VISIONS

February 2009

Vol. 60, No. 1

Will Global Recession Thwart Mission Progress?

IT IS REAL! The global economic crisis is a reality that is affecting each and every one of us. The tailspin of national economies across the globe has left no country unscathed. On Monday, December 1, 2008 the National Bureau of Economic Research announced something that most of us had felt for quite some time – that the United States had been in a recession for over a year. What’s more, the world’s biggest economy has been dragging the rest of the world in its wake into a pit of economic hardship.

With that news has come dire predictions of doom and gloom for the nonprofit sector. In a forum last fall, Paul Light, professor of public services at New York University, projected that at least 100,000 nonprofits nationwide will be forced to close their doors over the next two years. The cause? Individuals have less money to give, foundations fewer grants to distribute, corporations less profit with which to be charitable and the government a smaller percentage of social service funds to hand out. The worse recession since the Great Depression has set off tremors among nonprofits large and small, reports USA today.

Obviously missions, especially here in North America, are not immune to these economic woes. Mission agencies have already felt the first shoe drop – the loss in 2008 of funding normally generated from investment income. They are bracing for the second to fall – a probable decrease of gifts from individuals, churches and foundations as slimmer 2009 budgets are put into place. The upshot will be an increased scarcity of money available for missionaries, mission projects and mission home office operations; so the pundits predict.

Unquestionably, this is a major concern to all engaged in missions, especially mission leaders. Christ’s mission to the world is something that, from Scripture, should forever be expanding and advancing to new fronts. Acts 1:8 and other passages speak of growth and progression not regression and recession. The paradox North American missions face is that at a time of mounting need we are experiencing diminishing resources. Many missions associated with CrossGlobal Link have reported that they experienced a banner recruitment year in 2008. Many had more candidates in their pre-field orientations than seen in a decade.

The question arises: Will these new recruits be sidelined because of the present economic crisis? And another question related to the first: Will home office operations become so financially strapped that they will find it painfully difficult, if not impossible, to render services needed to field those new recruits, as well as the veterans they already have out on the fields?

To answer those questions, it is best to step back and consider the current situation from a fresh perspective. As bad as things are, this is not a time to be overly pessimistic or overtly negative in assessing the present financial state affecting North American missions. Rather, we should use this as an opportunity to exercise God-given leadership in three domains.

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