A Unique Financial Situation

March, 2005

by: Dave Hintz

Depending on whom you ask, the falling value of the dollar is either good news or bad news. It’s great for American farmers, as their produce becomes much more competitive on the international market. Tourist towns love the low dollar as well, as it gives Japanese visitors more bang for their yen, making an American vacation cheaper and more accessible. On the other hand, a weak dollar buys less imported oil, making our gas a lot more expensive, and foreign-made cars may not be the bargain they once were. Yet in the discussions about the pros and cons of the falling dollar, one group is often overlooked: the missionaries.

A missionary is in a unique financial situation. You see, when prices fluctuate upward in America, in general the wages adjust to compensate. When the prices of goods go up, companies respond to this cost-of-living increase by giving raises to their employees. That’s why we see a gradual increase in both salaries and the cost of living over time. A missionary’s income, however, is completely detached from the economy in which he resides, since missionaries are generally not employed in their host country. Rather, they raise their support here in the United States in American dollars, which are then converted into euros, yuan, forint, rubles, etc.

This is where the weakening dollar comes in. Let’s say John Smith was sent as a missionary to France three years ago. When his mission agency first sent him out, they calculated the amount of support he needed to raise based on a projected standard of living. Estimated food, housing, car, and other expenses were added up, and the agency determined that John would need to raise $3000 per month in order to make ends meet. So before he left, John raised this amount as his monthly salary. However, that figure was based on the exchange rate in place at the time of the estimation. With today’s weaker dollar, John Smith now finds himself in quite a predicament: in order to live at the same modest level, he would have to raise over $4200 a month. That’s right!! The cost for him to live in France has increased by almost 12% a year. This pattern has played out all around the world, as the dollar has lost between 15% and 35% of its value in the last three years.

Most missionaries try to compensate by cutting back their already–meager salaries and expenses, but many of them are being pulled off the field and away from their ministries, and brought back home on six-month furloughs in order to raise daunting sums of money. As a Missions Leadership Team, our hearts break to see these sacrificial servants of God struggling so much. We pray that God will bring in the funds necessary for them to continue ministering overseas, and we humbly present to you our missionaries’ need, asking you to prayerfully consider supporting them by giving to the Missions Fund. We know that there are many good causes worthy of our financial consideration, but let us not forget the plight of those servants to whom we already have commitments.

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”