How can we counter this?
The ultimate end of missions work is that God would be glorified among the nations, that men and women would come to know, love and serve Him! To disciple people in the faith takes time, commitment and patience. The Apostle Paul traveled to places for a season and left, after training up and leaving behind leaders to carry on the work. But he spent the needed time with people until they were prepared to carry the torch.
Short-term missions can be well worth our time, effort, and resources if it is in conjunction with an ongoing local ministry.
At MIA we are not building sandcastles. We want to build a skyscraper that will stretch to the sky, emblematic of the Christ we serve, long after we are dead and gone, should the Lord tarry. We are all-in, all-in and lifers. To build a skyscraper takes time, money, and lots of labor.
Have you ever watched a tree grow? Casting a vision is a lot like watching a tree grow. You plant a seed and no one can see it but you know it’s there. Then one day a shoot pops up. It’s not much at first and it might need some help along the way but as it weathers the seasons, over the years, you have a tree.
The visionary can see the tree already there. He knows what the seed will become but before it even breaks through the soil and he operates on faith. His task is get others to realize that this seed will someday become a mighty oak.
Fundraising is a means to a means to a means to an end, that Christ would be glorified in the earth! It provides us with the time, equipment, and facilities to minister to a greater number of people. The Lord has set aside certain individuals gifted at mobilization, vision casting, and fundraising.
MIA is currently praying for people who would like to go all-in on this mission with us. Would you pray about coming on board and help us fundraise? Various fundraising campaigns will be coming up soon. Perhaps you can help us host or arrange one, be it large or small. Why not pitch in and help us dig a hole to lay this foundation?
The Parable of the Unjust Steward
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measuresa of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measuresb of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this worldc are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,d so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Luke 16:1-13
Got questions.org has provided and excellent breakdown of this passage.
Contact Jacoby for more info on serving through fundraising.
Current Fundraisers and Speaking Engagements can be seen on the Events Calendar.
