Statistics report: Where do our missions dollars go?

Funding the mission

"Informed givers are happy givers!" -- the late Stan Toler

Do we get enough "bang for our buck?" Look at these missionary statistics.

"Focus on self and ease without regard for those who need saving when we have more ability to contribute than most anyone in the world is negligence." -- Christi Vandervort, Nazarene Bible College student

A snapshot of a recent year

Money from Nazarene Faith Promise giving, World Evangelism Fund contributions, Approved Specials giving, and Easter and Thanksgiving (Christmas in countries other than Canada and the U.S.) offerings raised under the caption "funding the mission" support world evangelism in the following ways:
165   World areas/countries with active Nazarene ministries
600   Number of Nazarene missionaries
   Includes Mission Corps volunteers and tentmakers
    These cross-cultural missionaries come from 60 different countries
274   Nazarene missionaries' children
303   Districts worldwide
30,712   Organized churches worldwide
97   Languages in which literature is being published
30   Languages in which radio broadcasts are produced
77   Countries reached by radio broadcasts
   Cost of one minute of air time: $4
52   Colleges, universities, and seminaries
50,000   Students in Nazarene colleges and seminaries
3   Vocational and training colleges
227   Enrollment in these 3 training schools
9,348   Children sponsored in Child Development centers
   In addition, nutritional assistance is given in about 80 countries
65   Nazarene medical facilities
163   Nazarene Compassionate Ministry centers in the USA/Canada
292   Retired missionaries receiving pensions
1,119   Work & Witness teams in recent year
41,000   Crisis Care Kits distributed in recent year
6,000   School Pal-Paks sent in recent year
$74   Cost per minute to operate Nazarene world missions outreach

That's an impressive list. You'll not get "a bigger bang for the buck" by investing your mission funding anywhere else!

According to missions researcher David Barrett:

Here's the good news: There are Nazarene churches in all six of those countries! That's not true of some organizations. Some go mainly where they can get "the most bang for the buck."

Some world mission boards fund their global outreach by raising money for each ministry and project separately. While we raise some money for specific mission projects in the Church of the Nazarene, our overall world mission outreach is run as one strategic package. That is, we fund the core of what we do through World Evangelism Fund monies given by local churches at Easter and Thanksgiving and through Faith Promise.

Because you gave

A Smart Investment of World Missions Money

Six years had gone by since Pierre Madsen had arrived in St. Michel del'Attalaye. Fresh out of Haiti's Nazarene Bible College, Pierre had gone to that Haitian town with the dream of planting a church.

To fund this church planting project, the Haiti North Central District offered Pierre $100 per month. This monthly subsidy from the Nazarene World Evangelism Fund would last a maximum of three years. That meant that within three years, Pierre must find a way to support himself, his family, and the new congregation.

It would not be easy. As Pierre rode into St. Michel on the back of a truck, he knew that he and his wife would face some lonely days. The district superintendent had told him that, as far as he knew, Pierre and his wife would be the first Nazarenes to ever live in that valley. Pierre would not have the advantage of any longtime Nazarenes transferring their membership to the new church plant to help him. He would be starting from "scratch" with just three years of minimal financial help. Haiti's extreme poverty would make reaching total self-support in 36 months a challenge.

As Pierre and his wife went to St. Michel del'Attalaye, they were clearly taking a step of faith.

Six years went by, and one day, I saw Pierre on the campus of Haiti's Nazarene Bible College. He had come to the capital city to complete the paperwork on the application for a government license for his church's elementary school. I recognized him and walked over to where he was talking with some students.

"How's it going, Pierre?" I asked.

"Oh," he said rather matter-of-factly, "OK."

He paused. Then, a smile lit up his face. "Well," he said, "actually, it's going really well! Our elementary school is about to get a government license. Exciting as that is, it is only part of what the Holy Spirit has been doing."

"Not long ago," he said, "a registered nurse found the Lord through our church. With her help, we've started a small dispensary. So we're saving souls and also healing bodies. Then," he said as he grinned, "the biggest news of all is that the Lord has enabled us to start five e other churches in the surrounding mountains. God has so used us to transform lives and situations in that valley that people have begun to call it 'Nazarene Valley.'"

"What a bargain!" I thought as Pierre finished his story. Six churches, a school, and a dispensary -- all this for a three-year investment of just $100 per month. That particular World Evangelism Fund investment is paying impressive dividends.

Because you gave!

This story originally appeared in what is now called Holiness Today

Christian literature in almost 100 languages

national flags The Church of the Nazarene has active ministries in about 165 world areas. To provide materials for evangelistic outreach, discipleship, and other ministries in all of those places, Nazarenes publish literature in more than 90 different languages. Some of the publications are translations from other languages; some are original writings. Here are most of those languages in which the World Evangelism Fund and other sources are financing printed materials for Nazarene global evangelism and discipleship ministries:

World Evangelism Fund inserts for Sunday bulletins (worship folders)

Need missions bulletin board ideas?

Let these spark your creativity.

Our local church uses legal-size paper (8 1/2 by 14 inches) for Sunday morning worship bulletins or folders. Those sheets are folded to make three panels 8 1/2 by 4 5/8 inches.

Using materials from the Global Nazarene Missions International office, I've created a series of missions informational inserts to fit into those bulletins. Click on the graphic to download the full-sized PDF file of that insert. These could also be used as missions posters or even as starting points for missions bulletin boards.

Click on any of the images to open a full-sized PDF of that insert.

World Evangelism Fund

World Evangelism Fund as our gift promotion of World Evangelism Fund fast food purchases and missions giving World Evangelism Fund advertisement

The World Evangelism Fund undergirds the global missions outreach and discipleship ministries of the Church of the Nazarene. When we speak of Funding the Mission -- "making Christlike disciples in the nations" -- the World Evangelism Fund is the primary instrument or resource. Other offerings, such as Alabaster, Missionary Medical Fund, World Mission Broadcast, Links, and Nazarene Missions Team (formerly Work & Witness) project funds, are the icing on the cake.

    -- Howard Culbertson,

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Biblegateway.com has searchable online Bibles in more than 70 languages

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