So you have been called to the field and are trying to get your mind around this concept of deputation? Many things have been said about it, good and bad. To some, deputation is an unbelievable opportunity; to others, not so much.
For the sake of conversation, we will consider deputation a means of gathering support. Though support involves more than just finances, in this article we are only examining that aspect. That being said, there are two aspects to support raising: Monthly Support and your “start-up” costs. If you would like to more about that, check out this article here.
Back to our conversation. The main sentiment I have heard several times is something like this, “Deputation is broken. It is a wasteful, time-consuming process and we need to find a better approach.”
Some of the negativity towards deputation, as a whole, could be due to:
- The lack of a clear “standard” for raising support
- The exorbitant amount of money and resources just to set foot on the foreign field.
- The amount of time it takes to raise support can vary so wildly between missionaries.
- Those who don’t know how it works and/or have a lack of training/knowledge of what to do.
- Those who have pride issues and are unwilling to do something so humbling ask churches to support you.
- Those that are lazy and not worthy of support in the first place, thus the hard work it takes is off-putting to them.
Of course, I can only speak anecdotally. However, after reading a great deal of literature on the topic, after talking with other missionaries here and there, and after experiencing deputation myself, my perspective about deputation is as follows: If you have been called to missions, talking about this will not change the fact that you will more than likely have to go through this process. Therefore learn to work with it. One excellent book I recommend is: The Deputation Manual for Missionaries by Austin Gardner and Tony Howeth.
I read the following pamphlet, which I encourage you to read: Deputationology by Mark Tolson. I will provide some edited excerpts below, which will be indicated by indentation.
One of the reasons that there is no written standard on how long it should take is because there are so many different factors that have to be accounted for to get an accurate number. Here are a few:
•Support Levels—Every missionary is raising a different amount of support. Therefore, it should take a guy raising $7,000 more time than a guy raising $5,000. When two missionaries say they are at 50%, it can mean two different things.
• Large Supporters—Some missionaries have home churches that back them up in a significant way. If one missionary starts with 20% support from his home church, he has a head start in the system.
• “Well Known”—If a missionary starting on deputation is already well known, or he has been a pastor and/or his church is well known among other churches, he might also be able to raise his money quicker than someone who isn’t well connected.
• Personality—If you have a charismatic personality and/or you are a friendly/people type person, you will also have an easier time on deputation.
I think he is 100% correct. Some of those you do not have influence over, but the next one, you most certainly do-the number of meetings every month.
There are between 12-14 potential meetings every month. You have Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday. You may be able to do more than that, such as finding a Thursday service, or less, due to conferences, etc. For the sake of illustration, let’s say you get 10 every month. That means every month you have the potential for 10 meetings. If you only averaged a 40% take-on rate, that gives you four supporters. Let’s say the MEDIAN rate is $70. That means every month you COULD raise $280.
• $5,000 / $280 = 18 months OR 180 scheduled meetings
• $6,000 / $280 = 22 months OR 220 scheduled meetings
• $7,000 / $280 = 25 months OR 250 scheduled meetings
• $8,000 / $280 = 29 months OR 290 scheduled meetings
• $9,000 / $280 = 33 months OR 330 scheduled meetings
• $10,000 / $280 = 36 months OR 360 scheduled meetings and so on.
Here is this idea worked out in two different missionary examples: Missionary #1 raised $5,000 by scheduling 180 churches in 18 months. Missionary #2 raised $5,000 by scheduling 180 churches in 29 months. Missionary #2 raised the same amount of support and was in the same amount of meetings but it took him 11 months longer because he didn’t average 10 meetings a month. Why didn’t he book more meetings per month? Maybe he called 12 hours everyday and just couldn’t find churches to book him or maybe the system is broken. More likely, it would be my guess that he wasn’t working hard or lack to the training to know what to do. Missionary #1 raised the money quicker because he worked harder.
In conclusion, “the formula” isn’t the secret to deputation. Neither is hard work. No I am not contradicting myself. We are in charge of the process and God is in charge of the product. “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
A missionary will need to put 8-12 hours of calling (or communication) in everyday to be able to book the above amount of meetings. He doesn’t stop calling (or communicating) until he is booked. This is hard work. This is boring. But this is what it takes.
This formula is based on the idea, that it is generally true, the more churches you are in during a shorter amount of time, the quicker you finish deputation. The fewer number of churches you are in over a longer amount of time, the slower you finish deputation.
Could there be a better way than a family traveling 1.5-4 years on the road in terms of cost or time? Could there be a better way than spending hours on the phone, driving thousands of hours, sending thousands of emails, etc.? Could there be a more cost-effective way? I read that you can plan it to cost around $90,000 a year for a family of four to be on the road. Suppose you do some quick math: Food, lodging, vehicle expenditures, love offerings, monthly support, tickets, and visas. About a quarter of a million dollars goes into a missionary just touching foot on a foreign field! For the sake of illustration, @ 6k per month, that’s 41 missionaries supported per year as opposed to just ONE getting to the field per year. Perhaps. Talking about this will not change the fact that you will more than likely have to go through this process.
In Part 2, I will share how my first official week of deputation went, what I learned from it, and how it could help save you tons of time trying to garner meetings.
