Weak U.S. dollar causes drop in missionary funding
MONTREAL, QC—Chantal Vallée may lose her job as a church-planter in Montreal as of May 2005.
Vallée herself is not the problem. Her small church is strong. Her outreach efforts are innovative. Her part-time job as coach of the Vanier College basketball team was recently featured on "100 Huntley Street" because of the number of team members who have become Christ followers. Salt Jones and Paul Johnson, Vallée's supervisors with the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (CCSB), are happy with her work and would like to keep her on.
But Vallée's support comes from the CCSB, which receives funds from the North American Mission Board—U.S. funds. The problem is, with the drop in the American dollar, there is no longer enough Canadian money to go around.
Vallée is not the only one feeling the crunch. According to D. K. Hale, of the National Partnership/Volunteer Ministries of the CCSB, "everyone who received support from the US will certainly feel the exchange decline…Every program in our convention has had to be cut by 20 per cent."
Dave and Heidi Gray, church-planters with the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches have also noticed a drop. The Grays are responsible to raise the funds to support their ministry. With 90 per cent of their salary coming from donors in the U.S., their budget is short and they will need to work to make that up.
Stephanie Dyck, a missionary in Montreal with Athletes in Action, says her monthly income has declined by several hundred dollars. Dyck, who came to Montreal from Winnipeg four years ago, does not have a wide base of donors from whom she can solicit an increase in funding.
Christian Direction, an interdenominational ministry serving churches in the city, receives 25 per cent of its funding from the U.S. Those dollars are now worth much less.
The list goes on, in Quebec, and across Canada, as individuals and ministries that rely heavily on funding from American dollars are scrambling to reorganize budgets, cut costs and raise more funds. In an editorial in the November/December issue of the Baptist Horizon, Gerry Taillon, National Ministry Leader of the CCSB, asks: "Will we take up the baton that is being passed and increase our responsibility and ownership for the mission God has entrusted to us?" Will Canadian donors step forward to support Canadian ministries?
Vallée believes that some way, somehow, the challenge will be met. "God will open doors so I can continue to do what I am doing," she says.
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