This is a good question. It reminded me of the missionary visits to my childhood church, which were always an exciting time. We enjoyed a special presentation with pictures of far-off people and places, folks in what seemed like funny costumes, and, best of all, exotic food or candy. It felt like a mini carnival or fair.

I did not realize until I was much older that all the excitement was a precursor to a request for money. The missionaries came to us soliciting funds. This was a common practice among evangelical churches as missionaries needed to spend a lot of time visiting congregations in order to raise their own support. The RPCNA tries to keep the fundraising for overseas missions to a minimum, but it is still necessary.

In the RPCNA, visits from missionaries still have the excitement while minimizing the pleading for funds. Missionary visits prioritize inspiring us to pray and giving us stories from the field. This is, in part, because the denomination has committed to covering the costs of our workers. Synod, through the RP Global Missions Board, calls missionaries to a particular field of service, much like a congregation calling a pastor. As a congregation pays the pastor whom they call, so the Synod pays the missionaries whom they call.

This principle—that the one who calls, pays—is found in the Apostle Paul’s instructions to the churches in Ephesus and Corinth. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul tells his protégé that the elders of Ephesus who rule well should receive double honor (meaning money), especially those dedicated to preach-ing and teaching. He appeals to the Law of Moses for precedent (cf. Deut. 25:4 and Lev. 19:13). Just as the ox is allowed to eat from the food he helps make, so pastors and missionaries should benefit from the revenue their ministry generates. Paul restates this point when he writes to the Corinthians: “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). The RPCNA takes this teaching seriously and seeks to apply this principle to our missionary endeavors.

The ability of the RPCNA to pay its missionaries, however, depends upon the generosity of our congregations and friends. So, while RP missionaries do not have a set amount of funds they must raise, they do help RP Global Missions raise funds by reporting on their work when they come home to the United States. Fundraising is part of their presentation, and their presentations are part of the fundraising process.

Synod and RPGM are not bureaucracies with independent revenue but are the voice of our denomination. Their initiatives in the mission field are our initiatives in the mission field. Supplying the money necessary to send the missionaries does not fall on those who go but on those who send. We, as a denomination, devote our resources to expanding Christ’s kingdom overseas when the RP Global Missions Board, on behalf of Synod, calls a missionary abroad. This is how we handle our missionaries, attempting to collectively practice Paul’s principle that those who call should also pay.

We should also pray. Praying and paying are twins in the work of missions. Together, they sustain kingdom service overseas. Congregations can host missionaries and hear their reports, keeping their prayers fresh and personal. Better still, congregations can adopt a missionary. Sending money, offering prayers, and keeping in touch with a specific person or family can be a great encouragement to the work abroad. The congregation’s session can appoint a Congregational Missionary Advocate and rejoice in his or her work. Individuals and families can sign up for the weekly prayer emails and share them with others. Elders can dedicate a portion of the prayer time in worship to praying for a mission or missionary. Congregations can take a special offering for RPGM and/or RPM&M. These local investments in RP Global Missions are the foundation of kingdom work being built overseas.

We in the RPCNA enjoy visits from our missionaries with all their stories, pictures, and samples of life in faraway places. But that time of fellowship and prayer is also an important opportunity to remind us all to support the call we have made. Our missionaries know that when we called them, we also committed our funds to them. More importantly than that, our giving to RPM&M and RP Global Missions allows our missionaries to focus on their calling: sharing the stories of Jesus with peoples in other lands and sharing the stories of Jesus’s people in other lands with us here at home.