Issues in Missiology, Volume1, Part 1B: Missions and Money

One of the most challenging and difficult situations for missionaries on the field is the question of finances. Missionaries in the USA are not considered wealthy, but when the missionary arrives overseas, he often finds himself cast in the role of the wealthy American in contrast to those around him. Often the missionary does not think that the Bible is talking to him since he considers himself a relatively poor missionary. But in his target country, he is one of the rich, and the Bible is speaking directly to him in his role as a wealthy individual.

Thus, the missionary is confronted with a situation of gross economic inequity. In 1820, the buying power of the missionary compared to the national, was about 3 to 1. However, by 1992, it had increased further to 72 to 1. Half of the world's population exists on a salary of less than $2.00 per day. It seems at this time that the only persons who are willing to live in the slums are usually Catholic priests and nuns. They may have taken vows of poverty and celibacy and are able to adapt to the situation by adopting a very simple lifestyle similar to those around them. What is the protestant missionary, often married and with a family, going to do? Christianity has always especially impacted the poor and marginal individuals, and now the missionary isolates himself from them.

Another major problem is that of dependence of the third world churches on outside funding. This book describes solutions to resolve dependency. A third area is the method of managing resources in a third world country. Financial independence is often a goal off the west, but cooperation, interdependency and partnership are common in other countries, and affect the ways of financing church building, social structures and programs.

With God's help in this book, we will look more closely at answering money matters for the missionary.

Dr. Robert Patton was born on February 1, 1938 in Cambridge, New York. At age three, he accompanied his parents as missionaries to China. They were moved to the Philippine Islands and spend over three years as Japanese prisoners of war. After returning to the USA, he completed a B.A. at Hamilton College, during which he was a junior Phi Beta Kappa. He married M. Elizabeth Stringham in 1959 and completed his medical degree and was a member of AOA honor society at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He completed four years of internship and residency in Internal Medicine, followed by two years in the Public Health Service and two years as a cardiology fellow. During this time, he became a specialist and then a fellow in Internal Medicine (FACP). At age 33, Dr. Patton went under the US Public Health Service to Monrovia, Liberia, where he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine. He was decorated by the Liberian government for his contributions developing this medical program. During these years he was co-author of over 40 scientific papers and co-author of a book on Cardiac Arrythmic Agents. He also accepted the Lord Jesus as savior at age 36 while in Liberia.The Pattons returned to the USA where he became very active in Grace Baptist Church of South Bend, Indiana while maintaining an internal medical practice with Southwestern Medical Clinic. During these ten years, he completed correspondence studies from Moody Bible Institute and Liberty Home Bible Institute, as well as additional training in counseling. They were called to Suriname, South America, arriving in 1986. During his first five years, Dr. Patton studied Dutch and Sranantongo, opened his first church, and taught in the medical school five mornings a week. He then resigned from medical practice, and concentrated on church planting, translation, and discipleship. He translated the entire Bible with a team between 1991 and 1998, and later wrote commentaries on the entire Bible as well as a number of discipleship studies. He started a Bible Institute in 1991 and an advanced Bible Institute in 2007. The basic Bible Institute is still being run by nationals in 2022. The radio broadcasts which started while the Pattons were in Suriname are continuing on three stations in Paramaribo. For the last four years, they are also being broadcast from radio station Switi Boskopoe by his son-in-law in Moengo, Suriname. They plan for further broadcasts into the interior of Suriname in the near future. The two television programs continue to be broadcast in 2022. Dr. Patton was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from Baptist College of America in 1997.Dr. Patton and his wife relocated at Crown College in Powell, Tennessee in 2012 while remaining as missionaries under Baptist World Mission. He earned a Master of Ministry in 2013 and a Master of Biblical studies in 2018 from Crown College, and a second Doctor of Divinity from Crown College in 2021.The Pattons have four children, eighteen grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren. Their son is a missionary in Hungary for nearly 30 years. They have four children with two married. Their son Ben and his wife and baby are missionaries in Zanzibar. Their youngest daughter Kim and her husband are missionaries in Suriname for 33 years with nine children. Four are still in Suriname, and their third son Silas is applying to be a missionary working with them. Their oldest daughter Abigail and her husband and three children are missionaries headed to South Africa. The Pattons older two daughters and their families are serving the Lord in the USA.