Six Principles for Funding Foreign Mission

Six Principles for Funding Foreign Mission

Written by Rev. Tay Piak Kheng 28 September 2025

     “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Mat 24:14)

     We are stewards of God’s wealth; therefore, in the matter of funding overseas missions, we must not only have enthusiasm but also wisdom. The following are six principles that we observe:

1. Give through trusted, long-term ministry partners on the ground. We must regularly visit the mission fields to see for ourselves so as to avoid funding blindly. Developing a close and trusting relationship with local partners is imperative, as when trust is lost, funding may be slow or withheld, which can indirectly hinder the growth of the local ministry.
2. Encourages accountability. The receiving coworker should be accountable to the sponsoring church, which in turn is accountable to its congregation. Accountability should not undermine trust, because Christians should be honest and upright, and willing to give an account of the things entrusted.
3. Be prudent in funding personal ministry. To justify the funding, overseas missionary organisations usually require the local coworker to submit regular reports on their “work results”, commonly measured in terms of the number of people attending their Bible class or the number of evangelistic meetings they have held, etc. This has inadvertently led the local coworker to discourage believers from attending church for pastoral care, thereby hindering their growth.
4. Give in a way that spurs the church to maturity. The first step in a church’s maturity is the ability to support its own pastor. We need to give in a way that help the local congregation to do so, rather than relying on long-term overseas funding.
5. Don’t just give money, give yourself. Financial support is not the only help that churches in the mission field need; visits and prayers from the funding church are as important. The world emphasises speed and convenience, but the cost and process required for a church to grow healthily cannot be accelerated and simplified by money.
6. Consider the impact of foreign money on local partners’ standing in the Community. In some impoverished developing countries, when overseas sponsors buy cars or houses for their local partners, it can mislead local villagers into thinking that the church workers are betraying their local religion to feed themselves, thereby distrusting or hating them and ultimately rejecting the gospel.

     These six principles represent the wisdom we have accumulated over the years. Let us continue to observe them and use the financial resources God gives us prudently and ardently for the gospel.