Money is an essential element of ordinary daily life. And like any other human endeavour, missionary activities need financial resources. Money is valuable and as such is a significant resource for the proclamation of the gospel to those who do not know Christ, even in urban centres and in countries of old Christian tradition. Money is like the wheels of a vehicle. Without money, the work of evangelisation cannot move on and develop. Money is needed to build structures and run programmes. To reach out to the peripheries and open new frontiers, missionaries need resources for their sustenance and new initiatives.
The need of money for the Church’s and our Congregation’s missionary activity provides an opportunity for people who are genuinely blessed by God to share their blessings. Knowing that they cannot go to the missions in person, they gladly support our missionary activities. Benefactors help because they believe in our missionary work. But benefactors and donor agencies could have preferences and ideas of how their money is to be used. Oftentimes, in order to assure continuous financial support, the opinions and ideas of benefactors or donor agencies are woven into a local project.
Inversely, money also poses a potential threat to our very missionary activities. When the missionary espouses paternalistic dependence, the locals passively await handouts rather than actively contribute to meet their own needs. Similarly, when missionaries are considered highly because they are perceived as a source of material advantages, a social gulf is created between themselves and those to whom they are bringing the Gospel. Sometimes benefactors or donors insist on projects that interest them rather than the actual needs of evangelisation and of the local missionary context. When any of these takes place, money or projects generate difficulties that could potentially hamper rather than enhance the work of evangelisation.
Missionaries who come from economically more developed contexts may feel deprived of the simple amenities of life commonly obtainable where they come from. Yet, it could happen that from the locals’ viewpoint, missionaries are perceived as wealthy because they can seek funds for their projects, own vehicles, and enjoy amenities that locals cannot even dream of. This leads to a distorted image of the missionary, and proclaiming the gospel becomes challenging. Therefore, it is clear that one of the most significant challenges in missionary activities is the manner of handling money because money-related issues can either foster or hinder the very proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ.
The way forward is to promote stewardship among all stake holders: benefactors, donors, missionaries, and local people. Stewardship implies maintaining accepted standards of accountability and transparency, keeping paper trails so that auditors, accountants, and bookkeepers could verify the use of money, abiding by government financial regulations and upholding ethical and moral integrity. Indeed, linking missionary activities to stewardship of money reflects the very value of money itself.
Don Bosco himself received a lot of money from benefactors. Yet his life was marked by austerity, hard work, and generous service of others. He insisted on a sense of stewardship: “Remember well, that what we have is not ours; it belongs to the poor; woe to us if we do not use it well” (BM V, 450). Today it is crucial that the Salesian missionary avoid whatever has the appearance of counter-witness to poverty, through the practice of temperance in the use of food and drink, by simplicity in dress; use money with a sense of responsibility, give an account of how it was spent and does not possess personal accounts, while ensuring that institutional accounts have at least two signatories (Reg 59, 55, 56,187). Indeed, money is important, but it is not everything. It is a resource to be used morally and ethically to proclaim more effectively the Gospel.
Questions for Reflection and Sharing
Do I use money to control people or events?
What is the base of my security? God or Money?
