This is an article from the July 1985 issue: The Expanding Vision

The Great Paycheck Adventure

The Great Paycheck Adventure

It was not my idea. A wonderful, godly, local pastor of a large church, a man not given to "stunts' of any kind, has concluded that God does not give him or his people money just to spend on their own interests and security.

Thus, one very special Sunday morning a few days ago he said, "Ow family has talked it over and we axe intending to put 1/3 of our monthly salary into the church's building campaign each month for the next 36 months.' He did not suggest that everyone could or should do that. But he may well have hoped that quite a few families would in factjoin him in that kind of 'sacrifice'  t mutt accept the fact that he thought it was not entirely unreasonable for at least some families to attempt to manage such a thing. I feel there is something very significant here. He's saying that "THE UNTHINKABLE, THE UNMENTIONABLE, IS ACTUALLY DO ABLE." It's not for everyone, but since when has mission been for everyone?

This particular local church wants to build a building. We want to pay off a 35 acre campus including 100 buildings. Both are worthy projects, and their costs are somewhat the same.

If a single local church can tackle something that large, and sustain their drive for 36 months, why can't 10(X) congregations be challenged to undergird a major mission center for a threemonth sprint?

There must be that many churches across this country that have prayed for us and helped us in some way. Let's say that if in only 400 churches a pastor's family leads the way and 9 other families follow suit (in this same 1/3 paycut per month type of giving) it would take only THREE MONTHS TO END OUR $8 MILLION INDEBTEDNESS AND BRING OUR $85,000 PER MONTH INTEREST TO ZERO!

What If?

Let's ask: what would happen if an average of ten adventuresome families (including the pastor's) within just the most alert 5% of all congregations in the United States were to adopt a policy of 'We're trying to handle a 1/3 pay cut'. Such families would strive to see if they could still manage to live and serve wholesomely and effectively on two thirds of their income.But, before asking how easy that would be to do, let's ask 'Why do it?" It could be easy and unimportant. It could be incredibly demanding of the most brilliant family managers, and still be worth it!

Do you realize that the money freed up by such a process, from that number of families, would very nearly DOUBLE giving in this country to missions?

If ten average families lived on a missionary salary (or the 1/3 paycut plan), they would tend to generate from $80 so $100 thousand a year, and if only 5% of U.S. congregations were attracted to this it would produce from $800 million to $1 billion a year! This is worth exploring in general, not just for our need.

(In our case those gifts would eventually be replaced by the slower arrival of the $15.00 gifts we continue to seek, and the gifts would then live again.)

Why us, why now?

This proposal represents a great shift from our past approach. We have tried our best for years to avoid any competition with other mission agencies. Things have changed with the jump (over 50%) in our interest rate. Now we feel we could possibly be taking more money out of mission constituencies if we do NOT hasten to pay this all off, even from big gifts. We still seek the large number of small gifts. But we believe God wants this campus paid off now very soon. The $85,000 interest per month defeats all our years of avoiding financial pressures on other Christian organizations. We hope the Walk a thon will not conflict with other giving. We hope this 'pay cut" approach will both generate new money and also go on to nourish and strengthen the hands of many other agencies once our project is paid for and out of the way.

Although this 'pay cut' approach is the very opposite of the one small gift approach, it continues to have exactly the same concern for the avoidance of conflict.

Why pay off the campus?

Don't overlook a subtle, fascinating fact: this massive project is sturdily designed. It will ran without ever raising operating funds. How? Our manpower already comes mostly front participating organizations (and eventually, entirely from that source). Our plant costs will be coveted from space rental ones the campus is raid for and that money is not constantly siphoned off into payments.

No wonder it is so urgent "to pay off the campus"! That is the only way we can really get moving at full speed.

Lifted by helium?

Many other organizations can only operate with constant gifts coming in forever. The only constant giving needed by this massive, unusual project is the constant gift of personnel front many agencies (right now our pplc come with support backgrounds in 70 different agencies); and the constant gift of their fair share of the space they occupy.

That means we won't ever be soliciting operating expenses. We haven't even in the past. But, note this, we won't even be asking for money for property.

AN ORGANIZATION FOR OTHERS There is great met it in an enterprise that is free to tell about "ay OTHER good thing, which has no business but to guide people's vision to all those amazing OTHER enterprises that are in the front lines in worlthnatreach. You can already see how we promote the whole cause through the friendly references we make to many OTHER organizations in the pages of our Global Prayer Digest. (Am you missing that superb little daily companion? See item D4 on the order page. Want to look over the 100 projects and departments of the US. Center? Sea A5. same page.)

Comments

There are no comments for this entry yet.

Leave A Comment

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.