F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When is your targeted date to be in Japan?
2. How much support do you need to raise per month?
3. Who decides how much monthly support you need?
4. Why do you need to raise so much?
5. How is the money spent?
6. Do you need to raise 100% before you get to your field?
7. Why did you choose Fellowship International Missions as your mission board?
8. Have you thought of “tent making” in order to decrease the amount of monthly support you need?
9. Why can’t you go to a cheaper mission field?
10. Who is your sending church?
11. Are you doing church planting?
11. How can I join your team?
13. How can I be involved?
14. How can I receive your ministry updates?
1. When is your targeted date to be in Japan?
Our goal is to be in Japan by the third week of November 2009. We would like to be in Tokyo by then so that we can spend at least three months after Christmas introducing the new changes and values we are going to embrace before we begin our official programs in the spring.
2. How much support do you need to raise per month?
We need to raise $7,200 a month before we can be released to our field.
3. Who decides how much monthly support you need?
FIM customizes missionary support level in consultation with each missionary. Family needs, the cost of living, children’s education costs, and unique ministry requirements help determine support level. Support levels must be approved by the FIM Board of Directors.
4. Why do you need to raise so much?
Since fluctuating exchange rates frequently reduce the value of the dollar overseas, living outside of the United States is no longer the bargain it once was. As a result, it often costs more to live abroad than in the United States. Currently, Tokyo is the second most expensive city to live in in the world. The cost-of-living is 27% higher than New York City’s (source).
People often confuse the terms “salary” and “support.” “Salary” represents taxable income only, whereas “support” is the total of salary and various benefits the missionary receives for the purpose of ministry. The salary portion of our support is only 71% of the overall support income. Housing averages 13% of the total support. Self-employment tax claims another 8%. In addition, we pay income taxes in Japan. This leaves only 50% of the total support available for food, household supplies, local taxes, vehicle purchase and upkeep, personal items, savings, investments, vacations, entertainment, personal studies, and giving. Living in Tokyo, what we are raising doesn’t go very far.
For the rest, non-taxable benefits account for 29% of support. 7% of support covers costs such as office equipment, postage, printing, vehicle mileage, telephone, literature, books, government fees, computer equipment, and other expenses that enable effective ministry. A modest 4% of the support is used for the missionary’s required participation in a qualified retirement plan. 2% of support provides for expenses incurred traveling to and from the field. The remaining 7% of support covers the benefits missionaries receive through home office services, which include donor receipting, member care, ministry accountability, accounting, and the administration of benefits.100% of donations made for missionary support directly benefit us.
6. Do you need to raise 100% before you get to your field?
Yes. FIM Missionaries need to have 100% of their required support committed before they can be released for departure to the field.
7. Why did you choose Fellowship International Missions as your mission board?
It is mainly due to the fact of our ministry’s uniqueness. Fellowship International Mission (FIM) offers the opportunity for missionaries to do what God called them to do in an environment characterized by flexibility. They recognize that wherever missionary work has prospered, missionaries have been free to move quickly and decisively to seize opportunities for the cause of Christ. Flexibility which FIM provides help to guarantee that we have room to move obediently, speedily, and efficiently in response to openings for the Gospel. FIM allows us to do this with a minimum of restrictive policy or administrative red tape. However, they also provide the accountability which we need in order to succeed. The early church set an example of accountability that was essential to the early days of missionary outreach and is still appropriate. FIM desires to partner with churches that follow the New Testament example, sending missionaries and accepting a major share of responsibility for their effectiveness. FIM also supports the principle of the sending church as the missionary’s first point of reference when ministry questions arise. However, to the extent that churches delegate much of this responsibility to mission agencies, FIM provides suitable accountability structures and procedures. Finally, and equally appealing to us was the amount of monthly administrative fees we have to raise in order to receive the invaluable benefits which FIM provides. At the end, the amount of administrative fees we have to raise in order to partner with FIM ended up being close to $600 less than what our previous mission board required. That means we can get to our field quicker while receiving similar care. If you are going to an expensive country, you can’t beat that.
8. Have you thought of “tent making” in order to decrease the amount of monthly support you need?
I (Kazu) have contemplated on teaching at a college or high school part-time in order to supplement our income. However, the more we prayed about the spiritual needs and the amount of work we needed to accomplish in the next 20 years, we quickly realized that we cannot afford to be making tents, for the need to preach and teach the Gospel is so much greater. I think there are essentially three biblical options as to how a person may be supported in their ministry:
(1) A person may be supported by their own means, which usually means that one earns the money required to live on by working at some kind of employment, a “secular job” if you would (see Acts 20, 1 Thessalonians 2 and 2 Thessalonians 3).
(2) A person may be supported by those to whom he ministers (see Luke 9 & 10; 1 Corinthians 9).
(3) A person may be supported by others than those to whom they are presently ministering, as Paul was supported by the Macedonians, as he ministered in Corinth (Philippians 4; 2 Corinthians 11:8-9).
Paul used the first and last means of supporting himself in the ministry of the Gospel, but as far as we can tell from the NT, he never used the second, although we find in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 a very strong defense of this means as a biblical right. At the end, we do not want to hinder the Gospel by slowing down the work we need to be doing within our community, especially when we don’t have other full-time co-workers serving with us in Tokyo. We want to do whatever it takes to promote the Gospel message more effectively and efficiently in our location of calling. Therefore, at this stage, we believe that we need to rely on the third biblical option in order to accomplish our goals.
9. Why can’t you go to a cheaper mission field?
It’s not that we can’t, but we just don’t want to. Many mi$$ionarie$ avoid $erving in Tokyo for the $ame rea$on. We have even encountered a few churches that did not want to support missionaries to Japan for that very reason. It just costs too much, and you don’t hear reports of mass conversions or unprecedented revival. While that may be true, the message of the cross still deserves to be preached in Tokyo, where only 1 out of 200 city dwellers claims to even be familiar with any form of authentic Christianity. We need to go and preach the Gospel where it is not being preached. Tokyo definitely qualifies to be one of those places, and, just thinking about our background, talents, personalities, and passion, or in other words, everything about us, it simply makes perfect sense for us to go to Tokyo instead of other places that may have needs.
10. Who is your sending church?
Our sending church is this wonderful family church called Shelton Beach Road Baptist Church in Saraland, Alabama. It is also the church where Amy grew up with her family most of her life. Dr. Gary Shockley, who is the senior pastor, has been most compassionate and helpful as we presented our life and ministry to the church. He has encouraged us and guided us in so many ways, and we could not be more fortunate to have him as the pastor of our sending church. We love everyone in the congregation for their commitment and love for us.
11. Are you doing church planting?
Currently God has already provided us with a church which we can use to begin our ministry in one of the most coveted sections of Tokyo. However, as we invest our lives discipling people toward spiritual maturity and leadership, we would like to branch out and establish or help others establish biblically driven churches in the city.
Send us an e-mail. Tell us about yourself, and we can see what we can do to help you fulfill God’s calling in your life.
You can visit our “Ways to Help” link and see how God can use you to partner with us, or if you are interested in interning at our church (you need to raise your own support), you can express your interest to us via e-mail, too.
14. How can I receive your ministry updates?
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