The Joy of Giving
As a Christian businessman for 40 years, I've always felt that charitable giving is an important act of stewardship and requires careful consideration. I’ve also been on church mission boards and have learned that many mission organizations have high administrative costs, which can reduce the money given to projects by as much as 30 to 50 percent, sometimes even more.
At church recently, one of our pastors talked about his visit to Burundi, Africa. The group he traveled with, Sister Connection, ministers to Burundian widows who lost their husbands during a genocide and civil war. He described the plight of these widows and how a sponsorship of $30 a month enables them to care for their families, become respectable members of their communities, and to start the process of spiritual and psychological healing. It sounded almost too good to be true.
Our pastor went on to say that a house could be built (or rebuilt) for a widow for only $600. This seemed inconceivable too. I immediately began to wonder about the administrative costs for the organization. Even the most fiscally prudent ministries have expenses in the 10-15 percent range, which makes a $30 sponsorship program and a $600 house building initiative seem impossible.
He must have been reading my mind because he went on to explain that Sister Connection has “Foundational Supporters.” Ah, that explains it, I thought. They have a foundation with an endowment that supplements the real cost of these programs and pays the overhead for the organization. But as he talked further about the Foundational Supporters, I learned that there isn’t a foundation at all, just a group of people (like you and me) who give monthly or one-time gifts to Sister Connection. These gifts cover administrative costs and other expenses for the organization so that 100% of the funds given for widow sponsorships or the building of homes are used for only those purposes.
I’ve since learned that all U.S. staff for Sister Connection are volunteers or raise their financial support in other ways. Of course, there are still expenses for the U.S. side of the organization, such as printing, postage, phone and so forth, but these are the types of expenses covered by Foundational Supporters.
In Burundi, there is a team of staff members and social workers (all Burundians) who are also paid with funds from Foundational Supporters. I was amazed to learn that a typical Christian social worker is paid the equivalent of $45 a month. So our dollars go a long way in Burundi!
As I listened to our pastor speak about his time with Sister Connection, he described how $30 a month not only enables a widow and her children to buy food, but it generally provides enough funds so that her children can attend school and she can explore a path toward self-sufficiency.
Our pastor then described the joy he witnessed of widows who received the brick and metal roofed homes that were built for $600. It was then that the joy spread over me too. I whispered to my wife to see if she agreed that we should become involved with Sister Connection. She immediately answered yes.
In early 2009, my wife and I learned that we would get a $90 a month increase in our Social Security income. This enables us to support two widows and to additionally give another thirty dollars a month as Foundational Supporters. Sure, our living expenses have risen over the past year, but we’re fine with a bit of belt-tightening.
I like how Sister Connection separates its "other" expenses from its sponsorship and home building programs. Only God, guiding the leaders of Sister Connection, could design such a fine program. To me, this is stewardship at its best.
Bob King - Stanwood, Washington
_________
Learn more about Foundational Support
Become a Foundational Supporter
