Is This Really a Problem?

        Many a missionary and sponsor, ignoring the facts, have force weaned their mission church off of their money only to have that mission church die.  But comparing the amount of money needed by the mission church, to the number of people needed to provide that amount of money, to the capacity of the available facilities, reveals an impossible picture.
        The church that MCII's founder started in St. Petersburg, Russia is a typical example of this.  It needs $700 a month to pay the expenses of meeting in a three room apartment that holds 30 people.
        In order to pay that through their offerings, they would need at least 200 members (this is assuming that the ratio of adults to children is 1 to 3 and that every adult tithes - an ideal church), but if they had 200 members, they would have to move to a bigger building which costs two or three times more.  Then to pay for that building they would have to have, not 200, but 400 to 600 members, which would mean that they would need an even bigger building, which would cost more money.  So no matter how many people the church has, it still will not be able to support itself.
        MCII wants its mission churches to be self-supporting, but in many situations it is not possible.
        What should we do? Should we give up on them and say that they are not worthy to hear the gospel or to have their own church?  Should we send tracts and Bibles to foreign countries and let the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons provide them with churches?  Should we pray and wait for God to provide a miracle for them?  Or does God expect more of us? The Bible gives a simple solution: take up an offering every Sunday for these churches (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).

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