Black Friday, Money, and Missions

As families, how we spend our money is a direct reflection of where our heart is focused.

In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is referred to as “Black Friday.” It’s often the CRAZIEST and busiest shopping day of the year. For many families, it’s the beginning of busy Christmas preparations, and annual traditions of giving . . . yet unfortunantly, often needless overspending. It’s a good day to realign our priorities and our pocketbooks to line-up with God’s purposes, and to remember what’s really important.

Moms and dads, do you remember the old hymn, I Surrender All:

"All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all."

And here's a bigger question: as parents who love Jesus, do you demonstrate to your kids and others that a life surrendered to Christ is really valuable (and possible), by the priorities and passions of your house?

How your family views money and possessions is intrinsically connected with how you view God’s priorities in life. As Christians, we should have the perspective that everything belongs to God: all of our time, all of our talents, all of our life decisions, and yes, all of our money.

I believe it’s important to teach our children about God’s principle of tithing (giving 10 percent of our income to Him), but even more importantly, we need to instill in our family that 100 percent of everything in our lives belongs to God. This principle is much easier caught—by our example—than taught by our words.

Even if your family never lives in a foreign country, you’re still called to be fulltime mission-minded followers, and to participate in expanding God’s kingdom—both locally, and throughout the world.

As Hudson Taylor, the famous missionary to China, often said, “The Great Commission is not an option to consider, it is a command to obey.”

There are many ways your family could raise extra money to support international mission projects. Here is a list of activities commonly used by children’s churches, youth groups, and short-term mission teams.

The time will come, however, as your mission-commitment grows, when “occassional” fundraising efforts won’t be enough.

 A true mission-minded family simply needs to earn and save money, step out in faith and trust, and manage (or “steward”) those resources according to what’s most important . . . for God’s kingdom-purposes, and for eternity.

Easy Ideas to Raise Money for Missions

• Have your children decorate a special container, perhaps with a photo, and begin saving coins for a specific mission project.
• Make a “thermometer” to chart a specific family mission goal, and put it on your refrigerator.
• Have a yard sale with all proceeds going for a specific mission project.
• Have each family member offer to do work for relatives or friends (such as housecleaning, laundry, child care, or yard work) in exchange for people donating toward a special mission project.
• Collect newspapers for recycling.
• Recycle aluminum (and go around neighborhoods to get even more).
• Organize a car wash; rather than charging a set amount, receive donations.
• Make and sell something, like a craft project or a baked item.
• Receive mission donations for after-church lattes and espressos.
• Have a “multiply your talents” project. Give each family member a certain amount of money with the mission-minded purpose of using this money, along with his or her talents, abilities, and creativity, for a specified length of time (perhaps two weeks, or one month) to raise money for a specific mission project. A child could use the money to buy gas for a lawn mower, to buy lemonade to sell on the corner, or to buy ingredients for a neighborhood bake sale. At the end of the designated time have each family member return the original money, along with the surplus he or she raised, and give it toward the mission project.

Remember, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

A great way to “earn money” for missions is simply to SAVE MONEY for MISSIONS. Instead of window-shopping through the malls, or overspending on too many Christmas gifts, stay away from the stores and be on-the-lookout for international mission needs and local benevolence projects.

I have seen the Vision and the self I cannot live. Life is less than worthless, till my all I give. -- Oswald J. Smith