One of the wonderful things about being back and visiting people (family, friends, supporters, churches etc) is that we’re able to hear people’s questions in person and try to help them to get a clearer picture of what our lives and work are like. This in turn helps us to get a better idea of which areas we need to provide more information on, or explanation about, to help people understand better. One such area is money and our responsibility to raise our own funds. We wanted to take a moment now to try and provide a little more information on that area.
How do Wycliffe members get their money and why?
Wycliffe Bible Translators (the charity we work with!) require all members to raise their own support. Although this method puts more responsibility on the individuals involved (some charities raise funds centrally through campaigns and then pay their members a salary), we are firm believers that this is a good way to fund individual members. It both broadens the potential support base of the charity (providing more stability during times of financial difficulty), whilst providing a closer (more personal and therefore mutual) relationship between the supporter and the supported (which in turn helps people feel more connected with the work which is being carried out). Instead of people giving to a general appeal, they give to specific people (with faces!) and specific work.
Why can’t members just work part-time where they are?
Firstly we want to be able to devote all (or at least as much as we can!) of our working time to the main task at hand, literacy work! Secondly, almost all the countries where we go to work have VERY strict rules about who can get work (i.e. paid employment) visas, and so the visas we get do not allow us to receive a salary in the countries we are working in.
How do members know how much they need?
When we joined Wycliffe, and had decided where we would be working, we were given a monthly support quota (a breakdown of the money we would need to raise to be able to live in that place and to do the work) to help with fundraising. This amount of money is based on the location of the work (some parts of the world are more expensive to live in than others!), the number of people in the family (children cost money apparently…!) and the role that will be carried out.
What is this money for?
In short, this monthly support quota should make sure each member (or family unit) has enough money to live and work in their location, i.e. it should cover ALL their costs. If you try and think of all your living and work costs, that is what this amount should cover. As a few examples, however, the different types of costs this money covers are: flights to the country, house rent, utility bills, food, work costs (travel, computer equipment etc), communication costs, education costs, Wycliffe administration costs, health insurance, tax, pension contribution…
Why do members need to raise more money from time to time?
If the persons circumstances change (they move location, they get married, they have children) a new quota is calculated and they must increase (or decrease!) their support. Members often raise their support through friends, family, churches or other local groups committing to give an amount each month. Obviously from time to time people have to stop their support due to personal/financial circumstances and so this money needs to be raised from somewhere else too.
Why do members still need money (or more money even!) when they are back in the UK?
As part of our service with Wycliffe we are required to spend a period back in our home country every few years. Part of this is to reconnect with friends and family and have a break, however, a large part is to get some further education and/or help out at the Wycliffe UK office (or maybe continue overseas work from distance). All of these things cost money (be it rent, travel costs, food, equipment purchases etc) and because all of our expenditure is covered by people’s giving, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we need that support to carry on when we are back in the UK. Support for an overseas missionary is for their entire work, not just their role in a distant country.
I hope this helps give a slightly better picture of ‘money and an overseas missionary couple’! As you may already know we are currently in the position of needing to raise more money. Due to our extended return period in England (which, unsurprisingly, is not cheap!), and then our change of roles to Uganda, we need to raise an extra £400 per month. This can seem like quite a large amount of extra money to need to raise, however, if a small group of people were able to give just a little each then it would soon be raised. We’d be really excited to talk to anybody who feels like they’d be interested in supporting us financially at this time. Our email address is in the left-hand column. Thanks for reading.
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