Comments on: A Financial Question http://www.threenails.org/archives/11 connect, experience, live Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:09:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Meredith http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-19 Meredith Tue, 13 Sep 2005 12:54:39 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-19 I am currently living in Jordan, studying Arabic to be able to do God's stuff in this part of the world. What follows is a reflection on generosity inspired by some Iraqi friends here. It’s amazing how conviction can sneak up on you. Like tonight, I discovered that the most generous people I know are Iraqis. Most Americans would probably be surprised at this, as America generally promotes an image of the Iraqi people as either demonized terrorists or an obtuse horde. But I know an Iraqi woman and her daughter who are beautiful, loving, generous people. They are far more generous than almost all of my American friends, they are far more generous than me. They are a living example of the story of the widow’s mite, or the one about Mary dumping crazy expensive perfume – her entire life’s worth – onto Jesus’ head and feet. Ziina and Miina have hardly anything. They live in a tiny two room apartment, with a kitchen about 4 square feet, equipped with two burners but no oven, and of course no microwave. Their front room is decorated with 7-year-old Miina’s artwork, and other pictures from magazines that struck their eye. It is charming in a very simple, totally unsophisticated way. There is one very old loveseat and one normal plastic chair. But the chair mom Ziina always sits in while entertaining visitors is one made for small children. This is one of a million ways she honors her guests who visit their humble little flat. Ziina and Miina came to Jordan in 1999, when Miina was only 1 year old. Ziina’s husband, Salem, got an opportunity to emigrate to Scandinavia, and he took it – hoping that he would be able to make good money there to send back to Ziina, and that once he was there he could easily arrange for his wife and daughter to get visas to follow. That was 6 years ago, and since then Salem’s status in Scandinavia has expired, and he lives there illegally in a refugee camp. And Ziina and Miina are still in Amman. Miina has no living memory of her dad, and he hasn’t seen her since she was tiny. He has no idea (beyond what he can pick up on the phone) what a dazzling, energetic, giving young girl his daughter is. But he will know soon. After years of struggling to obtain visas to anywhere and everywhere, Ziina and Miina are finally able to travel to see Salem. They have applied to embassy after embassy in the past 6 years, and been turned away time and again. Once, they even paid $1000 to a person to arrange a visa for them, but that person just disappeared with their money. The recurring cycle of hope and disappointment must have shattered Ziina’s morale time and again, but it never stole her joy. Why? Because her joy is built on something – on someone – so much stronger and more enduring than even the hope of reuniting with family. Her joy comes from the Lord Jesus. Ziina and Miina love the Lord deeply, and He has carried them through these years of cyclical loneliness, hope, and disappointment. And now He has provided a way for them to travel to Scandinavia to be with Salem, and be reunited as a family. They leave in three days. Tonight, we visited them to say our final goodbyes, and to relish their beautiful presence in our lives one last time. When we arrived, we kissed each other numerous times on the cheek, and Miina was quick to also give me an Eskimo Kiss (rubbing noses) and a Butterfly Kiss (touching eyelashes) – something I taught her on our previous visit. Miina loves to play with me and my roommate Anne on our visits. This time, after a few minutes of polite conversation, Anne began preparing the goodbye dinner we had brought along with us to honor them. Miina took me into the bedroom and sat me down to begin styling my hair. She began combing and giggling, and then began applying all sorts of random leftover cosmetic products to my head. I’m not sure exactly what she put in – I think at one point she put a whole lot of roll-on deodorant in there, which I didn’t object to (although my hair is still sticky now after shampooing twice, so maybe I should have!) She also sprayed perfume in my hair, and I couldn’t help but remember Mary of Bethany, pouring her precious perfume on Jesus’ head. I felt like Miina’s gentle attendance to me was more than just child’s play. Her innocent, generous love was pouring over me as she played. I could smell the fragrance of that love in my hair all the way home. After our meal, Ziina began going through her belongings and giving numerous things to us. Granted, she has only limited space in her suitcase, and so has lots to leave behind. But her generous spirit floored me. She didn’t give us riches – but what she did give was tremendously valuable in its thoughfulness. Nail polish remover, soap, chapstick, a host of cosmetics. Food from the cupboard. A sweater handmade by her cousin. Posters from the walls. Jewelry. Pieces of art. Then little Miina joined in the act, pointing out to her mom things she thought we might like. She even began offering us some of her toys (which she has few of) – a stuffed animal, an almost-new puzzle. I’ve never met a child with such a giving heart. It was a bit overwhelming to be the object of such lavish generosity, when I know that in terms of financial worth, I have so much more than them. It was also convicting. Would I so willingly give away my possessions to my friends? Do I have that much faith in God’s provision? Do I have more faith in the possessions themselves than I do in God? Sometimes I think that the materialism bred into Americans like me is one of our biggest stumbling blocks to entering into the Kingdom of God. The Lord promises to lavish blessings on his children, but too often we settle for lesser pleasures that provide only fleeting satisfaction. I pray that God would make me more like Ziina and Miina, established in joy and willing to give even out of my poverty. I pray He would make all his followers a lot more like them. I am currently living in Jordan, studying Arabic to be able to do God’s stuff in this part of the world. What follows is a reflection on generosity inspired by some Iraqi friends here.

It’s amazing how conviction can sneak up on you. Like tonight, I discovered that the most generous people I know are Iraqis. Most Americans would probably be surprised at this, as America generally promotes an image of the Iraqi people as either demonized terrorists or an obtuse horde. But I know an Iraqi woman and her daughter who are beautiful, loving, generous people. They are far more generous than almost all of my American friends, they are far more generous than me. They are a living example of the story of the widow’s mite, or the one about Mary dumping crazy expensive perfume – her entire life’s worth – onto Jesus’ head and feet.

Ziina and Miina have hardly anything. They live in a tiny two room apartment, with a kitchen about 4 square feet, equipped with two burners but no oven, and of course no microwave. Their front room is decorated with 7-year-old Miina’s artwork, and other pictures from magazines that struck their eye. It is charming in a very simple, totally unsophisticated way. There is one very old loveseat and one normal plastic chair. But the chair mom Ziina always sits in while entertaining visitors is one made for small children. This is one of a million ways she honors her guests who visit their humble little flat.

Ziina and Miina came to Jordan in 1999, when Miina was only 1 year old. Ziina’s husband, Salem, got an opportunity to emigrate to Scandinavia, and he took it – hoping that he would be able to make good money there to send back to Ziina, and that once he was there he could easily arrange for his wife and daughter to get visas to follow. That was 6 years ago, and since then Salem’s status in Scandinavia has expired, and he lives there illegally in a refugee camp. And Ziina and Miina are still in Amman. Miina has no living memory of her dad, and he hasn’t seen her since she was tiny. He has no idea (beyond what he can pick up on the phone) what a dazzling, energetic, giving young girl his daughter is.

But he will know soon. After years of struggling to obtain visas to anywhere and everywhere, Ziina and Miina are finally able to travel to see Salem. They have applied to embassy after embassy in the past 6 years, and been turned away time and again. Once, they even paid $1000 to a person to arrange a visa for them, but that person just disappeared with their money. The recurring cycle of hope and disappointment must have shattered Ziina’s morale time and again, but it never stole her joy. Why? Because her joy is built on something – on someone – so much stronger and more enduring than even the hope of reuniting with family. Her joy comes from the Lord Jesus. Ziina and Miina love the Lord deeply, and He has carried them through these years of cyclical loneliness, hope, and disappointment.

And now He has provided a way for them to travel to Scandinavia to be with Salem, and be reunited as a family. They leave in three days. Tonight, we visited them to say our final goodbyes, and to relish their beautiful presence in our lives one last time.

When we arrived, we kissed each other numerous times on the cheek, and Miina was quick to also give me an Eskimo Kiss (rubbing noses) and a Butterfly Kiss (touching eyelashes) – something I taught her on our previous visit. Miina loves to play with me and my roommate Anne on our visits. This time, after a few minutes of polite conversation, Anne began preparing the goodbye dinner we had brought along with us to honor them. Miina took me into the bedroom and sat me down to begin styling my hair.

She began combing and giggling, and then began applying all sorts of random leftover cosmetic products to my head. I’m not sure exactly what she put in – I think at one point she put a whole lot of roll-on deodorant in there, which I didn’t object to (although my hair is still sticky now after shampooing twice, so maybe I should have!) She also sprayed perfume in my hair, and I couldn’t help but remember Mary of Bethany, pouring her precious perfume on Jesus’ head. I felt like Miina’s gentle attendance to me was more than just child’s play. Her innocent, generous love was pouring over me as she played. I could smell the fragrance of that love in my hair all the way home.

After our meal, Ziina began going through her belongings and giving numerous things to us. Granted, she has only limited space in her suitcase, and so has lots to leave behind. But her generous spirit floored me. She didn’t give us riches – but what she did give was tremendously valuable in its thoughfulness. Nail polish remover, soap, chapstick, a host of cosmetics. Food from the cupboard. A sweater handmade by her cousin. Posters from the walls. Jewelry. Pieces of art. Then little Miina joined in the act, pointing out to her mom things she thought we might like. She even began offering us some of her toys (which she has few of) – a stuffed animal, an almost-new puzzle. I’ve never met a child with such a giving heart.

It was a bit overwhelming to be the object of such lavish generosity, when I know that in terms of financial worth, I have so much more than them. It was also convicting. Would I so willingly give away my possessions to my friends? Do I have that much faith in God’s provision? Do I have more faith in the possessions themselves than I do in God? Sometimes I think that the materialism bred into Americans like me is one of our biggest stumbling blocks to entering into the Kingdom of God. The Lord promises to lavish blessings on his children, but too often we settle for lesser pleasures that provide only fleeting satisfaction.

I pray that God would make me more like Ziina and Miina, established in joy and willing to give even out of my poverty. I pray He would make all his followers a lot more like them.

]]> By: Meredith http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-12 Meredith Thu, 04 Aug 2005 20:54:15 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-12 I think 1 Corinthians 9:7-14 is helpful as we look at the question of supporting missionaries and ministers. I agree with Paul that the church has the responsibility of supporting workers, but workers also need to be responsible in how they pursue their work. Take my case, for instance. I have a strong call to start church planting movements in the Muslim world. I need the support (prayer and financial) of Three Nails (as my sending church) and other individuals to get me there, at least in this first season as I learn the language and figure out exactly where I am going to land. When I determine my long term placement, I will seek employment (probably as an English teacher) and be paid for it, so my financial support needs will be less. My responsibility is to seek the best way to support myself while engaging the culture with Christ, the church's responsibility is to help me get there through prayer, and, yes, money too. Many thousands of churches give hardly any money to missionaries...maybe thats why there are still almost 7,000 unreached people groups out there. Further, of every $100 of church money that goes to missions, only 5 cents - yes, that's one single nickel - goes to pioneer church planting among unreached people groups. I think the church in general (and this includes Three Nails) needs to awaken to the responsibility of the Great Commission. If we really want to obey Jesus' last commandment to us, we have to think strategically about how the lives, prayers, and finances of Three Nails are helping to reach those who have never heard the Gospel. I think 1 Corinthians 9:7-14 is helpful as we look at the question of supporting missionaries and ministers. I agree with Paul that the church has the responsibility of supporting workers, but workers also need to be responsible in how they pursue their work. Take my case, for instance. I have a strong call to start church planting movements in the Muslim world. I need the support (prayer and financial) of Three Nails (as my sending church) and other individuals to get me there, at least in this first season as I learn the language and figure out exactly where I am going to land. When I determine my long term placement, I will seek employment (probably as an English teacher) and be paid for it, so my financial support needs will be less. My responsibility is to seek the best way to support myself while engaging the culture with Christ, the church’s responsibility is to help me get there through prayer, and, yes, money too. Many thousands of churches give hardly any money to missionaries…maybe thats why there are still almost 7,000 unreached people groups out there. Further, of every $100 of church money that goes to missions, only 5 cents - yes, that’s one single nickel - goes to pioneer church planting among unreached people groups. I think the church in general (and this includes Three Nails) needs to awaken to the responsibility of the Great Commission. If we really want to obey Jesus’ last commandment to us, we have to think strategically about how the lives, prayers, and finances of Three Nails are helping to reach those who have never heard the Gospel.

]]> By: bodyelectric http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-9 bodyelectric Tue, 14 Jun 2005 19:07:47 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-9 Amen to what Clayton said. That about sums it up. K Amen to what Clayton said. That about sums it up.

K

]]> By: Clayton http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-8 Clayton Tue, 07 Jun 2005 14:18:06 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-8 Listen. This whole question goes back to Three Nails 101: Form and Function. Here is a quick 2 sentence lesson on Form and Function. The forms of local Christian communities and churches are flexible and change based on the needs of that community or church or organization. The functions that the various forms operate to fulfill stay the same. Emily's primary question was, "How can we reconcile doing that (support an individual financially) for someone working on another continent when it is not the standard practice within our own community?" The answer is Form and Function. Our form of not paying people right now to facilitate the running of Three Nails works for specific reasons (we have a transient population; we don't have money to really pay anyone adequately; we see this as the best option for this place at this time; etc.) That form doesn't work for everyone. Three Nails doesn't work for everyone. That is okay. They can have different forms. The real question is are the fulfilling the right functions (loving God, making disciples of people that don't already know Jesus, devoting themselves to prayer and apostles' teachings, etc.) When forms become too rigid stuff like Three Nails occur. As soon as we say, "We won't support what God is doing through you because you don't conform to our form" we have lost sight of part of the core of who we are; we become the very thing that many in Three Nails are reacting against. So there is an answer to your question. Our standard practice is just a form. It may change. Give all you want to your friend. It doesn't conflict in any way with Three Nails' standard practice. Listen. This whole question goes back to Three Nails 101: Form and Function. Here is a quick 2 sentence lesson on Form and Function. The forms of local Christian communities and churches are flexible and change based on the needs of that community or church or organization. The functions that the various forms operate to fulfill stay the same.

Emily’s primary question was, “How can we reconcile doing that (support an individual financially) for someone working on another continent when it is not the standard practice within our own community?”

The answer is Form and Function. Our form of not paying people right now to facilitate the running of Three Nails works for specific reasons (we have a transient population; we don’t have money to really pay anyone adequately; we see this as the best option for this place at this time; etc.)

That form doesn’t work for everyone. Three Nails doesn’t work for everyone. That is okay. They can have different forms. The real question is are the fulfilling the right functions (loving God, making disciples of people that don’t already know Jesus, devoting themselves to prayer and apostles’ teachings, etc.)

When forms become too rigid stuff like Three Nails occur. As soon as we say, “We won’t support what God is doing through you because you don’t conform to our form” we have lost sight of part of the core of who we are; we become the very thing that many in Three Nails are reacting against.

So there is an answer to your question. Our standard practice is just a form. It may change. Give all you want to your friend. It doesn’t conflict in any way with Three Nails’ standard practice.

]]> By: jdhtwo http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-6 jdhtwo Fri, 03 Jun 2005 22:22:11 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-6 in response to emily kane: i have had people tell me that because i am taking a more prominent and intense (time/energy/effort/emotionally/spiritually/mentally consuming) role in three nails that i should be compensated financially for it. i have also had people tell me that there should be no paid staff in three nails. i may change my mind, but going into this endeavour as an official leader in three nails i feel like the weight of three nails will begin to fall upon three nails as a body, and no longer on one person with a collar. before, i feel like all of us in leadership would imagine that the problems of three nails would be fixed by the guy with a collar and a salary package because he was the guy paid to take care of three nails. now that there isn't that excuse, i hope three nails as a body will begin to take care of itself under the leadership and oversight of kris, kelly, and i. in response to emily kane:

i have had people tell me that because i am taking a more prominent and intense (time/energy/effort/emotionally/spiritually/mentally consuming) role in three nails that i should be compensated financially for it. i have also had people tell me that there should be no paid staff in three nails.

i may change my mind, but going into this endeavour as an official leader in three nails i feel like the weight of three nails will begin to fall upon three nails as a body, and no longer on one person with a collar. before, i feel like all of us in leadership would imagine that the problems of three nails would be fixed by the guy with a collar and a salary package because he was the guy paid to take care of three nails. now that there isn’t that excuse, i hope three nails as a body will begin to take care of itself under the leadership and oversight of kris, kelly, and i.

]]> By: bodyelectric http://www.threenails.org/archives/11#comment-3 bodyelectric Wed, 25 May 2005 00:33:57 +0000 http://www.threenails.org/?p=11#comment-3 Its a good question emily, however I do not know if it is the best question. I think the question at hand is: should Three Nails be using some of its money for supporting individuals within the community? I don't know how that should be handled. Would I like to be paid...sure, but so would everyone else. The reality now is that we don't have much money coming in and I don't think that will change anytime soon. However, I don't find that to be a tremendous burden. I trust that everyone is giving faithfully to what God has led them to give. If that is Three Nails, great, if not, I respect that. I don't think that all of our tithes need to go to the general Three Nails account. I think we should all be supporting other missionaries and orgainizations. We give where our hearts are and I respect that. Although, I hope that those who commit their time and talent to this community would also give at least some portion of their tithe to it. Even if it is as little as $5 a month I think it would be healthy for those of us who consider ourselves part of this community to commit at least a portion of our giving to Three Nails. Ian and Emily, if you want to support Michelle, do it. I don't think it is a double standard. If you think there are people in Three Nails that should be paid, bring it up and/or earmark your giving to Three Nails for volunteer stipends. All of us signed on as volunteers and as far as I know we are content to remain as such. While supporting our leaders is something I would like to do someday, it might not be for a long time. If not, I say no problem, Paul managed pretty well. K Its a good question emily, however I do not know if it is the best question. I think the question at hand is: should Three Nails be using some of its money for supporting individuals within the community? I don’t know how that should be handled. Would I like to be paid…sure, but so would everyone else. The reality now is that we don’t have much money coming in and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. However, I don’t find that to be a tremendous burden.

I trust that everyone is giving faithfully to what God has led them to give. If that is Three Nails, great, if not, I respect that. I don’t think that all of our tithes need to go to the general Three Nails account. I think we should all be supporting other missionaries and orgainizations. We give where our hearts are and I respect that. Although, I hope that those who commit their time and talent to this community would also give at least some portion of their tithe to it. Even if it is as little as $5 a month I think it would be healthy for those of us who consider ourselves part of this community to commit at least a portion of our giving to Three Nails.

Ian and Emily, if you want to support Michelle, do it. I don’t think it is a double standard. If you think there are people in Three Nails that should be paid, bring it up and/or earmark your giving to Three Nails for volunteer stipends. All of us signed on as volunteers and as far as I know we are content to remain as such. While supporting our leaders is something I would like to do someday, it might not be for a long time. If not, I say no problem, Paul managed pretty well.

K

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