Today’s model of missions often results in the average missionary traveling around to a hundred or more churches over the course of three or four years, seeking to build support before heading off to the field. While certainly this time can be one in which a missionary learns to trust God for provision, it can also be a time of much stress on a family as they travel from state to state.
Once a missionary gets to the field, he or she then relies on these churches to faithfully send the support they’ve committed to give. While churches may have the best intentions, sadly, on occasion, they may fall short on their commitment to send a monthly amount of support on time. In that case, the missionary is put under more stress waiting for funds to come through to live on.
Certainly, God provides and uses experiences to build faith for missionaries serving in a land far from home. But church leaders also have a duty to keep commitments they’ve made to support those on the field. eGiving.com offers a solution to help ensure that missionaries receive their regular funding in a timely manner. The benefits are many, from the ability to schedule regular payments, to the high security of the eGiving.com online payment system, to the many aspects of convenience which eGiving.com offers.
Scheduling Benefits
With electronic giving, a church treasurer can set up funds to send to a missionary at regular intervals, whether monthly or quarterly. That way, he can ensure that support is not delayed and does not cause undue hardship for the missionary. Recurring giving can help a church be accountable to a promise to be faithful in giving.
Families and individuals that support a missionary directly can set up automatic monthly withdrawals from their checking accounts that will faithfully help fund the missionary with no need for the giver to have to intentionally remember to mail a donation check.
Security
In many third-world countries, missionaries must be careful about protecting their assets and having safe access to their funds. Electronic giving allows funds to be transmitted directly to a mission board’s or missionary’s bank account with full PCI compliance. No paper checks are transferred through the mail, reducing the risk of compromising a church or family’s account.
Convenience
ConvenienceBesides the advantages of scheduling payments, a church or supporting family can have the convenience of paying directly from a credit card or bank checking account to the missionary’s account. Reporting for tax and financial records is easily accessible though the system. In addition, on the missionary’s end, he or she will be cc’d via email when a payment comes through, as a reminder to quickly respond with a thank you.
Missionary support requires a commitment by Christians in their churches to be faithful in giving to the Lord’s work. Electronic giving helps to reinforce this faithfulness by providing an easy method to give regularly and to ensure the funds make it to the missionary as quickly and securely as possible. Ultimately, this method of giving can help make sure that fewer obstacles stand in the way of the work being done in a foreign country.
About eGiving.com
Since 2000, eGiving.com has served to assist in funding Christian ministries with effective strategies & tools of electronic giving (recurring & online giving). eGiving.com serves both churches as well as para-church ministries (including schools, pregnancy centers, missions, and works of mercy).
To learn more about how eGiving.com’s web-based tools can help your ministry accomplish its vision, visit our website at www.eGiving.com or contact us toll free by calling (888) 780-4483.
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