By Margaret Anderson • BMA Global
It seems more and more individuals from Africa have been contacting churches/individuals directly asking for money, and that is not the correct procedure for financially supporting our churches and pastors there. This letter explains those procedures.
Dear Churches of the BMA:
We greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray that God is blessing you and using you to exalt His Son. It is our prayer that God is using you mightily in his mission to make disciples of all nations.
We are writing this letter to inform you of an issue that has come to our attention. Several pastors from Africa, some connected to the BMA and others with no connection at all to the BMA, have been contacting churches, pastors and individuals directly, asking for financial help.
We would like to ask you to please refrain from supporting any of these individuals directly. We are asking this so we may be good stewards of God’s money. For instance, one of these individuals asked for money for Bibles, but $10,000 has already been given for Bibles in this region.
Others are asking for money for building projects. We have a program in place to help with these projects called the principle of the thirds. We ask the church to raise one-third of the project, then we will loan them one-third interest free. Afterward, we will gift them one-third from donations from generous church members like yourselves. If funds are given directly to individuals, the program of the thirds will fall apart.
The motivation of the principle of the thirds is twofold. First, we want the churches to take ownership of their own building projects. Second, we hope they will learn that we want to work with them and not for them.
There have been many other requests for funds, ranging from help with medical bills to buying vehicles. Some of these requests may be legitimate, but there is no way to know when they do not come through the proper channels. We already have channels in place for these countries to make their needs known in the United States.
If you have any questions, please contact BMA Global Regional Coordinator for Africa and South America John Michael Poulin at johnmichael@bmaam.com. If you have any questions about other regions, please contact BMA Global President Dr. John David Smith at (501) 455-4977.
Executive Editor’s Note: This letter was signed by BMA Global President Dr. John David Smith, BMA Global Regional Coordinator for Africa and South America Johnmichael Poulin, Evangelistic International Ministries (EIM) President Michael Goodwin and Water for Christ Founder Tim Tyler.
