How to pay off $33,000 in debt in four years
BECOMING A MISSIONARY
April 2014
By a missionary serving in a security-sensitive location —
When applying with SEND International, having a mortgage payment or student debt doesn’t disqualify you from being a missionary candidate. But in order to be accepted, you do need to have a “Reasonable Plan for Repayment”—with action steps and a timeline.
I was able to pay off over $33,000 in four years.
If, four years ago, I had told our Director of Selection & Training that was my plan, he would have called it unreasonable. He asked me to write down how I did it for tips and encouragement to others still paying off loans. This may not be possible for everyone, but I hope it can be an encouragement and challenge in some way!
When I neared graduation and knew that the 10-year payment plan was keeping me from serving God overseas, I knew I had to trust his timeline and make a plan to pay the money back sooner. In order to do this, here were some decisions I made and lessons I learned along the way:
- I asked God to teach me during this time —to change my heart and let me use this time of repayment as obedient worship. He did just that!
- I decided to view the loans as a blessing, rather than as bondage. I could only go to the college I did because I was able to take out loans—for this, I am thankful. My monthly payments constricted my budget and taught me how to live on less than what I make. Also, God used my loans to keep me in the States and has used this time to prepare me for serving him overseas in the future.
- I made my monthly payments manually, rather than using automatic debit. This may not work for some people who may forget easily. For me, it was incentive. I could see the number going down with each payment I made.
- I saved money on housing. I moved in with an awesome roommate—we shared rent as well as utilities, food, and soap for the dishwasher. She had furniture already, so I only needed to furnish my bedroom. I borrowed the bed from family, the dresser from my parents, and bought a desk off of Craigslist.
- I didn’t take out more loans. When looking to buy a car, I knew that if I wanted to pay down my student loans quickly, I couldn’t take out a car loan. I shopped around with a very small budget and in the end, God provided a FREE car through my uncle!
- Dave Ramsey taught me how to budget. After hearing about it for years, I finally sat through Financial Peace University. I hate talking about money, so sitting in a class and small group talking about budgeting sounded horrible to me. Through this class, I learned that a budget wasn’t to keep you from spending, but rather to take control of what you are spending. Once I budgeted for my giving, bills, and student loan payment, I could allocate what was left to areas like: food, gas, and even “fun money.”
- I paid more than the minimum. When writing my budget, I figured out how much I could pay after my necessary payment. For a few months during my repayment, I was paying three times the minimum monthly payment. Or, I would pay the minimum, then put the extra into savings—paying off the balance of an individual loan in 4-6 months once I had enough in savings.
- I learned to snowball my payments. Dave Ramsey teaches this too—when making payments, pay off the smaller loan first. Once a loan is paid off, you can take the minimum monthly payment you were paying and put it toward the next lowest loan. You see the balance go down faster and you feel lighter when you have fewer loans taken out (I started with almost 15 loans).
- I didn’t always buy lattes. I love Starbucks. And with one only two blocks from my apartment, I go there often. But I don’t always buy lattes. Once in a while I’ll treat myself, especially when their Pumpkin Spice Latte is in season (or when I have a gift card). But for the most part, I enjoy their bold roast. I can hang out there more if I’m paying $1.85 for a coffee (with free refills!), rather than $3.85.
Let’s not let debt stand in our way of pursuing missions!
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"This probably looks impossible, but you serve a God who is greater." These are the words of Abigail Niles, a young woman who followed the Lord to Romania.
March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
