And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace! Be still! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? (Mark 4:38-40).
As I reflected on the finances for the World Mission Prayer League during 2008, the image that came to my mind was that of a little boat trudging along steady and straight in the midst of a great storm.
The Storm… During the year 2008 the stock market dropped 34 percent. There were 10.3 million Americans unemployed by December 6.7 percent of the labor force. That is 2.7 million more unemployed than one year ago. The price of gas fluctuated wildly. I paid $4.25 for a gallon of gas in July and $1.55 in December. Numerous financial institutions received government bailouts and others were closing their doors for good by the end of the year. The government recently announced that our economy entered into recession in December of 2007. The U.S. economy is in the midst of a storm.
Steady and Straight… In our little offices, on the other hand, the economy seemed to keep trudging along. Operating income in 2008 was down less than one percent from 2007. The percent of allowance paid to our missionaries is a good barometer of our financial health; on average over the year, we paid our missionaries 91 percent of their target allowances. In 2007 the average was 90 percent, and 93 percent in 2006. In 2008, our missionaries received their full allowances in seven months out of twelve. That compares to five months of full allowances in 2007 and seven in 2006. Donations to missionary support funds and project funds were virtually even in 2008 as compared to the year before. Overall things seem pretty calm and steady.
There are some signs that may indicate worse to come, however. In particular, day-to-day contributions for the fourth quarter of 2008 were down 20 percent compared to 2007 and eight percent compared to 2006. Even so we must look back on 2008 with a grateful heart.
There is a storm raging currently in the financial world, but up to this point God has granted our little fellowship a certain amount of stability. When the disciples found themselves in a boat with Jesus in the midst of a storm they could not help but beg him to save them. Jesus did calm the storm that raged around them, but he did so in a manner that said to the disciples you were never really at risk. Jesus knew all along that they were going to make it to the other side of the Sea of Galilee that day. Should we expect anything less during the storms we must face?