Wise to use foreign money to support national pastors?

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Poll Results

Wise to use foreign money to support national pastors?

A good idea Votes: 1
Not a good idea Votes: 3
Unclear / other Votes: 1

(Migrated poll)

N/A
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 0

Discussion

This came to me this week from a veteran missionary

General details on the missionary:



  • Experience: 30+ years

  • Role: Medical Doctor (MD) and church planter

  • Denomination: Baptist

  • Location: South East Asia

  • Other: I personally know the man

Comment: Some has been redacted and will be indicated as such. All non-redacted is original from the missionary. I bolded three sections below.
Though there are many different missionary organizations in [redacted … but SE Asian country] , at times one wonders what many of them are accomplishing. There is too much dependence on foreign money. [redacted: a person’s name] says that a number of years back, the majority of the pastors in the mountain villages were supported, though often not very well by gifts of rice etc from the village. As foreign missions came in, interested in a numbers game, they offered these pastors support for becoming part of their organization. As the Pastors accepted money from these outside sources, the local support dropped off. As a result, he says, if foreign money were cut off, most of these pastors would leave the pastorate to seek secular jobs. Rather than strengthening the church, this policy has weakened it. Our goal is to see the work an indigenous one, not depending on outside support if money from the outside is cut off.

You have a time table and an exit strategy. In other words, help the church plant get started and then taper the money off over a few years.