Assistant Director of World Missions, Douglas LeRoy, answers some questions sent to the department:
Q.) I am a member of the Church of God and wanted to ask for clarification on the issue of faith “pledges” from the legal perspective. Does the Church of God consider the faith pledge forms filled out for missions to be legally binding or does the Church of God consider these faith pledges to be commitments to strive to fulfill with no legal ramifications if the pledge is not met?
A.) The Faith Promise is a personal commitment to God. It is an act of faith, saying to God, if you provide me with these funds, I will give them to you to fulfill the Great Commission. The Faith Promise is not a legal contract with World Missions obligating you for a certain amount of money. You are never billed by World Missions for a faith promise. It is a freewill act of a covenant with God.
Q.) I am a pastor who is interested in World Missions. How do I become a Field Representative?
A.) The World Missions Policy Manual states: “After consultation with the International Executive Committee, the field representative shall be nominated by the general director of World Missions and appointed by the World Missions Board biennially.”
Presently, there are no vacancies for a field representative.
Q.) World Missions should consider taking a portion of each dollar (3 to 8 cents) sent to them for projects and missionary support to cover the cost of disbursing those funds.
A.) This is not the policy of World Missions. One hundred percent of all funds given for a missionary or project goes toward that project. The administrative expenses of doing this come from the 2.5% missions offering.
Q.) Why are all workers in the world called missionaries? There is no distinction between the career missionary, short-term, evangelist, national worker, etc. They all refer to themselves as missionaries. This is confusing to the local church.
A.) A missionary, as defined by Church of God World Missions, is a person sent by the World Missions Board from his/her homeland or country of citizenship to another country for the purpose of spreading the gospel.
The most effective missionary is the person who commits himself/herself to live among the people to whom they minister, learn their language and culture, and identify themselves with the people as a living epistle of Jesus Christ.
The trend in the last few years has been short-term. People go in and out of a country for a few weeks or months then return to the States.
Churches should consider giving their major support to career missionaries who spend their lives working and living among the people God called them to reach.
Q.) I would love to construct churches and schools in other countries. I am a builder. How do I use my gifts in World Missions?
A.) Men and Women of is the construction outreach of the church. They take teams of builders to many nations of the world to construct facilities.
Douglas LeRoy Assistant Director, Church of God World Missions