The Acts 2 Model

First, I would like to take the chance to send my greetings to Oxy, especially kon ulay man pud diay ka as you are so candid:) Seems like you'll be with us forever kay si Rene ni submit na man:)

Abi nimo R.G. naa na jud koy gisulat few weeks ago when I woke up one day, clear kaayo akong mind and I rushed to type them in pero wa nako ma send and at the end of the day I accidentally close it without saving. I just couldn't retrieve the thoughts and could not replay the moment. what a waste!

awat ko ani ni oxy..below are my worthless thoughts on the finance issue at this point..

Bahin sa pangutana ni Oxy kon asa ang mga staff in the survey preparation. .maybe somebody else has to answer her kay wa gani ko kabalo nga kini si R.G.. dili man diay staff:).

However, as to the objective of the survey.. I mentioned having a survey or something to base our future/immediate engagement to this issue. That was because of R.G.'s comment not only once in this egroup but the last time noted was on the 27th of February he wrote..

".. I think we from Cebu navs, God has raised many committed workers, working full-time in the ministry and willing to risk to mission fields both locally and overseas, but we are also not very good in terms of giving... "

I took the first part of the phrase as a compliment/strength worthy of praises to the Lord. The second part is somehow expected as a weakness that needs to be addressed through the survey. Based on the result, the last 2 questions are critical.. it shows that givers appreciate the sincerity of the partnership as not only when the person is actively supporting financially but as prayer partners first. The giving plan is generally based on the need seen and the personal relationship. I hope the survey will give the staffs and leadership some ideas in what really matters to donors and how the donors appropriate their giving.

I am aware that this will not be easy because the Navs has its own structure and ways of running the ministry. However, if we and the leadership are open to the alumni's or outsiders' (not a staff) ideas of running our local affairs i.e. cebunavs then we in this egroup could step in and take care of our own concerns as a group.

As Edd suggested, we can set up a Local Investment Fund to support needy staffs and other emergency concerns. And I agree that it should have to be managed well and have transparency in how it is being appropriated. . Based on what I learned from this exchange.. I could say, it doesn't make sense and not morally right to see a staff hardly surviving. How could we let this go on??

On the other hand, it is not enough to ask people to give or criticize them for not giving or for giving reasons not to give. I believe this is a group of generous people. In fact, we need to celebrate that cebunavs is on target of what the ministry is all about.. raising committed laborers for His harvest!!

The Acts 2 model of believers working together is worth emulating. Each one of us in this egroup is an asset to the ministry with unique set of gifts. Some may not have cash but have time. Some may not have the luxury of time but have a special talent or have a great network connection. Anyway, there's a lot of potentials this egroup is sitting on and we could utilize them. Each one's contribution to the Kingdom is valuable in God's economy. We just need creativity and teamwork to turn this into a tangible outcome.

My out of the box idea is to have a paid staff to relieve the burden of fund raising. At least a base/living allowance! This in turn will encourage new graduates to continue serving the ministry while waiting or looking for a job considering they don't have the experience to raise funds. But, there should be a different criteria for the paid from the unpaid.

Another avenue is to expand the carenderia investment that was started already or some sort of business venture that everybody could take part.

uyy, taas na man..

Blessings to all of you,

Ruby