It took a number of months before our church income began to improve. And I must confess that money was the last thing on my mind at that point. I realized that I needed more cash than our Church was generating in order to survive. I mean here I was doing well on a fourteenth of my original income. Remember that before the job I quit was paying me R7500 per month, and here I was now earning R500. So I figured out that even if our Church made R5000 per month it was not going to change my situation at all. I hope you get my point of view. If you cannot learn from your trials or challenges then you are most likely never to learn from any other source around you.
The greatest lesson I learnt from my situation was; never get into full time ministry if you can afford to work part time. As a matter of fact a lot of full time Pastors could live a better life doing ministry on a part time basis because most of them actually don't have much to do during weekdays, except to attend a few Pastors meetings which in my opinion are not imperative at all and don't constitute full time Pastoral work. Once I spoke to a Pastor who was not happy about his "too little" salary. Apparently the Church was paying him R2000 per month, and as much as I was sympathetic towards him I asked him a few questions just so that I don't get biased in my judgement. I asked him to give me his weekly schedule, it was something like this: on Mondays it's day off; Tuesdays; nothing in particular; Wednesdays more like Tuesdays, Thursdays; there's a pastor's meeting once per month (not part of his job in my opinion) Fridays; nothing and Saturdays are for preparation for Sunday service. The service on Sunday lasts for two hours. In reality the man worked two hours per week, which adds up to eight hors per month. by law one must work at least 8 hours per day. So I honestly had to tell him that R2000 per month was actually more than enough for a man working only 2 hours per week. It actually means that he earns R2000 for eight hours which is equivalent to one working day. 


Today when I tell guys that if I was in the ministry for money I would have quit long ago they actually think that I'm just being modest about it, but it's the gospel truth. I must also warn the younger generation that the ministry is not a way out of un-employment. It actually pains me a lot when I see young men with a great future and potential suffering in Churches all in the name of "serving the Lord" and especially when these young men have never done a decent day's job in their lives, but they expect the Church to become a source of income. I can quit the ministry at any time and still be able to put bread on the table daily simply because I have done it before. Even when Jesus was looking for disciples he went to the market place and called guys out of their jobs. I am truly not trying to be critical in any way but I pray that you hear me objectively. We cannot blame most people for not wanting to donate part of their income to Churches because the truth is so much has been given to Churches in the name of Building projects and Site purchases etc but simply because the Pastor has nothing to fall back on he can't help it but end up using the resources on himself. Maybe this is a subject for another day. Therefore let me drop my opinions right here and continue with my subject.


As soon as our Church income increased to R2000 I called another meeting again with the guys I sat with in the first meeting months back when I started full time in the ministry. I told them that since the income has increased I had a proposal to make, and what I was to tell them made these gentlemen to think that I had lost my mind. I told them that I have identified a Pastor of another Church who needed financial assistance, and that I propose that we give him R1000 per month and I will keep earning the R500 I was already used to earning. One of these men asked me if all was okay with me. I told him that I was quite sane. One might ask at this point what I was thinking. And here's my answer to that.
During the months of our transition from having enough to living virtually with nothing I learnt a number of deep biblical truths. Amongst others I learnt that man cannot live by bread alone; and this becomes a reality after a season of lack; that the bible says in Deuteronomy 8:17-18 God gives me the power to create wealth. At that point I was convinced that giving was my only ticket out of my poverty and I was going to get out of my situation, as they say by hook or by crook. When we left that meeting that evening my mind began to scream at me, something on the outside of me did not agree with my inner man, and I must confess that the outside opposition almost made sense but I decided to walk away hanging onto what the master's voice was telling me on the inside. A still small voice kept telling me that I was on the right track and everything was going to work out just fine. And yes, I believed and considered it done. To be continued. MVK