Over the past 16 years of serving in and out of the Middle East, one of the more difficult things to discern is how involved I should be in the process of financially supporting Arabs in full-time or part-time ministry. This has been especially difficult in a country like Egypt, where our US dollar has great buying power. However, if this financial support consistently comes from wealthier western believers, the local Arab believers will be tempted to consistently neglect the biblical principle of giving to support their own ministries. Yet it seems like there should be an appropriate way that we can give. This 1-page document is my attempt to do so. I send it to Arab leaders who request financial support. I also ask them to respond to my points about financial stewardship in both the introduction and part 1 of "reproducible churches".
While there is no biblical precedent for cross-cultural financial support of church leaders, we certainly have a biblical precedent for cross-cultural financial support in times of crisis. 2 Corinthians 8 describes how the Gentile churches not only financially supported the believers in Judea during a famine but found great joy in doing so. Can the same be said for each of us American believers during this pandemic? Are we “begging earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (verse 4)? I beg you to read about this important opportunity currently among the churches in Lebanon.
