Rationale: 

COVID-19 has become a global pandemic and, as a result, nations and local governments are taking extreme measures to help curb the spread of this disease.  These drastic actions have already brought some devastating consequences to much of the world’s population, among these being financial. In anticipation of the short-term financial impact many BBFI missionaries may experience, the BBFI Mission Office is implementing the BBFI Missionary CARES Act.

Purpose:

Provide financial relief for BBFI missionaries who find themselves adversely affected by the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

1. For Deputation Missionaries:

Missionaries on deputation will perhaps be impacted the most due to the pandemic. With church services being moved online across the US, deputation missionaries are not able to physically be present in their scheduled meetings and are missing out on many opportunities for potential monthly support and Love Offerings. We are proposing to help all Deputation Missionaries in the following ways:

Included in the EOM deposits for the months of April, May and June 2020 all deputation missionaries will receive an extra deposit intended to help address their current financial drawback according to the following schedule:

1. 1^st year (approved May 2019 or after) – $3,000/month
2. 2^nd year – $2,000/month
3. 3^rd + year – $1,000/month

NOTE: This is a gift from the Missionary Care Offering and there is no expectation of repayment.

2. For Career/TEAM Missionaries:

The Mission Office desires to help make sure none of our missionaries suffer financially in regard to their personal support. Therefore, we propose to help all Career and TEAM missionaries (regardless of current Field Status) with the following:

A calculation will be made to determine each missionary’s average Personal EOM deposit for the previous 12 months (April 2019 – March 2020).  Basically, the B1 category will be calculated. For the months of May, June and July 2020, IF there is a shortfall in a missionary’s Personal EOM deposit, the Mission Office will deposit the difference in order to bring them up to their 12-month average. Financial status will be reviewed each month.

Example: Missionary A’s 12-month Personal EOM Deposit average is $3,000. In May 2020 their Personal deposit is $2,700…creating a shortfall of $300. In this case the Mission Office will deposit an extra $300 at EOM to help the missionary with the shortfall.

Perhaps not every missionary will need this assistance because their support experiences a small shortfall or none that did not affect their personal support level. Praise the Lord for that! However, for those who do experience a larger shortfall, we want to make sure they have enough personal support to take care of personal needs during this pandemic.

3. For Retired Missionaries

The calculation will be the same as for that of Career missionaries. The Mission Office will calculate their monthly support over the past 12 months.  For those retirees who experience a shortfall in the months of May, June or July the Mission Office will deposit the difference into their accounts.

4. For WIN Missionaries

All WIN Missionaries will receive a one-time gift of $1,500 along with their EOM deposit in April.

NOTE: This is a gift from the Missionary Care Offering and there is no expectation of repayment.

SOURCE OF FUNDS:

1. Missionary Care Offering. God has blessed over the years to allow this fund to be able to help for “such a time as this.” The MCO will be the primary source of funds.
2. We are thankful to the churches of the BBFI, businesses and individuals who have given monthly or annually or through the annual Missionary Care Golf tournament making this assistance for missionaries possible.

-by Jon Konnerup, BBFI Mission Director