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Christianity Today. It was a promotional piece urging us to send money, not missionaries, to foreign countries. The rationale was clear: "In most cases, sending just a portion of our surplus—$50-$100 each month—will provide support for one full-time national worker. The typical cost to send an American missionary family overseas is over $50,000 a year—the same cost to support 50 or more national workers. Think of what that money could do for the Kingdom of God!"

Admittedly, this rationale is appealing. Nationals have the language and the culture—and they cost so much less. More than 140 missions organizations are now built on the premise of gathering and sending money, not people. Partners International, the largest of the money-gathering agencies, currently supports 3,300 full-time workers in over 50 countries.

As sensible and appealing as this strategy may sound, however, more and more mission observers are pointing to hazards inherent in "just supporting nationals." These hazards, ironically, pose the greatest threat to the nationals themselves. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, puts it this way:

One thing inevitably occurs when North Americans subsidize the work of churches and pastors on the mission field: potential growth is stalled because of a mind-set that it can't be done unless an overseas benefactor provides the funds. … Jealousy often develops among the pastors and churches who don't receive assistance toward those who develop a pipeline of support from the United States. … In the long-term, support breeds resentment, especially if the support is not sustained indefinitely, because it creates a patronizing dependency.

When giving is taking
In other words, churches and church leaders that secure a financial pipeline to the United States soon become mired in an ecclesiastical welfare state, because the send-money approach, rather than strengthening the souls of national churches, keeps congregations from becoming self-governing and self-supporting. The recipients often suffer in the following ways:

1. Believers learn to depend neither on God nor on themselves. Because they have no need to give sacrificially of their own resources (however meager they may be), they never gain a sense of ownership. This postpones the day of true indigenization.
2. Leaders become preoccupied with raising North American funds. On a trip I took to India, I was overwhelmed by the many church leaders who "worked" me for a dollar connection. Such a ministry orientation inevitably weakens faith, corrupts pure motives, and compromises leadership integrity. Also, leaders who can't get connected to the pipeline become demoralized. The work can't be done without outside assistance, so why try?
3. Believers sue believers. In India, I was astounded to find few churches or ministries that weren't in the courts over property purchased using American dollars.
4. An independent, higher class of Christian workers arises whose stylish lifestyles are envied by "unconnected" believers. It is little surprise that motivation for "spiritual growth" soon is driven by something less than a hunger after righteousness. Should the donor seek to hold the recipient accountable for the use of funds to prevent such problems, the donor will be accused of reverting to old paternalistic patterns.
5. Recipients become ungrateful. "Sure, you gave us something, but look how much money you still have!" Or, "It's not yours anyway—you owe it to us." When I was president at Columbia International University, I knew something was bothering some of the African pastors studying with us. We discovered it was money. Though none of them could have been there without the great generosity of sponsoring mission agencies and the school, several recounted how they were owed so much more. One pastor stated: "Actually, you should not only fully support us now, you should support us for the first 5 or 10 years after our return since you have dis-fitted us for ministry in our homelands."

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March 1 1999, Vol. 43, No. 3