Many missionaries need a missionary agency to help them with administrative tasks so they can stay on the mission field leading people to the Lord. What should missionaries look for when they choose a missionary agency? How to missionary agencies help missionaries? On today’s episode, Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach, interviews Mike Martin about his missionary agency.
Show Notes:
Website: Mike and Kay Martin – Laborers Together International – http://www.Ltin.org
On this Podcast, Mike Martin shares that Laborers Together International was established to help “ordinary” people do extraordinary things for God by giving them an opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission, as well as to help missionaries all over the world fulfill the call that is on their lives and ministries.
Mike Martin answers these questions:
Why use a missionary agency?
What does a missionary agency do to help missionaries?
Tell me about how you received a Macedonian call?
Transcription
Daniel King (00:01): Many missionaries need a missionary agency to help them with administrative tasks that they can stay on the mission field, leading people to Jesus. So what should missionaries look for when they choose a mate missionary agency? Today? I have a very special guest Mike Martin he’s with laborers together international, and he has a missionary agency that serves missionaries and helps keep them on the mission field. Mr. Mike, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. It’s good to be with you, sir. So tell me a little bit about labor’s together and what your purposes
Mike Martin (00:54):
Labors together is actually founded in based on first Corinthians three nine, which says we’re laborers together with God, our labors together in Christ. Well, we are laboring together with missionaries, so we’re there to be a support to them to help them. We are administrative office for missionaries. We handle their finances, all of their correspondence and we take care of everything they need here in the U S so that they’re, it takes the burden and the pressure off of them to remain there on the field, knowing it’s taken care of. And we are a five Oh one C three tax exempt organization.
Daniel King (01:35):
Okay. So your website says that labors together international was established to help ordinary people do extraordinary things for God, by giving them an opportunity to fulfill the great commission, as well as to help missionaries all over the world, to fulfill the call of God that’s on their lives and ministries. Can you explain to me a little bit what is a missionary agency and why should a missionary look for a missionary agency?
Mike Martin (02:03):
Generally speaking, what we have found anyway, is that when a missionary goes overseas, they either have their parents handle their finances or their local church, which is fine, but that a local church, that’s not their vision. The vision is to reach the people and our organization labors together, international or LTI. We are there. Our main focus is to help you, the missionary fulfill the call that’s on your life. And so lot of missionaries have their parents do it. And a lot of people want to have tax deductability. Parents cannot give that. And so with us, we’re able to do that. So one of the things that,
Daniel King (02:47):
So you send out tax receipts at the end of the year, you keep everything compliant with the IRS in the, the laws that govern a, not for profit organizations here in America. And so basically you’re enabling missionaries to stay on the field and to focus on their calling, leading people, to Jesus, building churches, whatever they’re called to do, and you handle some of the administrative side to make it happen. And so what are some of those administrative things that you do for missionaries? We help them
Mike Martin (03:23):
Take care of their finances. So people would send their donation to us. And based on the way I asked IRS, which they did something totally unheard of, they allow us to do certain things. Well, I go by the principle of you have not because you ask not. So if in a check, if people write a check and send it, they make the check payable to LTI and in the memo, which is typically not done, you write for the missionary, the, the name of the name of the missionary, and that money goes into a separate account. We have two major accounts, the ministry account, which is where we get our money partners, but then we established another account and waiting for each missionary. Well, yes, it’s, it’s we established account for, and we call it LTI, N which stands for labor together. International network money goes into that account. And then each missionary has an account underneath that account. So then we transfer electronically, transfer their money into their accounts. So it never goes to our personal, what we call operating. It goes into a total separate account.
Daniel King (04:37):
You are not spending the money on your own operating expenses. Now, how long does it take you to get the money to them? Does it take a month or two for the money to get there? Or how long before the missionary access is the money to be able to use it?
Mike Martin (04:50):
I make deposits every Wednesday, sometimes Thursday. And by the following Monday, they get their money. So it is immediately.
Daniel King (05:01):
So it can immediately go to the mission field and be put to work. As soon as someone gives a donation, then that’s tremendous. And then you’re also sending out newsletters. I know when, when I was young, my parents were missionaries in the nation of Mexico. We stuffed newsletters and we set them out like 2000 newsletters, every single month. That’s a lot of work. A us kids were slave labor. And so we would get our envelopes and we would stuff them, we get paper cuts and, and we’d complain about it. And my mom says, well you, you want to eat don’t you, you have to help stuff, the newsletters. And so you do that for missionaries.
Mike Martin (05:40):
That’s why I’m chuckling. We have what we call a newsletter stuffing party and the board, and some of our board members that live around this area in the Dallas Fort worth area. We’ll have them over to our house or to our office, one of the two, and we’ll spend the day doing that, but we take care of everything and we send out everything.
Daniel King (06:03):
You put a remittance envelope in the M in there, and people can also donate online or by credit card.
Mike Martin (06:11):
Yes. We had people who, who donate by credit card, online giving what we do is try to make giving to that missionary extremely easy and quick. And we do not hold their money. It is long enough in the bank to make sure checks or whatever it clears credit card get processed. And that immediately goes out.
Daniel King (06:33):
That is extremely valuable for keeping the missionary on the field. Now, now you have quite a few missionaries that you represent. What are some of the nations that you have missionaries in right now?
Mike Martin (06:43):
We have some in the Northern Europe. What we call Northern Europe is like in Finland and the Netherlands, then Europe, France, Germany, England. Then we have Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Macedonia over into Mexico and then over in the Asian company, our companies, countries. And so it’s pretty much
Daniel King (07:12):
All all over the world. Yeah. Well, that’s, that’s tremendous. Now you, you just mentioned you have a missionary in, in Macedonia and in acts chapter 16, Paul received a Macedonian call in a vision. He saw a man of Macedonia who called him to come and help him. And so you told me you, you received a Macedonian call. Tell me about that.
Mike Martin (07:34):
Yeah, it was really funny. We got on my cell phone, I noticed this number was an international number and I thought, well, it’s gotta be one of our missionaries. I don’t recognize the number. So I answered, hello, this is Mike. And this man said, hi, my name is [inaudible]. I’m from Macedonia. Come help us. And I started laughing and I laughed and laughed and laughed. And he said, what are you laughing about? A suck out a Macedonian call. And I’m curious, how did you get my number? It’s fine. And he said, a friend of mine who knows you, that you’re helping in Bulgaria. I called him and ask him for some help. He said, I can’t help you. But Mike Martin can hear his, his phone number and gave me your phone number. I said, well, what kind of help do you need? So he told me he needs help. He gets support from the U S but he didn’t have a way to get it to him. And so we begin to explain what we do. And he said, I need help. And we’ve helped him, not just finances, but various things that we’ve done for them. It’s been amazing and we’ve made several trips to Macedonia and it’s powerful. What’s happened over time.
Daniel King (08:51):
Wow. That’s just one story from the missionaries that, that you support and help them to stay on the field. Mr. Mike, you’re doing extremely valuable work, keeping missionaries out there, telling people about Jesus. Thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it very much. God bless you.
