Most summer mission trips have been canceled. Which has, as you’d guess, sent shock waves through the T-shirt printing industry. One spokesman said, “We survived the shift away from fanny packs, but I don’t know if we’ll make it this time.”
Seriously though, I’m guessing churches budgeted a ton of funds for trips that can’t be taken. What becomes of that money?
It may be used to keep staff employed or pay the mortgage. If giving holds through the pandemic though, and there are leftover funds, what might we do with them?
I’ve some ideas. (Didn’t see that coming, did you?!?)
- Come September, or whenever the funds would have been spent, divide them among the long-term workers you support.
- When travel opens up, send your pastor and two intrepid stakeholders to the most unengaged situation you can come up with. Ask them to sit in a cafe or on a rock and ask God what he might be giving your church among the nations.
- Use them to fund a Perspectives class for your city. Scholarship pastors, elders, and missions committee leaders with this string attached: If the course proves significant for them, they’ll reinvest their scholarship into future short-term trips.
You most likely have other, better, ideas. Please share them with us!