First a little history (some of you know better than I do)…
SMC has been part of the MMP since it began in 1993. We sent
the first missionary who remains there to this day, along with another* who
arrived in 2002. Over the years we have maintained a solid core of supporters
and several people have traveled to Mongolia to see the mission efforts first
hand. Funding has always been a part of our support and it continues through
individuals and SMC’s sponsorship of the annual banquet.
Seven years ago the leadership team of the MMP discovered a
reserve fund at MMN (Mennonite Mission Network, our sending agency). This
accumulated over the years as donations exceeded need. At one time the MMP
supported 10 missionaries and the (8) churches always gave generously. The
reserve fund was in excess of $100,000 when it was revealed and this was a complete
shock to the leadership team.
It was then explained
by MMN that this reserve had been used to cover short falls in giving over
recent years to cover the budget. We also were made aware, at that time, that
one donor (who gave almost ½ the budget) had recently passed away and their
giving stopped. Supporting churches had declined to 5-we have 6 currently but
giving remains below budget.
With the “reserve fund revelation” I came to SMC council and
we suspended corporate giving (besides banquet sponsorship) until the reserve
was spent down. The reserve is now spent down.
The current financial and geographic situation…
Last numbers I had put us very close to meeting our first missionary’s
budget for this year which ends July 31-when
those numbers are available it will be made known. A strong appeal was made and
the 6 churches gave as much as they could. Our other missionary’s budget was
also behind.
Complicating this is that our other missionary switched
sending agencies last year to Interserve and is now serving from the US with
regular trips/interaction with the team in Mongolia. Funding is flowing through
MMN to Interserve but we are uncertain how long this arrangement will last. All
future funds will be directed to Interserve.
The questions we are exploring as the MMP leadership team
are as follows:
Now that the reserve is gone, if there is short fall for the
budget will MMN make up the difference for our first missionary since she is a
MMN missionary (SMC gives regularly from our budget to support MMN)? Interserve
expects all it’s missionaries to raise their full support-so how will short
falls be handled?
What level of support can we expect from our churches?
100% of the budget
split between 6 churches would amount to roughly $14,600/ church annually.
Martin’s Creek is currently supporting above this level-none of the other
churches are. Last year the churches gave (before the final appeal) around
$31,000.
So my primary question for SMC is…
Do we want to continue to support the MMP and if so at what
level?
My personal perspective is this: These two missionaries
remain vital to the mission of sharing the love of Jesus and building the
church in Mongolia. They have dedicated their lives to this cause and they
still feel called to it. To raise their support will be no small task and MMP
leadership will be diligent in understanding all the funding sources that are
available and SMC is one of those sources.
My appeal would be, to shift our current MMN giving ($4000) specifically
to MMP. This way we are funding a mission and missionaries that we know and can
affirm. If this is all we can do it is still a good increase to MMP without
adding to our overall budget. The only wrinkle would be that half of the
funding would be sent to Interserve.
All the other MMP churches should be asking the same
questions as we discern our present and future commitment to this mission. I
pray we can be in one accord as we move forward.
I will chair the MMP leadership team in October and have
a few ideas…
I will challenge the churches to have one public prayer
meeting a year where we lift the mission to the Lord for the next year. I will
also challenge the churches to have one fund raiser per year. This gets the
churches to have at least 12 activities per year to keep people aware of the
mission.
Here is another way we could approach our funding challenge:
We have an $87,000 budget to meet-if 15 people from each of
our 6 churches would commit to $82 a month we would exceed budget
($88.560). This is just individuals
giving a little over 20 bucks a week to support 2 people we love. My question
is do we amongst our 6 churches have 90 people who will step up to that level
of commitment? The question for SMC is do we have 15 that would give at least
the minimum? I hope so, and this will be part of what we discern
together-please join me in this discernment.
If you would like to read the latest letters from our
missionaries please contact our SMC office. If you have any questions or
comments about this mission let me know!
*Names have been removed due to sensitivities to
Christian missions in Mongolia since this will be posted online.
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