How Your Giving and Debt Affects Your Support Raising

By Ellis Goldstein

Sometimes raising more support will not solve a financial problem. Why? Because more funding cannot solve poor stewardship. Imagine sitting down with your support raising coach and after some pleasantries, your coach asks two penetrating questions. “How’s your giving, and how’s your debt?” Ouch! Are those questions too invasive for a coach to ask? Not at all. It may be uncomfortable asking these questions, but it doesn’t mean that they should not be asked!

We’re training our support coaches that stewardship and support raising are connected at the hip. Not only are we to equip our staff with the skills they need to raise their support, but we also need to teach them to be generous givers and how to manage those funds biblically. I firmly believe God’s promise in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” Paul was able to assure the Philippians of God’s provision for them…because of their generosity. This promise is conditional. Only those who are growing in their generosity to the Lord can claim it.

Christian workers have the privilege of modeling generosity to their disciples and to the church. Full funding enables you to give more away. A growing Christian understands that all we have comes from the Lord, and He is the one who has made it possible for us to give generously (I Chron. 29:14). God may withhold support from a Christian worker who is stingy or even hoarding.

I just completed training 190 new staff members and challenged them to become a laborer for the Lord who:

• Is committed to trusting God for financial provision no matter the circumstances.

• Manages his/her personal finances biblically instead of taking direction from the world.

• Refuses to accept debt as normative.

I want to see men and women who are called to be life-long laborers for the Lord, stay the course, and finish strong. There are many things that can derail a Christian worker. Poor stewardship is right at the top of the list.

Missionaries are not immune from making poor financial choices, and those choices can become so distracting they can destroy a person’s ability to serve the Lord full time. Many years ago, I met with a couple in our ministry who had accumulated $70,000 in credit card debt. Sadly, that debt was one of the contributing factors that closed the door to full-time ministry for them and may have also contributed to the eventual destruction of their marriage. It’s tragic our culture has normalized debt and poor stewardship practices. Christian workers are a product of that culture. Many manage their finances in the same way their parents did, but no one ever trained their parents how to biblically manage their finances! So, it should not surprise us that some of our staff struggle with poor stewardship practices.

About six years ago, God raised up a team of men and women in our ministry who are passionate about stewardship. They implemented training for our new staff, created stewardship resources on our staff website, are having personal appointments with many of our senior staff, and are creating “stewardship discipleship” materials. You may also want to start helping your staff grow in their generosity and managing their finances biblically. It may just solve some of their support problems! I wouldn’t be surprised to see God bless their fundraising efforts once they start getting their financial house in order (Luke 16:10-11).

AUGUST 2011

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This Month's
SRS Article Writer

Conversion of the Purse by David Henry

In his book, The Challenge of the Disciplined Life, Richard Foster begins the second chapter (The Dark Side of Money) with the following statement, “Martin Luther astutely observed, ‘There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind, and the purse.’ Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult. It is hard for us to even talk about money.” Perhaps some of the following biblical principles will help you like they have helped me:

1. Give generously. Some missionaries have been so cash strapped that they told me they couldn't afford to give. My response, “You can’t afford not to give!” Giving freely of our financial resources is a very tangible expression of the reality of God’s grace in our lives.

2. Live within your means. If we don’t control our money, it will end up controlling us. We need to have a good plan for our giving, saving, and spending to live within our income limitations.

3. Avoid consumer debt. If we are in a situation where we are unable to pay our obligations in full each month (i.e. a credit card), then we are living beyond our means. Taking on consumer debt is like telling God what He’s providing for us is insufficient, so we will take matters into our own hands.

4. Save for future needs. Savings is just putting aside for tomorrow’s expenses such as a car, house, college education, etc. Saving empowers us to avoid future consumer debt and to meet living expenses after age 65.

Growing in financial stewardship allows us to be free to serve our Lord in what He has called us to do. Most likely we did not learn these principles from our parents or in school. Consider taking a course by Crown, Financial Peace, or Freed Up Financial Living and read books on this subject by Ron Blue, Wesley Wilmer, Howard Dayton, and Dave Ramsey.

David Henry has been on staff with Campus Crusade for 27 years. In his current roles, he helps missionaries apply biblical principles and practices in personal fundraising and financial stewardship. He and his wife, Kathie, have two sons and live in Raleigh, NC.

Betty Barnett YWAM	Ellis Goldstein Campus Crusade	Scott Morton The Navigators	Mike Riggins North American Mission Board	Steve Shadrach SRS Editor The Bodybuilders

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