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Missions Resource Network now provides a salary and benefits recommendation service to help churches and missionaries arrive at an equitable support level for any nation in the world.
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BOB WALDRON, Executive Director
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What should be the base salary for a missionary? What part does experience, education, age and size of family play in determining missionary salary? Does the cost of living variable for different countries factor into the missionary support level? Besides salary, what additional funds or benefits are commonly provided for missionaries?
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Missionaries generally are the ones who determine the salaries they will need on the field. They usually do this by seeking input from on-site missionaries, missionaries in a neighboring field or mentors at a Christian school. Elderships of the supporting churches are asked to approve the recommended amount, but often they have no way of knowing if the requested salary level is too high or too low. To further complicate matters, an increasing number of missionaries are going to the field supported only by friends and foundations. This is a dangerous practice because there is no accountability structure, thus increasing both the risk of fraudulent or careless financial practices and the risk of a missionary going to the field with inadequate support, which is often the case.
Missions Resource Network has conducted telephone interviews with five evangelical missions entities, known for excellence in missions, to determine what salary and benefits they provide for their missionaries. These included the Assemblies of God, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Church of the Nazarene, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, and The Evangelical Alliance Mission.
Because of this research, Missions Resource Network now provides a salary and benefits recommendation service to help churches and missionaries arrive at an equitable support level for any nation in the world. That means that churches can more accurately and more consistently determine the support level needed by their missionaries, enabling them to be better stewards of the funds entrusted to them.
Recommendations
Missions Resource Network suggests the following 2006 support package missionaries with churches of Christ. It is an equitable compensation for our overseas servants, comparable to what the leading evangelical mission agencies provide for their missionaries.
The salary level is lower than what they might receive in stateside ministry, but supplementing that salary with adequate housing and a generous benefits package should lessen concerns for insurance, retirement and children’s college education. This package should maximize the missionary’s time and energy for advancing the kingdom and produce longer tenures on the field.
- The base salary is equal to or exceeds that of the other entities we consulted.
- Family size does not play a part in the process, except in the education calculations for each school-aged child and the Cost of Living Allowance.
- Age does not play a part in determining missionary salary, but experience does. A longevity allowance is added both to reward and encourage longer tenures on the field.
- The cost of living index for each country (provided by ORC) is figured into the support level to keep the buying power of missionaries more or less the same, regardless of where they live. The cost-of-living index is figured on national averages and does not allow for variances within a country. If two missionaries, for example, are supported in the same country, one in a village (where rent is lower but other costs might be higher) and the other in a world-class city (where housing costs are obviously more expensive, but other costs like gasoline and food might be less costly), they both receive the same cost-of-living adjustment1
- Adequate housing allowance, including utilities, should be provided. Some limitations will need to be placed on this allowance to insure that missionaries use appropriate guidelines, including the maintenance of a trust relationship with the people they are trying to lead to Christ.
- In addition to salary, cost of living adjustments and housing allowance, Missions Resource Network recommends a benefit package that includes the following:
- Health and evacuation insurance, including prescription drugs and a dental plan.
- Term life insurance in the amount of $50,000 each for the missionary and spouse, and an additional $7000 for each dependent child, all of which include an accidental death/dismemberment rider.
- Disability insurance.
- Personal property insurance in the amount of $15,000 on field and $5,000 while on stateside assignment (furlough).
- A portable retirement program using a 403(b) plan into which the sponsoring church pays eight percent of the monthly base salary and cost of living allowance. The figure of $3600 annually listed on line 13 above may vary.
- A university allowance for each MK who is enrolled as a full time student in a university. The recommended level is $2400 per year for up to four years of undergraduate work. Coupled with MK scholarships that are offered at several Christian universities, this will help keep veteran missionaries on the field when their children return to the States for a college education.
- Tax relief in the form of one-half the cost of Social Security taxes and 100 percent coverage of any foreign income tax assessed for income earned as a missionary.
Missionaries would be wise to adopt a policy that they do not have to spend all they earn. Income that is not spent on the field can be used for additional college expenses, retirement, or for a down payment on a house once their service abroad is completed. They need to ask what missionary anthropologist Marvin Mayers refers to as the Prior Question of Trust before determining their lifestyle or purchasing a home. Prior to deciding which house they will buy or rent, or what lifestyle they will choose, they need to ask if this choice will build or undermine trust with the people they are hoping to bring to Christ (Marvin K. Mayers, Christianity Confronts Culture: A Strategy for Cross-Cultural Evangelism. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, pp. 32ff.).
A home that is too luxurious or too shabby may equally send the wrong message and undermine their efforts to build trust relationships. Some missionary families opt for more luxury than they need, simply because they can afford it financially, but in doing so they may alienate themselves from those they are trying to reach with the gospel. Other missionaries are careful stewards of trust, seeking input from national Christians who are respected for their integrity and wisdom to help them arrive at a trust-building decision.
1Contact Missions Resource Network to learn the cost of living for the countries where your missionaries serve.
2Contact Missions Resource Network for our longevity allowance schedule.
3Increased by 60 percent from 2005 figures on advice of a representative from Adams and Associates.
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