Thursday, March 20, 2008

Faith Support? What Does That Mean?

I've been asked to explain what being a "faith-supported" missionary really means. Basically, it means Karen and I are not paid a salary by MMS.

While MMS provides an opportunity for full-time service, Karen and I serve as volunteers. Once accepted for service, MMS "deputizes" us to solicit financial contributions for the mission. Donors then let MMS know that they prefer that their gifts be used to support our work.

Our monthly income is dependent on building relationships with individuals, families, and churches; inviting them to consider opening financial partnership with MMS, and asking them to prayerfully consider preferencing their donation toward our personal ministry.

One of the interesting aspects of this process is that there's no guarantee of just how much support is actually going to come in. As we never know how many donations will be preferenced to us each month, we never know how much we're going to receive each month, and consequently we're considered to be living on "faith" that the appropriate "support" is going to come in. Hence the term "faith-support."

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