I believe the 70% refers to the salaries of missionaries.
“Ministry expenses” of the missionary are part of the 30%.

– Todd

Todd Benkerts last blog post..Highlights from our State Convention

So we are now down to 12 cent out of every dollar given to the CP actually making it to support missionaries serving overseas…

Greg Alfords last blog post..The Bondage and Liberation of the Will

Here are bits of information . . .

First, from the IMB website:

Roughly 70 percent of the IMB’s $300 million budget supports more than 5,300 Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas. (The remaining 30 percent provides for missionaries’ ministry expenses, stateside administration, promotion and other costs.)

And this BP article:

The percentage of the budget used for stateside administration and promotion dropped nearly 1 percent, from 15.44 to 14.56 percent.

How much is spent on flying board members and their families all over the country to attend meetings? How much is spent on Administration cost?

Perhaps the problem is more complex (and deeper) than a simple redistribution of funds would correct. I’m afraid there’s a tremendous amount of materialism and waste that also needs to be addressed.

If we all (from CP employees to people like me sitting in the pews) followed John Piper’s suggestion that we adopt a war-time mentality and lifestyle, a lot more money would instantly be available for missions.

Barry Wallaces last blog post..2008 Blog Highlights (and a lowlight)

Me too. As a missiologist, I tend to think in terms of crossing cultural and/or geographic boundaries.

However, there are a number of factors that muddy up the waters when trying to define missions. Here are just a few:

1. The colloquial practice in many evangelical circles of calling every Christian a “missionary” (e.g. you are a missionary to your workplace, neighborhood, family etc. — see links at the end of my comment). Thus, any evangelistic activity may be considered a form of “missions.”

2. The close identification in recent times between missions and church planting. Any church planting, then, whether at home or abroad, is often considered “missions.”

3. A shift toward a “people group” model. This shift, by and large, is a good one because it recognizes that people are culturally distinct and different approaches should be used in different cultures. Because of the ethnic diversity in our own country, work with non-Anglo groups is often considered “missions.”

4. The globalization of missions efforts. No longer do Western missionaries dominate the scene. Christians from Africa, Asia, and South America are sending missionaries to unreached people in droves. Often you hear that other countries are sending missionaries here.

These are just a few of the factors, in my opinion, that make it difficult to pin down. I’m afraid that the word is slowly outliving its usefulness. For many Baptists, “missions”, at least as its used in the Cooperative Program sense, is any activity that fulfills the Great Commission.

Blessings,
Todd
_____
Consider Gordon Olsen’s comments: http://www.thetravelingteam.org/?q=node/159

or my own here: http://bemywitnesses.blogspot.com/2007/08/should-everyone-be-missionary.html

Todd Benkerts last blog post..Highlights from our State Convention

I always think cross-cultural and to other people groups as missions.

Cole, I would agree that for home missionaries, we need to fund the guys on the field much better.

– Todd

Todd Benkerts last blog post..Highlights from our State Convention