Following a Feb. 21 article in The Alabama Baptist dealing with the definition of missionaries by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board, NAMB officials offered further explanation of its system.
The Feb. 21 article quoted NAMB officials who stated that NAMB fully and jointly funds about 3,400 of the current 5,154 NAMB missionary positions. The remaining people are considered volunteer.
In the article NAMB officials were quoted as saying that NAMB has 108 national missionaries and that those positions are fully funded directly by NAMB.
Following publication of the article NAMB officials offered further explanation.
They reported that there are actually 59 national missionary positions that are fully funded by NAMB alone.
At press time for the Feb. 21 issue, 54 of the 59 positions were filled and each of those national missionaries were married, so the number 108 was provided by NAMB as the total of national missionaries.
While spouses are appointed by NAMB along with their husbands or wives, spouses receive no funding. Since that time two positions have vacated, so there are currently 52 national missionaries fully funded by NAMB alone.
Of the positions reported as jointly funded between NAMB, state conventions and other groups, 1,356 are missionary couples and 291 are single.
Of the total 3,211 appointed missionaries not considered volunteers, 1,751 are designated as the primary worker and receive funding. The 1,460 spouses do not receive funding.
“It is the policy of [NAMB] to appoint a husband and wife as a missionary team even though in most cases only one of the two is paid,” said NAMB spokesman Martin King.
(TAB)
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