service, even their own tiny schoolhouses. What they don’t want is a bunch of visitors. What they have to have, from time to time, is a craftsman willing to deal with the hassles of working in such remote areas. And it is the trade that provides Bohannan access to people who would otherwise have no witness for Jesus Christ.

A family who lost their son – but there is no preacher on their island. Bohannan has had a two-year conversation of comfort and hope with them. He believes they are close to trusting Christ as Saviour. Again, and again he makes visits to these tiny towns. Again, and again his trade of plumbing gets him fresh invitations to return. Again, and again he has the opportunity to tell them, these isolated citizens of the United States, of Jesus Christ.

This is remote missions work in the continental U.S.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields.

Missionary Machinery

Everything degenerates with age. Even cheese, which is said to improve over time, can age too much. I wonder if the modern practice of missionary support has also degenerated? With the current ease of travel missionaries are able to canvass almost the entire country as they seek those funds needed to get to the field. And with the current economic circumstances in America, those same missionaries often find it needful to cover the whole country and then some to raise the support so vital to life on a foreign field.

Missionaries are often forced into accepting support from churches they are not in doctrinal agreement with (perhaps over the ordinances, the local church, or some philosophy of ministry) and find themselves quietly holding to themselves a conviction of conscience for the sake of the dollars needed for regular support. This quiet compromise may be at the root of the problem of so many missionaries having a surface relationship to practically no relationship with those churches that support them; too close of contact could potentially expose that there are real differences between the missionary and the churches supporting him.

This tension then leads to what I am calling a "missionary machine" mentality. Missionaries travel quickly from one church to the next. They keep their kids away from church kids. They attend one service in a church (either supporting or potentially supporting) and rush off after a quick meal to make the next church within driving distance. In their minds this makes perfect sense. After all, churches need missionaries to obey the Great Commission, missionaries need lots of churches to get to their field and close relationships with local churches will just keep them busy longer doing what they don't really want to do anyway.

• It's a machine
• It's a business
• It's nothing personal
• It's not scriptural and
• It’s not healthy

Our missionaries need to be more loyal to those churches that support them. They need to become personally involved with them. It will require more of an emotional investment on the part both parties but it is the only way we can get missions support back where it belongs; a ministry rather than a machine.

Marvin McKenzie

In the fields

Cross Cultural Baptist Ethics

This is a work of thought only begun. It seems to me that the thing that most angers people of different cultures about the spread of the Gospel is that it almost certainly changes cultures as well as religious faith. Indeed, many missionaries have made it as much a part of their work to change the culture as the faith. Modern missionaries are quick to point out that they are not sent as culture changers but as Gospel preachers. There are some things, however, that ought to change with the introduction of the Gospel.

Behavior that ought to transcend cultures:

Sunday worship

Generous giving

Dignified dress in church

Gospel witness

Monogamy

Apostolic doctrine

Preaching in open

Modesty