FAQ 2 - Why Do You Ask Us For Money? Shouldn't You Spend Your Own Money For The Trip?

This is a question that has been asked, both directly & indirectly, since we've been raising support for the Liberia Mission trip. Since there are many different people getting our newsletters and following our blog, some who belong to the Christian faith and others who do not, I will attempt to answer this honest question respectfully and to the best of my ability. If there is somewhere in the post when I am not clear, or there is a part that you take issue with, please bring it to my attention so I may correct the oversight.

As a Christian, we have only one identity: Christ. Jesus set the example as He drew no boundaries between Himself and those to whom He chose to minister.⁽¹⁾

I liked the wording from that source, so I kept it in it's entirety. Basically, Jesus is the example for those who are of the Christian faith. When in doubt, look and see how Christ handled things. Christ told his disciples (those who followed Him) that they were to go into "the uttermost parts of the world."⁽²⁾
Without making this too long-winded, I'll summarize to say that those who follow Christ are to be involved in missions.

But how many of us can realistically take 2 weeks, or a month, or a year or more off of work and do missional work? Not all of us can. I know it has even become difficult for me to get away from work, and I own my own company! However, in Corinthians, the body of believers that are called Christianity are described as having different roles, just as a body has different parts that has specific roles.⁽³⁾ Even though we are supposed to be involved with missions, not all of us will actively serve; but we can all still be a part of missions by partnering with others who are willing to sacrifice on the mission field. Many of us will do this by coming alongside those who do physically serve, making their stint financially possible. Many will also be partners of encouragement & prayer to the individual. In most cases it's not easy for missionaries to leave the life of comfort & stability, and leave family behind; encouragement from friends can make all the difference in the world. There are other ways to partner too, like donating tools, equipment, buying food/clothes, etc.

There are some folks who can outright afford to fund their own mission trip in it's entirety. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but it does take away the ability to have others individuals serve through the said individual, since there can be no partnership (at least, financially). There is something humbling that happens when people are forced to rely on God and others to supply their financial means. For me personally, it has been an eye-opening experience. Generally, those who are wealthy make little or no contribution; those who struggle from bill-to-bill generally make the greatest contributions. Sounds crazy huh? But it's been true for us.

Being dependent on contributions from someone with little-to-no income is a humbling thing, and it puts a new burden of responsibility on those serving (in a good way). I have shed tears for the contributions that have been made towards this trip. It also gives an opportunity for G-d to show up and give confirmation to the trip; if there are no funds, it's probably a good sign that G-d is saying to "wait".

If you are someone who still questions giving to a cause like this, then please find somewhere else to contribute. We are all at different places in this journey, and some are simply not on the journey at all. That's okay. I just ask that you be sensitive to how your heart is being led, then be obedient.

For those who do contribute in some form, thank you for the bottom of my heart. You'll probably never know how much it means to me personally, that you would entrust me to serve on your behalf. I pray that every moment I am serving on your/our behalf is time well spent.

Even if you don't agree with giving to missions and/or missionaries, at least maybe you now understand why people do ask.




References:
(1) http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ByCakIV0CZMJ:www.cedarrockbaptist.com/sermons/060910%2520The%2520Biblical%2520Mandate%2520for%2520Missions.pdf+missions+biblical+mandate&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
(2) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%201:8;&version=51;
(3) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2012:12-31;&version=51;

FAQ 1 - Why Support Children in Liberia When We Have Issues Here?

Some of our posts will begin to answer some of the questions we have heard from folks about our mission trip to Camp 4, Liberia. This is the first of such posts, addressing "Why Support Children in Liberia When We Have Issues Here in the US?"
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CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAINS
There was a special that aired this past Friday night called “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”. It was a 20/20 documentary by Diane Sawyer that detailed the lives of families in Appalachia, specifically Kentucky (If you missed it, you can view it here). There is a high school senior they document who is a stellar football player, the star of the team, who sleeps in his pickup truck each night. Another scene documents two sisters who live in a broke-down trailer while their mom dips back into prescription pain killer addiction, spending any money they do have on pills. Yet another segment shows how young men follow fathers into the coalmines to make what living they can, having lost most of their teeth due to their high consumption of Mountain Dew.

Some of the feedback we have received while fundraising for the Liberia Mission Trip has questioned the notion of sending money to children in another country when we have our own issues here in the US. It is almost a valid point, yet naïve & ill-informed.

The children of the Appalachian Mountains are certainly an impoverished group of people when compared to you and me. But poverty is relative. The United States contains the majority of the wealth in the world. Africa, by comparison, houses the world’s most-impoverished people. The average annual household income in the US is $44,970, compared to just $140 in Liberia. The percentage of children under five who have severely underweight is 14%, compared to 0% here in the US. The number of children in Liberia whose growth has been stunted from the lack of proper nutrition is 39%, compared to just 1% here in America. I compiled a chart with some additional comparisons below:

(click image to enlarge)

There are certainly tough times in America – many of us have experienced financial pain first-hand. But consider this: when the US get’s a cold, the world gets pneumonia. The financial burdens we feel here are only exacerbated in Liberia and other third-world countries. We are still King and Queens by comparison.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
– Edmund Burke