The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Church-supported Missionaries you are aware of

Dear Highway Users,

I thought it might be interesting to get a feel for the ways in which our various churches are supporting missionaries. Please take a moment to answer each of 3 polls about the missionaries financially supported by your church. If you are not a church member, or you don't know the information, of if your church does not support missionaries, don't let that keep you from answering; it is very important that you still answer all 3 polls, simply using the "None/Don't know" option in each.

Each poll addresses one aspect of the majority of people among whom the missionaries minister: where in the world they live (or are expatriates from), what environment they live in, and what religion they follow. While there will be exceptions in nearly all cases, the point of each poll is to represent the primary people groups being ministered to. If you are not sure, please use your best guess rather than skipping the question!

* * * LATE BREAKING ANNOUNCEMENT * * *
It appears, with no disrespect intended, that the wonderful designers of this site have, shall we say, a non-standard approach to creating the statistics normally used in poll results. In order to make sense of what you are about to answer below, when you are finished, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE proceed to the next post and answer the tiny poll there, which will be my only way of knowing how many people actually participated!

Thank you in advance for participating in this minimally scientific, but hopefully edifying, survey!

Where in the World? multiple choice
	Africa: Northern Africa
	Africa: Western Africa
	Africa: Central Africa
	Africa: Eastern Africa
	Africa: Southern Africa
	Asia: Northern Asia
	Asia: Central Asia
	Asia: Western Asia/Middle East
	Asia: Southern Asia
	Asia: Eastern Asia
	Asia: Southeastern Asia
	Europe: Northern Europe
	Europe: Western Europe
	Europe: Central Europe
	Europe: Eastern Europe
	North America: North America Proper
	North America: Central America
	North America: Caribbean Islands
	South America
	Oceania: Australia
	Oceania: Islands
	Antarctica
	None/Don't know
Votes accepted starting: Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:14 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

Environment multiple choice
	Rural/Town
	Suburban/Small city
	Urban/Large city
	None/Don't know
Votes accepted starting: Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:18 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

Religion multiple choice
	Christian
	Cult
	Jewish
	Muslim
	Hindu
	Buddhist
	Spiritist/Tribal/Animist
	Secular
	None/Don't know
Votes accepted starting: Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:22 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

To help us better interpret the above poll results, please simply indicate here whether you took the above polls or not.

Again with thanks in advance!

Whether I took the above polls single choice
	Yes, I took the above polls
	No, I did not take the above polls
Votes accepted starting: Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:54 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

I am not sure that I answered the third question correctly, re: the "religion" of the missionaries? We support reformed Ukrainian pastors, their work and our annual mission trip to the Ukraine. The pastors and the churches they pastor are reformed so I voted Christian. The communities are basically composed of Russian Orthodox and atheists.

Paul,

I'm not sure of the geographical boundaries, so I probably missed several. For instance:

Is Liberia in western Africa
Is Uganda & the Congo in central Africa
Is Malawi in southern Africa
Is Turkey in western/Middle East Asia
Is India in southern Asia
Is France in western Europe or is it central
What about Mexico?

No, the 3 categories--where/environment/religion--are supposed to reflect the people among whom the missionaries are working, so in your case "Christian" and "secular" would be the closest match.

Hi John! This isn't Jeopardy; Best Guess is fine!

Unfortunately, our church does not support any missionary efforts at this time.

Kyle,

I hope this can be asked without sounding like an indictment, which it is not intended to be, but rather curiosity about what is probably a minority situation among our churches. Is your church's situation the result of being too small a church, a temporary re-assessment of support, a standing principle of non-support, or some other reason? I assure you, I have no intent of asking you or anyone to defend their church's position, but would just like to know, especially with your having said "unfortunately", what has led to the current position.

Paul,

We are too small. At our current size we are just barely able to afford our rental facilities & the pastor's salary (& he isn't paid much!), in addition to our diaconal needs. This year is the first we'll be able to provide formal financial support to the work of our presbytery.

I only know that we have a mission in Bolivia. The reason is, It is a large church and we are new.

To all who took the poll and/or discussed it in the past month,

Thank you.

Had a larger number of people taken the poll, let's say about 50 or more, it would have been possible to make some meaningful observations about certain aspects of missions "in churches attended by people likely to participate in reformed website polls". That not being the case, I will refrain from making any such observations.

But an exhortation may be appropriate; simply, to keep on praying for and supporting those who are able to reach many, in places inaccessible to most of us, with the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What a privilege to live in this era of the expanse of His kingdom! Maranatha, Lord Jesus!