Misssionaries With God Complexes

[Sister Alvear]

I did not mean it like it was taken but anyway...

[Sister Alvear]

sOMETIMES IT IS HARD TO EXPRESS OUR INNER FEELINGS AND NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD i INTENTIONALLY INSULT SOMEONE... SOMETIMES I AM OVERWHEMLMED BY THE NEEDS ON THE FIELD....

[Sister Alvear]

YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ SOME ARTICLES not BY ME ...

Shame on us
Christians in America know very little about serious giving | Joel Belz
ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING. EVER MORE LOUDLY and more ominously throughout the nonprofit world, warning buzzers are sounding a grim caution: Charitable giving is in a perilous dip.
The worst reports are coming from secular situations. In a report on major foundations, The Wall Street Journal notes that several have cut back their giving by 50 percent. "I haven't been hit as badly as the World Trade Center," billionaire Ted Turner told the Journal, "but there's a little smoke coming out of my ears." With his stock in AOL Time Warner Inc. off by 75 percent over the last year, he decided to spread one $250 million charitable pledge to seven years instead of just five.
And some corporations that for years have matched the charitable gifts of their employees have now ended that practice. (WORLD MAG.)

[Sister Alvear]

If missions is a priority for God, how is it reflected in local churches? A George Barna survey of senior Protestant pastors taken in December 2004 found that only 15% had missions as any one of their top three priorities for the coming year3. One-tenth of one percent (ten cents per hundred dollars) of all Christian income went to global foreign missions, estimates David Barrett in his annual “Status of Global Mission” report for 2005. Seven-tenths of 1% went to churches and another 1.2% went to parachurch organizations globally4. Fundamentally the issue is stinginess among Christians (at least nominal ones)—churches being composed of Christians—and even more fundamentally, the issue is failing to avail ourselves of the grace of God5.

In twenty-nine American denominations, benevolence giving as a part of total church income declined from 21% in 1968 to 15% in 20026. Giving to “benevolences” is defined as funds given to the local church for local, national and international missions, as well as for denominational support. Benevolence giving declined from .66% of personal disposable income to .38% of disposable income in that same time span, remembering again that probably not more than half of even this tiny income did not go to global missions. In real numbers, this means an average of $101.00 per member was designated in those denominations for all church benevolences in 2002. This does not include giving directly to missions, apart from giving through the church, but overall, giving to missions was minimal. Denominations vary considerably in the amount given per member for missions. Giving by Christian Evangelicals is considerably higher (14% of them tithe, compared to 5% of the general population7), but they represent only 7% of the US population8.

http://www.rmni.org/financial-minist...-missions.html

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Owl

Those are great points, Renda.

My dissatisfaction has nothing to do with the fact that there truly is a need for missions giving. It has more to do with the fact that a missionary insulted one of the most giving nations in the world and all of the hard-working Apostolics in it. She insulted the very nation most responsible for her continued ability to preach in Brazil.

No one is holding a gun to her head. A missionary becomes a missionary by choice. The martyr shtick wears thin, especially when it is slathered with excessive amounts of gooey guilt.

The light of American Christianity was once a bonfire. It has now faded to a smoldering flicker. America is in desperate need of evangelism, or she will soon become as dark as Europe.

Shame on you, Owl.

The truth is, that while Americans DO give huge amounts of money to charitable and mission-oriented causes, we do NOT give as much as we could. Nor do we suffer poverty the way that those in third world countries suffer poverty. When we "give till it hurts", truthfully we are not hurting, and we still have our needs (and our families' needs) met.

The TRUTH is, only those who have sacrificed everything for the sake of the kingdom will understand these sorts of posts. Missionaries definitely endure more hardship and SEE more hardship than your average American Christian. Therefore, I respect what missionaries have to say, assuming that they have more experience with these things than I do.

The TRUTH is, we give to missions and charities, but we most DEFINITELY could be giving more.

The TRUTH is, we give our dollars, because sometimes that alleviates the guilt we feel for not actually DOING anything.

The TRUTH is, if something that was posted bothers you that much, maybe it isn't the speaker's motives you should be analyzing.

The TRUTH is, there's nothing productive in you coming here and maligning a very dear woman, simply because you felt a little guilt when you read her posts. Perhaps you should take that guilt and do something with it.

The TRUTH is, if you get out and start making concerted efforts to evangelize and do outreach, you will be unpleasantly surprised at how FEW American Christians really want to get their hands dirty. (statistically speaking) They might be willing to donate money to your cause--just so they don't have to wash their hands later.

You should be absolutely ashamed of this thread, Owl.

[Sister Alvear]

Giving to missions totaled $1.33 billion in 2009, a decline of 1.8 percent, reflecting the economic downturn. Through the denomination's Cooperative Program (CP) and special mission offerings, local churches voluntarily pool funds to support mission efforts in their states, throughout the nation and around the world. For example, Southern Baptists support more than 10,500 missionaries who engage nearly 1,200 people groups throughout North America and around the world.

(southern baptist mag.)

[DAII]

Some other stats available here:

http://library.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=28&page=

[Owl]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

Shame on you, Owl.

The truth is, that while Americans DO give huge amounts of money to charitable and mission-oriented causes, we do NOT give as much as we could. Nor do we suffer poverty the way that those in third world countries suffer poverty. When we "give till it hurts", truthfully we are not hurting, and we still have our needs (and our families' needs) met.

The TRUTH is, only those who have sacrificed everything for the sake of the kingdom will understand these sorts of posts. Missionaries definitely endure more hardship and SEE more hardship than your average American Christian. Therefore, I respect what missionaries have to say, assuming that they have more experience with these things than I do.

The TRUTH is, we give to missions and charities, but we most DEFINITELY could be giving more.

The TRUTH is, we give our dollars, because sometimes that alleviates the guilt we feel for not actually DOING anything.

The TRUTH is, if something that was posted bothers you that much, maybe it isn't the speaker's motives you should be analyzing.

The TRUTH is, there's nothing productive in you coming here and maligning a very dear woman, simply because you felt a little guilt when you read her posts. Perhaps you should take that guilt and do something with it.

The TRUTH is, if you get out and start making concerted efforts to evangelize and do outreach, you will be unpleasantly surprised at how FEW American Christians really want to get their hands dirty. (statistically speaking) They might be willing to donate money to your cause--just so they don't have to wash their hands later.

You should be absolutely ashamed of this thread, Owl.

Sister,

The TRUTH is, I have not maligned anyone. I merely exposed the saccharine sweetness that insults and guilts good people into opening up the pocketbooks.

The TRUTH is, I have given my entire adult life to ministry, with little expectation of compensation. Yet I realize that lack and hardship is shared by millions of pastors and missionaries around the world. I don't get on the internet and whine about it incessantly.

The TRUTH is, no one is obligated to give homes and food to foreigners, although that would be nice. Our responsibility is not housing the lost, it's preaching to the lost.

The TRUTH is, your post smacks of judgment and "seer"ism.

[Owl]

Would there be foreign missions without Americans?

[DAII]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

Giving to missions totaled $1.33 billion in 2009, a decline of 1.8 percent, reflecting the economic downturn. Through the denomination's Cooperative Program (CP) and special mission offerings, local churches voluntarily pool funds to support mission efforts in their states, throughout the nation and around the world. For example, Southern Baptists support more than 10,500 missionaries who engage nearly 1,200 people groups throughout North America and around the world.

(southern baptist mag.)

Originally Posted by Owl

Would there be foreign missions without Americans?

No of course not ..

Some of the problem has been overhead costs ... I know that UPCI has been under the microscope for a lot of money being stuck in overhead fees and administrative costs...

It's led to others like I-AM to step in and create other missionary networks ...

More on I-AM led by Jonathon Alvear: http://theapostolicreport.wordpress....am-foundation/