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Discovering Your Role in
Missions Through Giving |
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The following is a list
of Frequently Asked Questions addressed on this page. Click on the
question to go directly to it, or scroll down the page to read
everything: |
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How
do I give to Missions? |
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The Missions Fund at CMBC
is separate from the General and Building Funds. Therefore, any funds
intended to go in the Missions Fund must be clearly marked for this
purpose.
- Cash gifts for
missions may be indicated by marking the missions line on one of our
giving envelopes or writing "Missions" on the memo line of
a check.
- Stock gifts provide a
means to gain a charitable tax deduction while avoiding capital
gains tax. To transfer stock to the church, have your broker contact
Ginny Jensen in the church office for our brokerage account
information. If
you hold the certificates, pick up a form from Ginny in the church
office to transfer them. In either case, please send a note to the
church office notifying us of the transaction and providing us with
your intended designation.
- Gifts in kind should
be discussed with our Ginny Jensen.
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May
I give to specific people or projects? |
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Yes, if a restricted
account for that person or project has been set up by the World Outreach
Team (WOT) and approved by our Board of Elders. These might include an
account for a missionary need (e.g. a vehicle), specific project (e.g.
printing of a Bible translation) or short-term team. It is important
to note that restricted accounts must be approved by the Board of Elders
before gifts are received. Back to top |
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What
if I want a missionary to know that I am supporting him through the CMBC
Missions Fund? |
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Both missionaries and
donors often long for a closer connection with each other. Donors want
missionaries to know that they are supporting them through prayer and
giving. Missionaries appreciate knowing that specific people are behind
them and usually want the opportunity to express their appreciation to
donors. This can be done in several ways at CMBC:
- First, you may let Dan
Larsen or Lori Davis (Missions Asst.) know that you plan to give a
monthly or one-time gift to the Missions Fund during the coming year
as a means of enabling a particular work or missionary. They can
then forward this information to the missionary with your
permission.
- Second, you may
request a regular prayer letter directly from the missionary. The
missionaries compile their own mailing lists, not the the church or
agency.
- Third, you may join a
CMBC Barnabas Team (support/encouragement) for the missionary.
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What
if I want CMBC to increase a missionary's support or give to a new
project? |
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Your suggestions are
welcome and encouraged. The place to start is by contacting Dan Larsen
(Pastor- World & Local Outreach) or Mike Dugas (World & Local
Outreach Elder). The WOT will review each request on the basis of
strategic value, credibility and relationship to current CMBC
objectives. Of course, a primary element of each decision is a sense of
God's leading through prayer. Efforts recommended by the WOT must be
approved by the Board of Elders. Back to top
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How
are support levels determined? |
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Each missionary's support
level is set by the agency with which he is associated. CMBC determines
its level of support based upon the missionary's relationship to us, the
ministry's relationship to our missions objectives and to their
financial need. Our desire is to support missionaries sent out from CMBC
at a significant level.
Support increases for current missionaries are determined largely on the
basis of need. Because churches and individuals outside of CMBC support
many of our missionaries, they do not all need the same level of support
from us. However, whenever their financial needs change, we are willing
to review our level of support. Typically this is done toward the end of
our budget year with increases given in the fall. Back to top |
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Why give
through the CMBC Missions Fund? |
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Church-wide calling. We
believe that God has called us as a church to support specific people,
projects, and efforts. These are only possible if we band together
behind them. The financial, relational, and prayer support needed is
frequently greater than what can be provided by one person or handful of
individuals. Giving together helps us to fulfill the specific callings
that God has given to us as a church body. Dependable support. Missionaries
find themselves needing to replace support lost from individuals more
often than from churches. Our church commits to support its missionaries
for an entire term at a time and, typically, maintains its commitment
for a lifetime of service, even though some of their original individual
supporters within the church have moved away or discontinued support.
Missionary Sanity. Many
missionaries must raise their support from hundreds of individuals
around the country. This makes their time back in the States an
exhausting race around the country trying to make contact with
supporters. Most of our missionaries receive the bulk of their support
from CMBC. Thus, they get to spend their time at home deepening
relationships here and serving among our body.
Budget Realities.
The support committed to missionaries from our Missions Fund comes from
people like you. If people dont give to our Missions Fund, we wont
have funds to support our missionaries.
Increased CMBC
involvement. Part of our Missions Fund goes toward missions
education and mobilization. While we work in partnership with agencies
and training institutions, we, as a local church, are the ones teaching,
encouraging, and training more people for involvement in missions.
Future missionaries dont come from agencies; they come from local
churches. The same is true for missions supporters, short-termers,
prayer partners, and other senders. Giving to our Missions Fund helps
create and develop the support network that enables our missionaries to
serve on the field.
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How
much should I give? |
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We believe that this is
between each person and the Lord. God calls us to give cheerfully, as we
are able, sacrificially, giving ourselves first to Himself, as an
expression of thanksgiving to Him, and trusting Him to supply all our
needs (2 Cor. 8 and 9). There is a sense of obligation in giving,
knowing that all that we have has been given to us by God and entrusted
to us for His use (Mt. 25:14-30). We are also called to carry Gods
burden for the poor, oppressed, and lost. At the same time, we need to
see giving as a great privilege and joy! We get to participate in
Gods eternal work (2 Cor. 9:6)! Back to top
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How do I
divide my gifts between the General Fund, Building Fund, Missions Fund
and Benevolence Fund? |
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Some have found it
helpful to choose percentages for their giving (e.g. 60% general, 35%
missions, 5% benevolence, above and beyond gifts to the building).
Another suggestion is to ask the question, What would it be like if
everyone gave like I do? Back to top
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Should
I ever give directly to agencies? |
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Many people enjoy giving
directly to agencies to support people or projects outside of the CMBC
missions budget. It is also a way in which people can provide additional
support needed by CMBC supported missionaries beyond the missions
budget. If you choose to give directly to an agency, consider contacting
the church office for a list of questions that we use to evaluate new
agencies we are considering for support. Back to top
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How
do missionaries raise support at CMBC? |
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Support-raising begins
with a conversation between the missionary and the MET. Missionaries
approved by the MET and Board of Elders are allowed to send out
support-raising letters to the congregation explaining their ministry
and encouraging them to give toward their support through the CMBC
Missions Fund. Note: It is not the practice of CMBC supported
missionaries to make appeals to CMBC members to divert their giving from
the CMBC Missions Fund to their agency as this weakens our ability to
provide their committed budget support and puts the rest of our
missionaries in a position of having to compete with each other for CMBC
resources.
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| For more
information, please contact Dan
Larsen or Lori
Davis. |
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