Trying to run your ministry, let alone your personal life, without a budget is like trying to drive across the country without maps, GPS, or any directions. You’re sure to end up somewhere, but it won’t be the place you were trying to go. A budget is the first linchpin in wise financial stewardship.
If you’re with a sending organization, you’ve likely have some form of budget imposed upon you, but I’ve noticed that even these don’t always do a great job of providing a solid plan for your ministry and your life. Budgets only work best when you are the one invested in them.
A budget is your financial map
If you’re not using and regularly maintaining a monthly budget, then you’re missing out on some major benefits and you’re probably even suffering from the stresses of not having a clear financial picture.
When you live from a budget, you’ll
- have an accurate picture of your actual needs
- have a gauge to know whether or not your needs are actually being met and fully supported
- have a plan for handling unexpected expenses when they happen
- be able to clearly understand and communicate your needs to your support community of gospel partners
- have a tool for demonstrating accountability to your gospel partners
Separate personal from ministry
Your personal budget should be separate from the budget of the ministry you’re part of. Here’s why: you and the ministry you’re a part of are not one and the same!
God has given you stewardship over two different realms, and each of them deserves wise and purposeful management. Your own personal needs are different from the concerns of the ministry God has called you to. In many cases they’re linked together, but they are necessarily different.
Even if it feels small in the beginning, this distinction between the two will have significant benefits for you and your ministry as the ministry grows.
Don’t be surprised if you find that your personal budget is quite a bit bigger than the ministry budget. Let me just address this now: it’s ok if your personal budget is larger than the ministry budget! It should be expected!
In almost every single business you can think of people are the biggest expense, and work in the church is no different. You need to pay for all of the essentials of life (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, etc) and then prudence demands that you plan for many other areas of life as well. So please, shed any and all guilt you may feel around this right now. God called you to this ministry, and it won’t run itself without you!
Having your personal budget separated from the needs of the ministry will help you much more when the ministry begins to grow, because your personal needs won’t be all mixed up in the growing needs of the work you’re doing. It will also be useful when you’re raising support because you’ll be able to clearly articulate exactly how much you need to raise for your personal needs, and how much you need to raise for the operating of your ministry.
We’ll explore much more on the mechanics and practices of budgeting in the future. For now, you should start by putting together a basic personal budget and a separate ministry budget. If you’ve already put a budget together, then recommit to monthly planning and adjusting so that it is useful for your life.
Soli Deo Gloria
Zach
PS: If budgeting sounds daunting to you, that’s ok! You don’t have to do this alone. I’d love to work with you to get started.
Life as a missionary is hard enough. Financial stress and lack of support make it harder. I can help. Schedule a free call to find out how you can build better relationships with your gospel partners and increase your support.