Fiona Veitch Smith

After being raised in a church that actively supported missionaries and encouraged its members to do so, I naively thought that all Christians thought the same. But when my husband and I became missionaries with YWAM in South Africa, I discovered that far from being a ‘done thing’ amongst Christians – up there with communion and sending your kids to Sunday School – I realised that individuals who give to missions are sadly in the minority, and those who do have very different ideas on how it should be done.

When I was in YWAM we were taught to ‘friend raise’ (the term derives from the popular book Friend Raising on the subject of raising support for missionaries). That is, build a team of supporters who can help keep you on the mission field. This team were expected to provide financial, logistical and prayer support. But apart from the few dyed-in-the-wool missionary supporters who made up the church missions committee, there were very few people who responded to our repeated appeals.

Why don’t you work for your money?

This was particularly true in our peer age group. These were young people starting out in life who found it difficult to understand why we weren’t taking the same path as they. Some of them were even brash enough to say that they had to work for their money, so why shouldn’t we? Others, including my best friend and bridesmaid, distanced themselves from us, believing that what we were doing was tantamount to begging.

We also approached churches. Broadly speaking, we found that evangelical churches (particularly Baptists, Methodists and Reformed churches) were the most open to the concept of mission support. Anglican churches were open only if we stressed the social development aspect of our missionary work and Charismatic and pentecostal churches tended to prefer supporting their own initiatives. There were of course exceptions to this, and some of our most faithful supporters came from Anglican and Charismatic churches.

My husband and I were missionaries for four years. Since leaving the mission field (or as we like to think: taking up a new ‘mission’ in the secular world) we have made it a priority to support as many missionaries as possible. By missionaries, I mean Christian workers, home and abroad, who are committed to spreading the gospel of Christ by word and / or deed.

Friend Raising

Our experience of ‘friend raising’ was 10 years ago. Has anything changed? I emailed nearly 40 Christian friends and associates and asked them if they personally supported missionaries; only 10 of them said they did so on a regular basis. A few others said they gave occasionally to one-off appeals. I asked one of them why she didn’t give more regularly, and she said there were so many organisations out there wanting her money, she didn’t know who to give it to. And she didn’t know who to trust; she was scared that her money might be misused.

Another couple said they didn’t give to any person or organisation themselves, but paid their full tithe to the church which had an ‘excellent missions programme’.

Both are common and legitimate views. The majority of Christians give to their local churches either through tithes and offerings or offerings alone. And this is certainly part and parcel of helping to finance the Great Commission – particularly if the church has an active outreach programme. Well that takes care of Jerusalem, but what about Judea and the ends of the earth? Many churches, like the one attended by the respondent quoted above, reach beyond their ‘Jerusalem’ on behalf of their members.

So is there room for individuals giving to individuals? And if so, why don’t more Christians do so? Also, should this be above and beyond the ‘tithe’? I asked both missionary ‘givers’ and ‘receivers’ their opinions. Some of the respondents chose to remain anonymous, so some names have been changed.

Should missions giving be part of our tithe?

Lesley and Ray Porter (not their real names) attend an Independent Evangelical church and believe that missions giving can be part of the tithe. “The tithe is given to the work of God’s Kingdom. There is no difference between the local church and the wider church,” says Lesley, who estimates that roughly half of the couple’s tithe goes to their local church and half to support missionaries. Lesley and Ray give to four overseas missionaries, one local missionary, two Christian workers and 19 Christian-based organisations. They have been giving since they got married in 1970.

June Little (not her real name) is from a pentecostal background and believes that giving to missions should be in addition to the tithe which she has always been taught should go to the local church. “I know that my church gives a proportion of that to mission work,” she says. But June gives above and beyond her tithe (she estimates 5% of her monthly income) to an overseas missionary, a local Christian worker and two Christian-based development organisations, bringing her total ‘giving’ budget to 15%. In addition to this she will give occasional one-off gifts. She has been giving since 1981.

Belinda Chaplin, from a Methodist background, is a missionary in Bosnia. She is involved in church planting and developing small businesses. She, like June, believes that the whole tithe should go to the church and that missions giving should be above and beyond. Like many missionaries, she also gives to others. “My whole tithe goes to my local church and I give between 10% and 20% above that to other missionaries,” she says.

Should we only give through our local church?

Simon and Janet Peterson (not their real names) have been missionaries for 22 years and have raised two children without a formal salary. They spent 14 years overseas and have been back in the UK for eight years where Simon now works as a Bible translator. They have recently been compelled to take a ‘furlough’ in order to raise their support which regularly falls short of their monthy needs. Despite financial difficulties, Simon says he and Janet have never once considered leaving the mission field.

Simon does not believe that giving to missions should only be done through the local church. “Increasingly nowadays, people give to individuals. There has to be a personal connection. It deepens the quality of involvement and prayer support.”

Marjon Busstra is a Dutch missionary to South Africa, involved in communications. She attends a Charismatic church. She says: “Although I believe that the church has a prime mandate to reach out to the nations, I think it is great for people to be personally involved in supporting missionaries. Because of the ‘direct link’ they’ll get a much better idea of what’s happening on the mission field. They can pray for and give towards specific things and witness how God is directly answering their prayers and using them to advance His work in the world. They learn they can have an impact.” Marjon says she receives financial support from three churches and about 120 individuals.

Rod Smith is from a Baptist background. He has been giving financially to missions since he was 19. He currently supports six missionaries in five different countries from four different organisations. “I believe one tithes to the Kingdom for the work of the Church (in the sense of believers everywhere). Missions is very under-funded, and the vast majority of money given to local churches goes directly to running costs. Not that these aren’t important needs, but surely spreading the Gospel is our primary objective.”

“Many people cop out of giving directly because they’re not sure how their money will be used and so prefer leaving the decisions (and risk) to their church missions committee. By doing this they also defer a lot of the blessing of giving and seeing their contributions make a difference. I don’t believe missions will ever receive the funding it needs until individuals take up the challenge to support missionaries directly.”

Why don’t more Christians give?

Simon Peterson believes that missions funding has dwindled due to donor fatigue and the loss of the glamorous ‘mystique’ that once surrounded foreign mission. He says: “More teaching on the subject in churches is imperative to make the need known. Also, Christians’ spiritual lives need to be built up so that the Lord can move them to give as He wants them.”

Marjon Busstra says: “There are too many urgent things happening on the television and internet – disasters, epidemics, violations of human rights… it’s all right in front of you, asking for your immediate attention and ‘once-off’ gifts. But missions is a long-term investment where you don’t always see immediate results. I think people don’t have an understanding of the urgency, of how many people live without Jesus and how dark, sad and horrible that is. The church needs to get Her act together. She is meant to be a life-giver – to equip God’s people to go out and make disciples.”

Belinda Chaplin believes that it’s simply because people aren’t made aware of the need to give. She says that whenever she gives a presentation on her work, and people are made aware of the opportunities they have to help her with it, there is usually a good response.

Does our church background affect our giving?

The vast majority of respondents said that they give because their church encourages them to do so. For example, Dick and Jill Smith (from a Baptist background), support seven missionaries. They say they were prompted to start giving about 20 years ago because they were ‘part of a church that puts a strong emphasis on missionary work.’

Chris and Mary Carter (not their real names), however, are from a Church of England background and say that their local church does not actively encourage giving to missions. Despite this they felt prompted by the Lord to do so. “It was a combination of things,” says Chris. “Our experiences overseas, noticing how other Christians tithed and friendships with members of Christian missionary organisations. Since 1987 our giving has been a journey from sporadic, unstructured giving of well under a tithe, to more systematic giving.”

But being in a church that ‘preaches missions’ isn’t always guaranteed to produce missions givers (as my experience proves!) Elaine Mitchell spent a number of years in a missions-promoting Baptist church, but it was only when her husband was transferred to Angola and she came face to face with dire poverty and the missionaries and Christian aid workers who were attempting to meet the need, that she started giving on a regular basis.

Does our giving make a difference?

George Verwer, the retired director of Operation Mobilisation and current chairman of Missions Mobilisation Network wrote in a newsletter in May 2004 that after 30 years of ministry, the Christian missionary organisation TEMA-Mission was filing for bankruptcy. He warned: “The fact is, if there is no money, then there will be no major mobilisation… I believe every true believer should be more committed to giving and helping to find the funds needed for God’s work.” I couldn’t agree more.

How to get started:

If you’ve never given to missions before, here are some tips on how to get started:

• Meditate on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8).
• Ask the Lord to guide you in your giving and remember: you don’t have to give to every missionary that comes along.
• Attend talks by missionaries hosted by churches near you.
• Have a chat to a member of your church’s missions committee.
• Ask for references from other missions givers.
• Before giving financially, sign up to receive news letters from missionaries so you can get a feel for their work. A bad or irregular communicator may indicate a poor steward of finances.
• Consider giving single donations to start with to see how the missionary handles it.
• Prayerfully consider allocating a missions budget and whether or not it should be part of your tithe.
• When you decide to give regularly, try to do so via direct debits so the missionary knows they can depend on your support.
• Consider giving through Stewardship. Stewardship is an organisation that facilitates missionary and charitable giving.
• If you’re a British tax payer, always tick the ‘Gift Aid’ box as this increases the amount you give by allowing the missionary to reclaim tax.

(First appeared in the Christian Herald, October 2005)