Cost of Labor

I walked into the muffler shop today and noticed the sign on the wall.

PRICE LIST

$40 an hour if we do the work.

$60 an hour if you watch us work.

$80 an hour if you help us work.

“Clever”, I mused, “that looks like a blog theme to me.” I then thought of the high cost of missions.

DOERS - Those who do the work are the people who have made a commitment to take on the task of cross-cultural service as a career. I can hardly believe how expensive it is to live in places like Mumbai, Kiev or Santiago. For a family of four a flat will can easily cost $1,000 a month. To do be engaged in the work overseas, along with taxes and insurance, you’re looking at least $50K a year. Financing the doers is not cheap, but still probably the most cost effective.

WATCHERS - Those who observe the work are short-term teams who travel overseas to experience ministry for two weeks or less. Take an average group of ten to fifteen people and the tab will easily be $30K. Glad they came, hope they caught the vision; the money they spent for the experience probably wouldn’t be given to missions anyway. Who knows, the 10 day trip might be a good investment in the long-term, but short-term missions is a program primarily for the watchers, they can’t really contribute much to the real work on the field.

INTRUDERS - Those who want to do the work are congregations who have determined that they want to be stakeholders in overseas ministry, though they don’t want to live on the field, learn a language or send their kids to local schools. By underwriting national programs, schools, orphanages, they will easily invest $100K a year, which includes teams going to the field, buying land and buildings. I know of one fellowship that has “adopted” a people group in Asia and is building a school, though they cannot mention the name of Christ nor even display a cross. Another congregation is involved in “harvest ministries,” which starts churches in Africa and Philippines by pouring thousands of dollars to reach those nations who already have a huge Christian population. Believing they can do better or maybe just a well, they by-pass the on-field doers.

Like the muffler shop, anyone of the three option’s one chooses will get the job done. It’s a matter of how much do you want to pay for the process to get the best results.