Dr. John Dreisbach with the Lord

Dr. John Dreisbach, missionary pioneer and missionary statesman went home to be with the Lord this week.

Dr. Dreisbach was the subject of the film, "Beyond the Night" and was active in medical missions and other forms of missions for over 60 years. I had the priviledge of meeting Dr. Dreisbach years ago while I was involved with Mission Prayer Band while a student at BJU. He was a gracious and Godly man and his presence on this earth will be missed.

More can be found at the church blog of Heritage Bible Church in Greenville, SC, here.

Just thought some would like to know.

Frank

What do missionaries do all day?

I have had similar questions over the years regarding "What does a Pastor do all day?" Missionary David Hosaflook in the Balkans provides a humorous answer in this post.

And, if you want something of a more serious fare, read his previous post - A Strategy of Saturation for Syncritistic Peoples

Just his thoughts,

Frank

Where are the Men?

Missionary David Hosaflook was a classmate of mine at school and is an occasional blogger. His most recent post asks a question - and proposes at least a partial answer - that is a question many of us have - Where are the Men?

While he rights this in respect to where are the men preparing for the mission field, the same question is asked by many Pastors today regarding men to take leadership roles in their churches and to provide a model for those that are growing up in the church.

If you have a few moments, stop by and read David's article here.

Just someone else's thoughts,

Frank

A Question about Missions Funding

This post stems from a discussion on another site, but I would like to ask it here since I know that some missionaries and pastors read here that do not spend much time at the other site.

It is my understanding that the dollar has lost a lot of value in a number of places around the world lately and that this is making things especially tight on some missionaries, whose support comes mostly from U.S. churches.

In order to help in this situation, some comments have been made about raising the support for the missionaries to offset this, but the reality is that a number of churches are already struggling financially and cannot just give an across the board 18% raise to their missionaries - or they likely would have already done it.

Stemming from that concept, however, came this idea that I would like to hear some thoughts on. I am just thinking out loud here, so don't kill me, but I would definitely like some feedback.

As my regular readers are aware, our church is not in this type of situation yet, but I want to think ahead.

Here is the question:

Assuming all other factors are the same (in other words, giving is not changing), would it be better for a church to commit a set amount to a specific number of missionaries or for a church to commit a smaller amount with a flex amount that could be designated to help out special needs each year?

For instance:

Church A has 100,000 available for missions.

Is it better for Church A to commit $4,000 a year to 25 missionaries

or

Is it better for Church A to commit $4,000 a year to 20 missionaries
and use the extra $20,000 to help support whichever of those 20 missionaries have special needs during a particular year?

I would love to hear some feedback on this.

Just my question,

Frank