Every organization has something we may call “operating expenses.” Ours include items like basic utilities, maintenance of properties, bank fees, administrative travel, audit fees, postage, printing, participation in church conventions and conferences, and more – expenses that make the organization “go.” Expenses like these amounted to $383,783 last year; I project a slight decrease in the coming year to $380,000. We have sometimes used Estate Funds to pay for some of these operating expenses, such as administrative travel and audit fees. Our Estate Funds are decreasing, however, and our Home Council has therefore determined to use General Funds for all of these operating expenses going forward – preserving Estate Funds for missionary benefits, grants to ministry projects and larger capital items.
Here is how it will work.
We are starting the year with a balance of $152,000 in the General Fund and estimate that we will need additional General Fund contributions of $228,000 to meet our operational needs for the year. This amounts to an additional $19,000 per month. It is our prayer that day-to-day contributions to our General Fund will cover this amount, and that we will be able to set it aside every month throughout the year. If actual operating expenses are less than projected, we will use the excess for missionary allowances, or for next year’s operating expenses, or both.
We have always used General Funds to help pay our missionaries’ allowances, too. This will not change. The first $19,000 of General Fund contributions will be set aside for operating expenses, as we have explained, but every dollar above that amount will be transferred to our Missionary Support Fund – which goes 100% toward the allowances of missionaries who do not already receive full designated support.
Our method of paying missionary allowances remains exactly the same. Gifts designated for a particular missionary’s support go entirely toward that individual’s monthly allowance and benefits: 52% toward allowance and the remainder toward insurance, housing, retirement savings, and related benefits. If missionary benefits are not entirely paid for, we will look to Estate Funds to make up the difference. If missionary allowances are not covered, we will look to our Missionary Support Fund to make up the shortfall. Donors who wish to support a particular missionary should give a donation to that missionary’s support fund. Donors who are interested in supporting missionaries in general should give to our General Fund or our General Missionary Support Fund.
Here are a couple of other numbers worth noting. We start the year with a balance of $29,558 in our General Missionary Support Fund and $454,541 in Estate Funds. Over the past 12 months, we have needed about $40,000 per month from the Missionary Support Fund to pay full allowances for all of our missionaries. We have also used about $40,000 per month from Estate Funds to cover missionary benefit expenses.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer in this new year! And thank you for your faithful support and partnership until today.