Dropping Missionary Support

[RAIDER]

I recently received an email from a friend.  Hacker Nation, what think ye?


"Our church recently voted to take on for support 5 missionaries. After careful consideration and prayer we also voted to stop supporting a missionary. He had not started or worked in a church in over 3 years. Every report was about what he did 5 years ago and the church he started in 2011 he immediately turned over to a man who had only been saved 3 weeks. The man was soon conducting native tribal ritual dances. So we voted to discontinue support.

How do you tell a missionary on the field you are discontinuing support. Do you just stop and let him wonder? That goes back to a member leaving our churches without a word. It happens to all of us.

Do you tell him the exact reason or just tell him you're stopping?

The problem I have is that it is so tough for these folks on the field I don't
want to hurt a man's family.

Thoughts?"

 

[kaba]

I believe once our church finds out a missionary has changed his mission or changing his beliefs, we give them one year of support and then stop.  So they have plenty of time to find additional support. Have to say, in 12 years that we have been at this church, we might have done it one time.

 

[sword]

Just like when most members decide to leave a church the situation does not happen overnight. There are usually signs all is not well long before this happens.  A pastor should have plenty of time to correspond with the missionary & express his concerns before he cuts support.

If the missionary refuses to reply or chooses to ignore the supporting pastors' concerns then he has been warned. I do not think it is the supporting pastors place to tell the missionary how to do his job. I do think the supporting pastor has a responsibility to spend his churches mission dollars wisely. I would think the sending church and/or mission board might act as a liaison in such a matter as well. Just like upset members the answer is to try to resolve problems not loose missionaries.