Glean towards a SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP PROTOCOL

Rev Derrick Lau, MMS Executive Director

The Holy Creeds such as The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, were carefully crafted Statements of Faith of our early Church Fathers. They originated in the early Christian centuries when in the context of a wide array of heretical teachings then, ecclesiastical leaders sought to provide distinctive Professions of Faith for believers.

The primary objective of the Creeds was to maintain and express the Church’s legacy of the fundamental and foundational tenets of the faith. They have stood the test of time and are often recited during corporate worship services all over the world. However, ecclesiastical authorities have further revised and updated the Creeds over the course of time to meet the changing landscape of the post-modern world. Suffice to note, the core values remained intact.

Similarly, MMS adopts a framework for financing the operations of her ministry undergirded by biblical imperatives. It has to be robust as well as not overtly rigid as that might hamper the work of missions. I would like to share my perspective on this.

1. Source and Provider – God

Our primary focus in securing resources for missions springs from our belief that God Himself provides the resources. In other words, we seek Him, and He provides in His own ways. I am convinced that whatever the Lord has called us to venture into, He shall provide the means to accomplish it (cf. Psalm 31:19, Philippians 4:19) James Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission, declared, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’supply.”

2. Servants of God – Stewards

As the Lord provides the resources, we are expected to exercise responsible stewardship. It demands careful scrutiny and analysis of the operational requirements of the mission and a deep understanding of its application that will optimise the resources for His work. Ultimately as stewards, we are accountable to God for all that he has entrusted to us (cf. 1 Peter 4:10).

3. Sustainable Mode – Financial Framework

MMS Missionaries are generally sent and financed by the local churches or Annual Conferences. Country projects and programmes are jointly financed by churches, donors, and the MMS General Fund. Hence we advocate a strong and rigorous on-going engagement with sending churches and Conferences, where we provide regular updates and concerns of the missionaries and their mission. We also establish a robust Financial Framework whereby policies on budgeting, governance, and approval authority are interwoven with the strictest accountability at various levels, in order to facilitate fund raising efforts and efficient deployment of resources expeditiously and prudently.

I conclude with this statement linking stewardship with worship.

Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself; it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others.

~ Oswald Chambers