Last month our Home Council approved a modest increase in our monthly missionary allowances. I thought it would be a good idea to make you, our partners, aware of the increase in this months article. But first let me say a little about the philosophy that guides our allowance structure.
Missionary allowances are based on the size of missionary families. There is no distinction between evangelists and doctors, or between a missionary with 30 years of service and another who has just begun. We do not attempt to compensate our missionaries based on particular services rendered. We think of our missionaries as kingdom volunteers. Our allowance structure is an attempt to provide enough to enable each one to volunteer. Our legal relationship, of course, is that of employer and employee. But the philosophy behind the structure is something simpler: we hope to pay our missionaries enough so that they will be able to devote themselves full-time to their ministries.
With that in mind, we provide housing for all of our missionaries. In addition to housing, missionaries receive a monthly allowance based on the size of their families. A single missionary requires less to meet his or her daily needs than a family of four. We pay one amount for a single missionary, another amount for a married couple, and a little bit more for each child in the family.
Our Home Council reviews allowances every year and adjusts the figures as necessary. Historically, we have adjusted allowances every two to four years by an amount roughly equal to inflation. That is what just occurred last month. The Home Council increased allowances by about 10 percent across the board the first adjustment since January of 2005. Costs of living around the world have increased significantly since our last adjustment more than three years ago. The time seemed right for an increment.
Some may think it unusual that we increase allowances when the economy is seemingly headed for a recession. But considering our philosophy, increase in the cost of living and decrease in the value of the dollar, we believe that the time is right. We trust that God will provide!
Thank you for your ongoing support of this ministry. It is your prayers and financial support that enable our missionaries to volunteer here at home and around the world.