standingonthewater.ca  - Ministry website of Adam and Kim Atkinson
  • Home
  • About us
    • YWAM Fiji
    • Why Standing on the water?
  • Support us
    • YWAM Donations
    • The Great Comission Foundation
  • Missionary Blog
  • Contact

Missionary accountability

7/26/2017

1 Comment

 
Several months ago I created a survey where people could ask anonymous questions about Missionary life. People responded with many excellent questions, today I answer the question...

​Are you as a missionary accountable to anyone for large purchases since you live on support?
The quick answer to your question is YES. Read on to learn why and how we are accountable….
When I started full time ministry 19 years ago, as a youth Pastor, my lead Pastor encouraged us to keep time records even though the church did not require them of us.  These time records were very helpful to me as I looked back each month and saw where I was spending my time. Also, if a church member or deacon ever had a question about how I used my time I would be able to look though my time records with them and explain where I was spending my time. Ever since these early days in ministry I have recognized the importance of accountability.
Accountability:
  • Keeps a person focused and reminds them of their goals.
  • Guards a person’s/team’s integrity.
  • Builds trust with supporters and churches that send money.
  • Is a place to find help if you are struggling in the area of finances or how you spend your time.
  • Can help with your defense if you are ever accused of something.
  • Can help you to make choices when it comes to large purchases or decisions that you need to make.
As a full time missionary I believe that we need to be open and transparent with how we spend our time and the money that our supporters send to us. The mission organization that I work for, YWAM (Youth With A Mission), has a decentralized structure that gives each of it’s workers a lot of autonomy. This autonomy, or freedom to make our own choices, could allow a person to make some very poor choices.  That is why I think YWAM missionaries need to take special steps to make sure they are accountable for their decisions and how they spend their time and money. 
​Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.  1 Peter 2:12  
​“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!
​Matt. 25:23

​How am I held accountable for how I spend my time and money

My wife and I are part of a larger team of YWAM missionaries that hold us accountable.
We currently lead the national office for YWAM in Fiji. We have about 8 people that work in our office and we all meet together at least 2 times every week to share what we are working on and how we are spending our time. Working together in team means that there is a group of people that knows exactly what you are doing and how you are using your money.
We regularly submit our budget and financial information to our supporters.
When we are visiting with supporters we openly discuss our finances and willingly share our budget/spending with anyone who asks. In the past we have even included a copy of our annual budget in our newsletters that we send to our supporters.  We also sit down with 2 or 3 of our supporters every year and have an in-depth look through our books and openly discuss where we are spending our time/money and how much we budgeting for the future.
YWAM leadership and training
My wife and I regularly attend workshops and other seminars where we learn about accountability and its importance.  Although YWAM has a decentralized leadership structure, accountability is very important to YWAM.  At leadership training events, accountability is a common subject and there are lots of resources for people to find help. At many of these events we openly discuss our ministry with YWAM leaders who ask us the “tough questions” and help to hold us accountable to our missionary calling.
YWAM staff need to be very intentional to be accountable for their finances and how they spend their money.  To many YWAM missionaries and staff stumble and fall because of lack of accountability.
Communication and visiting with supporters
I believe that we are an extension of the local church when we are working overseas as missionaries.  That means that when we return to our home country (Canada 😊) on furlough we make an effort to share in all of our supporting churches what we are doing.  We also spend as much time as possible with our supporters showing pictures, telling stories and answering questions about what we are doing as missionaries. 
We ask people to pray and give us counsel for large purchases and/or decisions
Several times each year we need to make major decisions for a variety of things.  For example we may be asked to travel to another country to teach or help with a project (we always pay our own airfare and travel expenses) or we may be choosing a new office to rent. In each of these circumstances we will email a group of our supporters, that we believe have a good relationship with God, and ask them to pray.  As each person emails us back we consider what they have to say and see if it lines up with what we think that God is saying before we make a decision.
 
When Jesus was on earth He often said that if we are faithful with small things then God will trust us with big things.  I believe that how we spend our time and finances is one way that God can see if He can trust us with bigger things. 
Thank you so much to all of our friends that love us enough to keep us accountable! 
1 Comment

Teaching our kids about "real" life...

4/3/2017

1 Comment

 
This is a continuation of a blog series where I answer questions that people asked anonymously about missionary life.  To see the original survey or to ask your own questions click here.
Question:
​How do you teach your children about 'real' life? (As in: going to your job, earning your money, school culture, etc).
Response:
This is a very good question and something that my wife Kim and I talk about all the time.  As full time missionaries we live very differently from most people. Honestly there are times that I lay awake at night wondering if our children are going to be hindered in life by choices that Kim and I have made. We are sooooo far away from living a typical N. American lifestyle!

I could turn this into a post comparing our life choices with what is "normal" but instead I will focus on the areas that the person who asked this question specifically mentions.

​"Going to your job"
- I am not sure what the person who asked this question is asking?  We often work out of our home so there are days when neither of us leave the house for "work." I think that our kids definitely understand that there is different kinds of work.  Some work can be done at home and other kids of work you need to travel for.
Farmers, writers and other business owners almost never "go" to their jobs either so I don't think our situation is unique.

​"Earning your money"
-Oooooh!  This one hurts.  I could be wrong but it seems like the person asking the question is implying that missionaries do not "earn" their money. Our kids see each of us working at least 40 hours a week and they also know the many other sacrifices that we make for our missionary work.  I have not doubt that our kids will have a strong work ethic.
Here is another blog post I wrote about missionary receiving a salary or being paid for their work if anyone is interested.

"School culture"
-By school culture I am assuming the person asking this question is talking about developing social skills, making friends and having a chance to connect with their peers.  
Our kids are able to do this many different ways.  Our family is very social and spend a lot of time hosting families at our house or we ourselves are travelling. In the past year our family has spent several months in Fiji, Spain and Canada.  In each place our kids have spent significant time socializing with other children and adults.  These cross-cultural / cross-generational experiences help our kids to develop very healthy social skills.
Some things they do miss out on, from school culture, are bullying, peer pressure, cliques and school dances ;).

Although I said earlier that I worry about the choices that we have made with our kids, I worry less and less as time goes by.  So many of our friends and visitors who spend time with us as a family affirm the choices that we make and compliment us on our kids development.  And who knows, maybe our kids "alternative" upbringing will turn them into advocates for change where ever they end up?
1 Comment

    Author

    Adam Atkinson

    Archives

    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All
    Accountability
    Faith
    Kids
    Missionary Life
    Missionary Work
    Money
    Parenting
    Retirement
    Support
    YWAM Canada

    RSS Feed

"I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right."
​-Billy Graham
"I’m not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me – he’s got judo I never heard of. But he can’t handle the One to whom I’m joined; he can’t handle the One to whom I’m united; he can’t handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature."  - A.W. Tozer
  • Home
  • About us
    • YWAM Fiji
    • Why Standing on the water?
  • Support us
    • YWAM Donations
    • The Great Comission Foundation
  • Missionary Blog
  • Contact