Missionaries Ablaze!

In a recent post, we wondered whether LCMS missionaries would meet the same fate as Issues, Etc.  Apparently, this is the case.  The Rev. James May, a deployed missionary to Burkina Faso and Togo, West Africa, was recently recalled by LCMS World Missions.  Rev. May's newsletter provides this information:

I regret to inform you that due to programmatic and business decisions, World Mission has decided to cease employing me as a missionary in West Africa.  This decision came as a shock to me and my family as it may also be a surprise to you. 

World Mission has been pressuring me to move on and inform you as soon as possible.  One reason is that I would be without a paycheck and insurance soon after we have a baby due in July.  We hope that by the grace of God we could have another call in place when my salary and benefits terminate at the end of August 2008. 

The decision leaves three newly planted churches in Burkina Faso without a theologically trained leader and also the Lutheran Church of Togo without a missionary which they had been awaiting for six years. Please keep all these people involved in your prayers.

The full text of Rev. May's last newsletter can be downloaded here.  By his web site and his reference to the Issues, Etc. cancellation in his newsletter, Rev. May is clearly a supporter of the show.  Ironically, his fate seems quite parallel to that of Issues, Etc.  Rev. May was required to raise $120K per year in support money, even though the cost of the mission was significantly less than that.

The web site Augsburg 1530  first reported this story and has generated a lengthy comment stream, including comments from Rev. May himself.  He writes:

It was not a funding problem. During the last 21 months supporters had sent in $248,000 to keep us on the field. A new program by World Mission requires that career missionaries raise $120,000 per year or risk being sent home to raise more support. It was not easy but we tried our best to find supporters. It should be noted that $120,000 is FAR more than what was spent to pay our field costs.

In a subsequent comment on the same post, Rev. May describes his frustrations over how funds were handled and the bureaucratic obstacles he encountered, along with the fact that the majority of "missionaries" sent out were not theologically trained pastors:

When I went to missionary orientation at Concordia St. Paul in June 2006 there were 28 missionaries sent out. Rev. Dr. Bob Roegner said that this represented the same number called back in 2002. Here lies the problem, the details have been obscured. 25 of the 28 were DCEs, DCOs, or college students. I was the only pastoral candidate and there were two vicars. The two vicars were called back before my call was rescinded. DCEs and DCOs who go out to teach English only have to raise between $15,000 and $25,000 before being sent but the career missionaries like pastors and vicars need to raise $120,000. Including a mission summit meeting in Houston before the convention last year, that sum is 50% more than our expenditures. Last year we raised $148,000 and $120,000 so far this year. There is a small disclaimer at the bottom of the donor sheet that any extra funds will be used to fund other projects as World Mission sees fit. In my two years I did not receive one penny for project money. All the bibles, books, and building materials were paid for with personal funds. I think it is right to ask questions and be accountable. Many congregations had asked me for a breakdown of the funds. We were told that we would get a pie chart but I have yet to get the breakdown. It is your money and it was intended for these people who cant even afford a bible. LHF was able to come out and bring boxes of catechisms in French to distribute freely. It was a great gift but caused complaints to fall upon me for working with them. At least they were providing resources so that they could understand God’s Word.

Rev. May also elaborates on his newletter comments:

The reason I chose “programmatic and business decisions” to describe my reason for dismissal was because I did not want to defame those responsible in my public newsletter. Nevertheless, the reasons are not theological. I have not taught false doctrine. I have not abandoned my post. And I am not guilty of gross sin that would demand I leave my call.

Rather I was told to seek another call. I do not believe that is biblical. In fact, the President of the Lutheran Church of Togo, Kombate Bigbi, called me and was upset about this decision and it was not what he wanted. The parishioners of the three newly planted churches are not happy. The missionaries on the field are not happy and tried to stop it from happening.

The 2007 Report of LCMS World Missions to the synodical convention reports 65 "career missionaries" in 22 countries as of March 2007.  This figure is down slightly from January 2004 when there were 69 "career missionaries" in 32 countries. Unfortunately, the report does not give a detailed breakdown of deployed pastors, DCEs, DCOs, etc.  If the percentages in Rev. May's comment are representative, there would appear to be very few deployed pastors in the mission field.

There seems to be an emerging pattern, of which Issues, Etc. is but one small example.  Missionaries (Issues, Etc.) are forced to raise large sums of money for their own self-support while synod keeps a significant percentage of the money raised (LCMS Foundation*), and then are replaced with lay people (The Afternoon Show) who are cheaper than a missionary and his family and are likely to be theologically more "compliant" with policy and vision.

*A commentator recently challenged the accuracy of our report that the LCMS Foundation charged KFUO 40 cents on every dollar raised.  The LCMS Foundation charged KFUO 40% up front against the projected dollars raised in a fund raising campaign.  If the campaign exceeded its goals, there were no additional charges levied, though the percentage would appear smaller in the financial report due to the larger denominator.  This information comes from very reliable sources.

*Addendum (5/11) - The LCMS Foundation charged KFUO 40 cents on every projected dollar raised.

Comments

[James]

Sorry if this was posted once, I seem to have failed to actually succeed.

What is the obligation for an LCMS congregation with regard to the synod? I am not anxious for the funding my church provides to go to fatuous programs or excessive overhead.

I am becoming a fad of direct or in-kind funding, e.g, supporting a missionary directly, paying his health insurance or the like. It strikes me that if a missionary can provide more funding than is actually needed (e.g, the $120,000) there's no reason to go through the synod.

[Stan]

Too sad. Here's a man actually engaged in the Great Commission and they recall him? So much for supporting the commands of God Himself. What's heinous is this very man has given up all comforts and the easy life to actually take up his cross and suffer for Christ to win souls. More pastors should volunteer for this kind of duty. I think it makes people see the gospel in a whole new light.

Let's pray that the people in Africa and elsewhere who so desperately need theologically-correct teachings get them. Lord willing, this decision will be reversed, but I doubt it.

My mother is great friends with a missionary and his wife who have spent their adult lives (they are in their 60s now) down in southern Mexico sharing the gospel with indian tribes. The man has translated the entire bible into the local language. He lives like a local, has absolutley nothing to speak of, but feels he is wealthy beyond compare. Reminds me Saint Paul in many ways.

The Great Commission is not a choice. It's a command. Money, politics, etc., should never be a factor in missionary work. A missionary should never be required to raise his own money. That's a heinous requirement. The church should support its own no matter the cost. If money ever comes into it, we are not serving God the way we should be serving Him. Saving souls for Christ should never be about money. Ever.

[Erich Heidenreich, DDS]

Chrysostom,

While your footnote is a little tangential to this post, I'd still like to address it here since you put it in. I have no interest in defending the Foundation, but rather only the truth. When I commented on the 40% claim, it was purely for the sake of accuracy. The 28% they claim they charged is still excessive. But I believe we need to keep the truth on our side.

So, again purely for the sake of accuracy, let me see if I understand your claim. You are saying that the Foundation based their fee for a particular KFUO fundraising effort as 40% of the PROJECTED amount that effort would raise. This specific campaign actually raised more than the goal, but the Foundation had already fixed its fee. Therefore the actual cost per dollar raised ("CPDR") on the financial report ended up being lower than 40%. Is that what you are saying?

And, if that is what you are saying, how does this square with your assertion that: "...the LCMS Foundation charged KFUO 40 cents on EVERY dollar raised"?

Thanks for everything you're doing to help document what's going on in our synod. I'm only interested in my comments here in making sure we keep that documentation as accurate as possible.

[Adam E.]

I hope that when certain Synodical leaders are out of a job in a couple of years they will raise their own money and do mission work around the world where they have called missionaries back from. I hope they can look the people in the face who lost their missionary and explain to them why they had to wait any number of years to hear the Gospel proclaimed to them by a pastor. But first I hope they go to one of our Seminaries to get some training about what the Law and Gospel of Christ are and how to share them as Lutherans.

[Rebellious Pastor's Wife]

This leaves me concerned for the state of all aspects of synodical funding. How do we know that the money is really there in our retirement funds? How do we know that the ridiculously high costs for the Concordia Health Plan are not inflated in order to help pay synod costs, as they have done with other ministries..by making them shoulder a part of the debt in their budget????

This is terribly wrong. We need to get this into the hands of the congregations and the LWMLs and the Sunday Schools...the people who fund the missionaries and who believe that their dollars are going to help support their congregational missionaries and are being lied to. It doesn't matter what the fine print says...the congregations that donate to support Rev. May were working their butts off to raise funds for the things that he said he needed. To close down the mission and then just allocate the money to unknown funds is wrong. Very wrong. Especially when the donors had succeeded in raising the amounts of money that Rev. May needed to remain.

To require the missionaries to do their work and also do their own fundraising beyond an occasional newsletter or website that keeps their donors posted and traveling to visit their donors when they are stateside is unjust (It already is very hard on them to come back, deal with the reverse culture shock, and then have to do a whirlwind tour). That should be the very reason why LCMS World Mission exists as a ministry. The missionary society raises the funds to send the men and women who are called to go serve.

[Erich Heidenreich, DDS]

Thank you, Chrysostom, for the clarification in your 5/11 addendum.

[Johnathan McIntosh]

OK, I'm curious. Could some of this money that is being donated and diverted to other funds actually being used to fund the nice salaries our LCMS execs and administrators enjoy and their benefit packages since the giving to Synod is down?

[Thomas]

Pastor May is not alone in being recalled from the field. We here in Panama have lost all of ours , and I understand this is the case in all of Latin America. There seems to be a general recall of all theologicaly trained missionaries ,often with no cause given. We do , however , have administrators and I've heard will be recieving more.