I first posted this report in May 2008, but it is still just as pressing today as it was then. I am re-posting it with only minor revisions for your prayerful consideration.
May, 2008

Dear Giving Friends!

“Now therefore, KNOW and CONSIDER WHAT YOU WILL DO!”
1 Samuel 25.17

I hope you will very carefully read every word of this urgent appeal and ask the Lord of the Harvest what response He wants you to make to help us supply the essential commitments we have made to our missionaries.

This is as urgent an appeal as we have ever made. In fact, THE FUTURE SOLVENCY OF OUR GENERAL FUND DEPENDS UPON OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSE TO THIS NEED!

You have never failed to respond before, and WE BLESS AND THANK GOD FOR EVERY ONE OF YOU ‘GIVING FRIENDS’! – and I trust God you will respond this time also with a long-term commitment toward our missionaries’ ministries.

“WE WISH YOU HAD TOLD US!”
Over the past recent years, we have encountered similar short-term deficiencies, and some of the missionaries’ expense accounts have necessarily been reduced for a month or two. When this became known, some of you said: “We wish you had told us. We didn’t know. We want our missionaries’ financial needs met.” I know you want to know. So, I want to be straight-up and out-front with where we are…and what we all need to do together…to get to where we need to be.

WHAT IS THE BAPTIST FAITH MISSIONS GENERAL FUND?
Let me reiterate what the Baptist Faith Missions GENERAL FUND is…and why it is so critically essential for supplying our missionaries’ daily needs. [I know that many of you have known this for years – but we are constantly communicating with new Giving Friends who may not share this common knowledge with us. So, if this is ‘old hat’ to you, please bear with me as I converse with our newer Giving Friends.]

Missionaries who are supported through offerings given through Baptist Faith Missions do not go on deputation before going to their fields of service. We do not criticize those who choose to raise their own support through deputation. But, we believe that if the Holy Spirit calls a missionary to service…and if a church commissions and sends that missionary to do “essential church-planting missions in the nations of the world”, [which is what we believe is ‘essential Great Commission missions’] then that missionary should not be expected or required to spend 2-3 years of time, energy, and personal resources to travel and solicit his own support. That time is better spent in immediate ministry on the field of service to which the Holy Spirit is calling them.

So, Baptist Faith Missions facilitates the missionaries’ directly going to their fields of service.

The Directors of Baptist Faith Missions assume the responsibility of promoting, facilitating, and administering their financial support from the churches through some essential basic commitments.

THESE COMMITMENTS ARE SUPPLIED BY YOUR OFFERINGS TO THE GENERAL FUND.

WHAT ESSENTIAL COMMITMENTS DO OUR MISSIONARIES RECEIVE?
Here are the basic, essential, monthly standard commitments we provide for our missionaries from the General Fund. I will list them for you and provide also the monthly disbursements we make so you can see why we have the need we have.

SALARY: each missionary receives a modest salary of $1,717.00 per month. Their salary goes as far as they can stretch it to provide for their family’s essential personal living needs. The total monthly disbursement for salaries is: $20,604.00.

HOUSING ALLOWANCE: the standard monthly housing allowance is $250.00. This goes as far as it can toward housing rental or purchase plus utilities and everything else related to housing needs. The total monthly disbursement for housing allowances is: $3,500.00.

MINISTRY EXPENSES ALLOWANCE: this goes toward the many expenses they incur to provide essential supplies and materials they need to conduct their ministries. The total monthly disbursement for these ministry allowances is: $8,000.00.

HOSPITALIZATION PREMIUMS: we also provide for their hospitalization insurance premiums. The current total disbursement for monthly premiums is: $10,250.00.

MISSION SHEETS: we provide our missionaries with a collective newsletter to save them the expense of their own personal correspondence. The total monthly expense for printing and mailing the Mission Sheets is approximately $1,800.00 per month.

ARE YOU STILL ADDING?
All of the above STANDARD MONTHLY COMMITMENTS AND SERVICES ALREADY TOTAL $44,154.00!

These are what you would call in business: “hard costs” or “overhead” or simply, “the cost of doing business” – except that, in this case, WE ARE DOING THE BUSINESS OF “Great Commission MISSIONS”! This is THE HARVEST Jesus Christ commands us all to bring in.

These commitments provide our missionaries’ essential living expenses. They “keep them on the field”…and “keep the lights on” for their daily ministries.

THERE ARE OTHER COMMITMENTS WE HAVE MADE TO OUR MISSIONARIES: such as furlough transportation expenses when they are due for a Stateside furlough; we also commit to give each missionary an $8,000.00 automobile allowance every four years to help provide for their transportation needs on the field – IF THOSE FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE [and they are not always available].

THESE BENEFITS ALSO COME FROM OFFERINGS TO THE GENERAL FUND. If funds are not available, we are not able to meet these commitments.

In summary, WE MAKE EVERY EFFORT WE CAN TO FREE OUR MISSIONARIES FROM HAVING TO RAISE THEIR OWN FUNDS FOR THE ESSENTIAL ‘BOTTOM-LINE’ NEEDS THEY HAVE JUST TO STAY ON THE FIELD. All of these standard essential commitments are supplied from THE GENERAL FUND.

WE BELIEVE YOU WANT YOUR MISSIONARIES TO BE TAKEN CARE OF AND PROVIDED FOR – not just adequately – but AS AMPLY AS WE ARE ABLE! All our missionaries serve on “shoestring budgets”. And without increased General Fund offerings, we have no resources to increase our financial commitments to them.

WE MAKE THESE COMMITMENTS BY FAITH, BELIEVING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CALLING THESE MISSIONARIES TO THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS…and that we should assume the responsibility of committing to their support.

THIS IS WHAT WE MUST DO TO MEET THESE MONTHLY COMMITMENTS:

1 – WE MUST CHANGE OUR CULTURE OF THINKING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE GENERAL FUND AND THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING.
From BFM’s beginnings, our Thanksgiving Offering has been given to supply the monthly deficits we incur between the General Fund offerings and the General Fund disbursements. It has been that way for over 68 years. And, we have been content to continue that practice.

WE MUST BEGIN MAKING THE GENERAL FUND SOLVENT FROM MONTH TO MONTH – especially with regards to our STANDARD MONTHLY COMMITMENTS AND SERVICES FOR OUR MISSIONARIES SUPPLIED FROM THE GENERAL FUND.

If we do that, then we can use the Thanksgiving Offering to meet those commitments we have made to our missionaries which are not disbursed every month, but rather at other irregular times during the year.

BUT, WE MUST BEGIN THIS MONTH TO SET THE GOAL OF MEETING OUR STANDARD MONTHLY COMMITMENTS FROM THE GENERAL FUND WITH OUR MONTHLY OFFERINGS GIVEN TO THE GENERAL FUND.

2 – THIS MEANS WE MUST INCREASE OUR MONTHLY OFFERINGS TO THE GENERAL FUND BY AT LEAST $10,000.00 IMMEDIATELY… BEGINNING THIS MONTH.
And, this must become our consistent practice and ‘modus operandi’ going forward. This immediate response will at least bring us up to maintaining the status quo for our current General Fund monthly income/disbursement balance.

At the present time, when we compare our total General Fund giving in an average month with our standard General Fund disbursements, the average monthly deficit is around $10,000.00.

EACH OF US MUST MAKE A COMMITMENT

Each one of us needs to assume a part in meeting this present and on-going need. And, if each one of us assumes his/her role, then the need can be effectively supplied without an undue burden on any one Giving Friend. “For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened.” [see 2 Corinthians 8.13].

“NOW THEREFORE, KNOW AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU WILL DO…”
1 Samuel 25.17

HERE IS SOMETHING EACH OF US CAN DO:

1 IF YOU ARE NOT GIVING A PERSONAL OFFERING TO THE BFM GENERAL FUND, WILL YOU BEGIN TO DO SO? Each of us should be personally involved in missions giving, and in this case, YOUR PERSONAL MISSIONARY FRIENDS NEED YOU…AND DEPEND ON YOU. Can you give $1 a day to help finance the essential ministry needs of your missionaries? Will you begin by committing to give a personal offering of $30 per month to the General Fund offering?

If your church gives monthly offerings to the BFM General Fund, you can give it through your church’s offerings and ask your church treasurer to add your personal offering to the church’s monthly offering. Or, you can give it directly by sending it to our Treasurer, Pastor George Sledd / P. O. Box 471280 / Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280

2 IF YOU ARE ALREADY GIVING PERSONAL MONTHLY OFFERINGS TO THE BFM GENERAL FUND, CAN YOU INCREASE IT AS THE LORD ENABLES YOU? Can you increase your current offering by another 25%…or more? We bless God and thank each of you who has given over all these years so we could do what all we have done. BFM IS WHERE WE ARE TODAY BECAUSE OF THE GRACE, GENEROSITY, AND FAITHFUL-NESS OF ALL OUR GIVING FRIENDS. God has blessed you – and will bless you – for your expressions of love and obedience to the Gospel.

3 IF YOUR CHURCH GIVES OFFERINGS TO THE BFM GENERAL FUND FROM YOUR CHURCH’S TREASURY, WILL YOU INCREASE IT? Keep in mind that each $1 given to the BFM General Fund is divided up 12 ways [that’s the number of missionary families we support], and so each missionary receives 8 cents’ benefit from every $1 contributed.

Every time the Lord leads us into a crisis, IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. We are confronted right now with an awesome OPPORTUNITY FOR FAITH.

When the Lord Jesus purposed to feed the 5,000 hungry people through the ministry of His followers, He tested them with a CRISIS…AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FAITH. He asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” [ see John 6.5-6 ]. Philip and the other disciples were at a loss how to meet this need. “But this He said to test him, FOR HE HIMSELF KNEW WHAT HE WOULD DO.” Jesus Christ knows what He purposes to do.

We are all waiting-and responding-to see what He will do – and how He will do it…through us

“NOW THEREFORE, KNOW AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU WILL DO…”

And let’s every one of us DO IT NOW! THANK YOU, GIVING FRIENDS!