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by Jonathan J. Bonk (Editor), Michel G. DiStefano (Editor), J. Nelson Jennings (Editor)
Integrity, Viability, and Accountability
Perhaps there is no greater challenge in missions than money. Paul reminds us, "For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man" (2 Cor. 8:21).
Money sufficient to assure the viability of one's life work carries with it an insidious ethical virus that can easily infect the integrity and accountability of its stewards. The Realities of Money & Missions provides a unique level of credibility and transparency as it calls for evangelicals to reevaluate their relationship with money, both personally and corporately. Global case studies, workshops, and testimonials cover a broad range of topics such as:
- Misalignment between fiscal theology and practice
- Environmental stewardship, community development, and business as mission
- Mobilization, fundraising practices, and "faith financing"
- Short-term missions, patronage, and dependency
- Power dynamics and structural injustice
The Realities of Money & Missions was not written by experts in the fields of investment, money management, or fundraising, but by men and women whose calling as missionaries, pastors, and administrators has brought them face-to-face with the complex, real-life issues involving the intersection of money and ministry. Read on and be challenged to change.
Author Biography
Jonathan J. Bonk is research professor of mission at Boston University and founding director emeritus of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.dacb.org). He is executive director emeritus of the Overseas Ministries Study Center (www.omsc.org) where he served from 1997 until his retirement in July 2013. He was editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (www.internationalbulletin.org) from July 1997 until June 2013. He has authored five books, has edited nine collaborative volumes, and published more than one hundred scholarly articles and book chapters and numerous reviews and editorials. His best-known book is Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem. He is president of the Korean Global Mission Leadership Forum and has been actively involved with the KGMLF since it began in 2010. He and his wife are active members of the Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was raised in Ethiopia by missionary parents.
Michel G. Distefano is an independent scholar, KGMLF editor, and former instructor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern religions at McGill University.
J. Nelson Jennings (PhD, Edinburgh University) is vice president of the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum. He is editor of Global Missiology--English (globalmissiology.org) and is involved in several other online mission research projects, including the Dictionary of Christian Biography in Asia (dcbasia.org) and the Alliance of Mission Researchers and Institutions (amriconnect.net). He and his family served in Japan for thirteen years (1986-1999), first in church planting, then in teaching at Tokyo Christian University. Jennings taught world mission for twelve years at Covenant Theological Seminary (and again since 2018 in an adjunct capacity), served at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (2011-2015), and was a mission consultant for Onnuri Church (2015-2021). He has published numerous books and articles and has also served as editor of Missiology: An International Review and International Bulletin of Missionary [now Mission] Research. Jennings and his wife, Kathy, are both US-Americans and live in Hamden, Connecticut, USA.
Kim Jinbong, the coordinator of KGMLF, proposed its creation in 2008 and is now the managing director of the umbrella organization, Global Mission Leaders Forum. Beginning in 1990, he served for a number of years as a missionary in West Africa. He and his wife, Soon Young Jung, joined GMS in 1994 and in 1998 joined WEC International as well. They spent two terms working among Fulani Muslims in Guinea, Afterward, Kim served for six years as the director of International Church Relations at Overseas Ministries Study Center. Kim pursued mission studies in England (ANCC) and he also interned at a church in France. In 2006, he earned the degree of doctor of intercultural studies in the US. He and his wife are blessed with two young adult sons.
Jae Hoon Lee is Senior Pastor of Onnuri Church and Chair of the Korea Lausanne Committee.
