Missionaries need support. One kind of support that they require is prayer. On more than one occasion the apostle Paul requested prayer for himself and his coworkers as they engaged in Christian ministry (Eph. 6:19; 1 Thess. 5:25; 2 Thess. 3:1-2). He considered this very important and he was certainly right. The blessing of the Lord is essential if any kind of effective ministry is going to take place. 

Encouragement is also an important component in the missionary’s life. The success of one’s work, and the joy of laboring together with other gospel ministers, can contribute to encouraging the missionary. Positive communications, both from back home and from those on the mission field can also help. But in addition to prayer and encouragement there is still another kind of support that missionaries need. 

In the last chapter of the book of Philippians the apostle Paul acknowledged some gifts that the believers in Philippi had sent to him, he also expressed his appreciation for them. The text does not specifically tell us what they sent but the larger context of Philippians 4:10-19 suggests that Paul’s needs were what they supplied.

Paul was what we today would call a missionary. He traveled from place to place sharing the gospel and planted churches in various locations. He did this full time as much as he could, but when necessary he worked to take care of his needs (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Thess. 2:9). It was, of course, more advantageous for the kingdom of God if he could give his full time to Christian ministry.

In Philippians 4 we also learn that the Christians in Philippi had helped Paul on multiple occasions. He mentions this in verse 16 where he says that they sent him aid “more than once” (NIV) when he was in the city of Thessalonica. So the support that they gave him followed him as he traveled. They helped him when he was in Thessalonica and they were helping him again in the midst of the circumstances that are described in the book of Philippians. They somehow managed to gather the things he needed and have them delivered to him. This was all done before the days of online banking and wire transfers. They physically transported the goods to him. In view of the fact that Paul mentions “gifts” (Phil. 4:18 NIV) I doubt that the provisions they sent to him were exclusively, or even primarily, in the form of currency.

In Philippians 4:15 Paul said, that for a period of time, the Philippian church was the only one that gave to him, no other church did. He does not stay focused on this but mentions it only in passing. Paul did not identify the churches that did not assist him. I think it is safe to assume that the churches who did not help him knew about him and his ministry. He may very well have planted their churches. But why did they not help him? He does not tell us, but we can venture some guesses. Here are some possible reasons.

• The churches did not know that they should help Paul. If they had heard that Jesus sent the apostles out and told them not to take provision for their ministry trip but to depend on the support of the people they ministered to (Luke 9:3-4) they might have thought that support was not something they were supposed to give. Jesus did not tell the apostles in the passage in Luke 9 to ask other followers of Jesus to support them.
• The believers in these other churches did not know where Paul was and so they could not send aid to him.
• If they did know where he was, they did not have anyone to bring their support to him.
• The churches did not think that what they could send would make much of a difference in supplying his needs so they did not send anything.
• They were already supporting other Christian workers.
• The churches were poor.

All of the reasons I mentioned above are just possibilities, some more probable than others. Some of them may have been partially responsible for the lack of contributions that were sent to the apostle Paul. Or, none of them may have been the real reason for the lack of support he received. We cannot be sure.

The situation that Paul mentioned still exists today. We have churches in the twenty-first century who do not contribute to world missions. Why is this? The following is a list of possible reasons why some churches fail to contribute to world missions today.

• Some fail to contribute because they are focused only on local missions, their interest is their immediate neighbors, those that they can personally reach. 
• They don’t have connections to missionaries in other places in the world.
• Money is tight, because of this they feel they cannot contribute to missionaries and the cause of world missions. 
• If they have available funds they are meager. They don’t think their contribution will be of much help, so they don’t send what they do have.

Though churches may present reasons why they do not give to world missions, it should be kept in mind that there are reasons to give. Here are a few.

• Jesus said that the gospel is to go into all the world (Matt. 24:14; 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).
• Believers are to help provide for the needs of those who spread the gospel message (3 John 5-8).
• Those who preach the gospel are to make their living from the gospel (1 Cor. 9:14). 
• We are part of one body (Eph. 4:4) and should help those in need (Jas. 2:15-16).

The support of missionaries clearly has a biblical basis. Let me ask you, is supporting world missions a priority in your church? Is your congregation doing its fair share? Could it be doing more? These are serious questions that should be given serious consideration, especially in view of the commission that the Lord has given the church (Matt. 28:18-20). As Pentecostals, who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness (Acts 1:8), we must guard against being moved away from the cause of reaching the world for Christ. The support of missionaries is part of this. We need to invest our prayers, time, effort, and finances in this work as we depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit. There are nations to reap.

John P. Lathrop is a graduate of Zion Bible Institute and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is an ordained minister with the International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies. He has written articles and book reviews for a number of publications including the Pneuma Review, the Africanus Journal of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Christian Trends Magazine, in India, and Berita Mujizat and Jurnal Jaffray, both in Indonesia. He is also the author of five books.