Staying financially fit
Debt is the biggest financial hurdle you may encounter as you consider missions. But careful planning can help you avoid new debt and pay off existing debt. It begins with creating a budget.
- Chart your monthly income and expenses. Use several months’ worth of numbers to get the most accurate picture. Don’t include income that you can’t be sure you’ll receive. Personal-finance programs can be a big help.
- Evaluate your spending. You should aim to spend no more than 90% of your income. If your expenses are greater than that, cut the fat! Start by eliminating small but needless costs like frequent coffee runs and paying for household chores you could do yourself. Eating out often can also run up the bills. A budget calculator can help you find other areas where you may be overspending.
- Track your spending. It may take a couple of times re-evaluating your expenses to set a realistic budget. If the numbers still don’t add up, you may need to take some drastic measures like switching to a more practical vehicle.
Next, put together a debt reduction plan. At SEND, we use a worksheet to help new missionaries with this process. You can also read this personal story of how one SEND missionary paid down over $33,000 of debt in four years. If you are a college student, look for free money before getting a student loan:
- Academic scholarships
- Foundation grants
- Home church or employee scholarships
- Civic group scholarships (scouts, Rotary, etc.)
- State, county and local government scholarships/grants
If your income is still short of your expenses, here are some tips for carefully planning your loans. Remember, loans are easy to get and hard to pay off.
- Set realistic debt limits by calculating all you owe and what will you earn after graduation. Don’t borrow more than you can pay back just because you are eligible.
- Make paying back the loans a priority.
- Consider taking a year off of school to work and save.
Remember, you are responsible to pay back everything you owe. Careful planning could save you a lot of time and money. For more help on reducing debt, check out these great resources:
- "Debt-Free Living" by Larry Burkett
- "Free and Clear: God’s Roadmap to Debt-Free Living" by Howard Dayton
- Crown Financial Ministries provides resources and services to help people manage their finances biblically.
Additional Posts
When God First Widened My World: Remembering Urbana 1996 I still remember the winter air. It was December 1996, and I was a junior at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan, serving as a small group leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—the ministry that had profoundly shaped my faith since my freshman year. I was growing spiritually, serving faithfully in my local church, and stepping into leadership on campus. Attending Urbana felt like the natural next step. Urbana only happened every three years, and I knew that once I graduated, I might miss the chance altogether. My church believed in that moment enough to cover the cost. They entrusted me—and my campus minister—with a van full of college students, driving from Detroit to Champaign-Urbana during the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s. I had heard the stories: thousands of students, passionate worship, a clear call to live fully for Jesus. What I encountered exceeded every expectation. A Campus Taken Over by the Kingdom Buses poured in from every direction, unloading students onto a snow- covered campus. Dorm rooms filled. Cafeterias buzzed. The entire university seemed overtaken—not by noise or spectacle, but by a quiet, collective hunger for God. For the first time in my life, I met students from places far beyond Michigan— Harvard, Loyola, Wheaton. My world was expanding in real time. I don’t remember every speaker or session. What I do remember is the unmistakable clarity of the invitation. God was bigger than I had ever imagined. Not just personal. Not just local. He was King of the nations. And there were people—millions of them—who had never heard His name. The question was simple, but it felt weighty: Would I commit my life, in whatever way God asked, to the Great Commission? Explore God’s leading toward the nations with a SEND missions coach.
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