Comments on: What a Sad Story

By: Beth

Beth — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:39:39 +0000

We were one of those 69 families…but God is good. We sold our house and all our things, we have been postponed about 8 months till March.

But we are happy and content, continuing in the work we are doing here with refugees. God provided a place for us to stay for free till we go….his timing and provision is amazing.

I love YWAM and the IMB-

Just gotta follow Him as he opens and closes doors and leads us. The year long process with the IMB and the delay has really helped me release any kind of “pre-set” ideas- and give up control to Jesus as he leads our fam.

blessings,
beth

By: Strider

Strider — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:04:52 +0000

First, One of the individuals was to come to my team so I know that this is true only too well. Second, the money the IMB spends is a lot more than M's salaries. We are largely self-insured, meaning that the board pays for all of our health care. And while costs of living around the world varies a lot it is very expensive to go and stay in many of the countries we live in. For instance, I get a free humanitarian aid visa to live in Gondor but it cost us about $60,000 a year to run an aid agency here. The aid agency supports 25 units here in country by the way so that is cheaper than a lot of places. There are things that the board does well such as training but many do not realize how much some costs can be- such as a hostage crisis can costs around a million dollars a year and yes, we have more than we are allowed to mention. I get a decent- but not extravagant- salary but that is not where most of the money goes. On our field other agencies look to us to do major funding such as Bible printing and distribution and theological education. I think that the board could save money by pulling out of places that are already saturated with the Gospel or places where the Church is planted and growing. We are slowly doing just that but as we do there is always lots of criticism. We wont make everyone happy but Jerry Rankin and many of the others in leadership have proven- at least to me- that they are not interested in making everyone happy, they are committed to doing what God wants us to do. The other side of this coin is that the amount we are short is probably not as much as most Christians in the West have as spare change. Even with the financial crises we can yet fund the work without reaching to a level of 'sacrificial' giving. Strider's last blog post..There and Back Again

By: Grady Bauer

Grady Bauer — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:09:38 +0000

Bryan,
Strangely enough those of us with the IMB know about as much about the cuts as those outside the cut. I do know this…that we’ve been spending more than we bring in for several years…they say we consistently have enough budget for 5000 overseas workers but have been running between 5600-5700.

The other factor is the application process. In order to save money they canceled one of the trustees meetings in which they would approve people for career service. My understanding is that the 69 people you mentioned were to be approved during this now canceled meeting. Because of the way the process works this pushes them back from being trained in October to being trained in January (8 week training sessions).
Either way it’s tragic and I hope those being delayed don’t give up but either wait or look into other options.
Grady

Grady Bauer’s last blog post..The issue with network replacing denomination {pt.1}

By: Bryan Riley

Bryan Riley — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:11:22 +0000

I will say that the IMB has, over the years, done amazing things to spread the gospel around the world. But I also know it isn’t the only way, and there are ways much more cost efficient. We need more laborers for the harvest and there are so many ways to go and so many needs for all different kinds of giftings, not just bible teachers, English teachers, builders, or medical professionals. Every follower of Jesus could (and should) go and be the gospel in different cultures.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:04:29 +0000

I agree with your assessment. I'm not sure what's going on, but I can't imagine that it takes that much money, especially to people going to the developing world. I met a couple who have five kids and they have to raise $55,000 every year. I know they have a lot of kids, but that wasn't the biggest kicker. The biggest kicker was that they were raising money for retirement funds, the sending organization itself (presumably for staff) and other non-missions expenses. This is unfortunate, at the least, and at the most its an outrage. Dan's last blog post..We Planted a Church!