The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Josias Conradie
Date: 11.03.2010
Category: Resource Mobilization
It is not easy to start a new blog. Especially on a theme such as ‘Resource Stewardship’! And that for an important discussion such as the Lausanne Global Conversation! Perhaps it is good to start with a short introduction of myself and then share some of the questions I am grappling with. Hopefully that will help us to get a discussion on financial stewardship going.
I am a South African who had been living in the UK for the past 10 years after 2 years as missionary in Crimea, southern Ukraine. In the mid 1980s I became quite involved in mobilizing South African students for mission. Not only the white students who had the resources available to go wherever they felt God called them to, but also African students who had a call for mission but who came from extreme poverty. The challenge hit home in 1992 when an African student came to me after I challenged students to engage in world evangelization. This student had a clear call to go as a missionary to Russia. In my mind he was a much better mission candidate than many of the white students. The problem was that this student came from a church of 100 people in one of the poorest communities in South Africa. 80 of the members were unemployed with the rest living on meager income. Unfortunately mission agencies required prospective missionaries to raise the equivalent of about $2,000 to $3,000 a month to be sent to Russia. That amount was totally unaffordable to this student. I therefore looked at ways to help him and called one of the mission mobilization leaders in South Africa. His comment was that if this student’s church could not support him, then he could not go as a missionary! One solution was to link him to a wealthy church that might have had the resources to support him. Unfortunately that was not very popular either! In the end we just could not find support for the student and quite disillusioned I lost touch with him. At that point I felt that mission was elitist because only those who have access to resources could fulfill their cross-cultural ministry calling.
That incident became a defining moment in my Christian journey. Since then I had become more and more involved in looking at ways to mobilise more financial resources for world mission and how to deploy available resources more strategically in God’s Kingdom. Today I am the head of the Global Mission Fund that is linking financial resources with financial needs in the global mission community.
The question on how we can raise more financial resources for world mission and how to deploy available resources better remains a daily challenge to me. In addition what are the barriers to increased mission giving and better deployment of resources? Where are successful models of mobilising and deploying financial resources for mission and how can those models being adapted to more contexts? These are just some of the issues I hope we can explore in this discussion.
Keywords: resources, stewardship, South Africa, mission, wealth, poverty, finances, resource mobilization
Views: 12228
Comments: 11
Recommendations: 1
Conversation Post Comment
United States
This may not be "right" thinking but according to responses by the donors of a major US based organization, people want to watch the fruits of their giving flourish in front of them. It seems people give less when they are not able to see the direct impact (e.g., their money helped bring the gosspel to the Rodriguez family living in Mexico City) and more when the impact of their giving is realized. I don’t have any real answers here, just some thoughts.
I worked for a Christian marketing firm and the study on donor responses was provided by our client after surveying their donors....
14.06.2010
Nigeria
@ jbeaudoi77:
On the contrary, I think that this is right thinking. However, you are right about that research and the American response method. But what MJA seems to be saying (and I agree with him) is that this ’instant’ orientation causes especially Americans to give more to what seems to work. What seems to work may not be effective (the efficiency/effectiveness problem) but what is effective is thus ’starved of fund’ and dies.
MJA is saying, let’s encourage the people not to be in a hurry but to look for and support what is effective as their support will make it work (effecient) making it both efficient (working well) and effective (dealing with the problems). Let’s not be decieved by quick results!
14.06.2010
United States
@ besoman:
I agree with you whole heartedly, Americans tend to stick to traditional things even though those traditions are not meeting the needs of the people. It would behoove us to move beyond the comfort zones of familiar things.
16.07.2011
United States
There’s Christian phrases that seem to fall in question here: "God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s provision", etc. I have been on the field long enough to see vitally strategic projects fall by the wayside because not enough funds were available to implement, or the time it takes to raise the funds and go through the approval process is so long that the opportunity is missed. There is a differnce between thinking God’s arm is too short and experiencing the effect Ezekiel was warned about (roughly, If God tells him to talk to someone and Ezekiel doesn’t do that, the man will die in his sins and Ezekiel will be held accountable).
In the context of the Lausanne conversation, perhaps it is our task to create the awareness/ infrastructure/ ideology necessary to help people called out as Kingdom investors to connect more strategically and more easily with those called out as Kingdom implementers.
02.04.2010
United Kingdom
@ Rinchen: I agree with you Mark. I think there are a number of perspectives on this issue. One is that we need to encourage Christians to give more to mission. At the moment people like Todd Johnson estimate that Christians give on average only $10 per year to world mission. How can that be increased? What is sad that I think at least $3-4 of that giving is not used effectively and strategically in world mission. So, we also need to help Christians to give more strategically to world mission.
02.04.2010
United States
@ Sas_Conradie: I’m not sure an average per Christian is all that helpful here. I’d be more interested in percentages (gift:income) of those who do give, their rationale and where the gifts end up in the end. Good stuff, lets keep the conversation going :-)
02.04.2010
Nigeria
@ Rinchen: It will also be helpful, if it is possible, to know why the gifts ended up where they did. Bureaucracy, Re-allocation, Mismanagement, Late arrival, underfunding, etc. If those who give support for missions are transparently informed about their support, they may be motivated to give more. The need for awareness cannot be overemphasised especially now that almost everything is missions. Are those giving to the building of a bigger and more edifying Cathedral giving to missions?
16.04.2010
Nigeria
@ Rinchen:
MJA,
I believe that you are right, your suggestions may get the funds where its needed much faster but that creates afresh the problem of accountability. How then do these donors ashure themselves that they are doing God’s will with His resources. How do the agencies keep staff in check for we know that sometimes its fund control that give the agencies any control.
19.05.2010
United States
Sas, can you put up a link to the global mission fund if you have a site for it?
01.04.2010
United Kingdom
@ dhackett: Hi David, we do not have a website yet for a number of reasons but I can post an outline if I can figure out how to upload documents to the conversation!
Sas
02.04.2010
United States
Thank you for starting this blog! The story about the South African student who felt called to Russia but did not have the financial backing to fulfill that call really put the issue in stark relief for me.
18.03.2010
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