FCBH Helps Hoffmantown Fulfill Its Missions Vision

Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been a faithful partner of Faith Comes By Hearing for many years. The church has already sponsored more than 700 Tsonga-language listening groups in Mozambique, touching an estimated 24,000 people.

However, the recent transformation in church finances and giving is remarkable and promises even greater impact.

When Wayne Barber became Senior Pastor at Hoffmantown in 2002, the church was several million dollars in debt, and was giving less than one-half of one percent to missions.

In contrast to what many pastors may have been tempted to do, Pastor Barber immediately committed to “give ourselves out of debt.” In fact, he shared with church members his vision to see fully 50% of the budget go to missions and outreach.

Within five years, the church became free of debt, and per person giving to missions has now increased by more than 550%! In addition, the church is projecting $250,000 to a single missions focus this fiscal year and 1 million dollars over the next three years. A significant portion of that will go to Faith Comes By Hearing.

According to missions pastor Curtis Brickley, two of the major reasons for this turnaround include:

• 1. Non-negotiable commitment to missions. Church leadership has made missions giving a non-negotiable part of the general budget. This attitude and commitment inspires members of the church to also give sacrificially.
• 2. Focus. Through a process of evaluation and seeking God, Hoffmantown was able to refine its missions focus and concentrate its efforts in specific places. As the Lord spoke to church leaders about the needs of a specific ethnic group in Asia, those church leaders encouraged members to care and get involved in practical ways.

Experts say that the sheer volume of human need and suffering (and the way technology allows us to see so much of it) can actually paralyze us. We become either indifferent to it—as it is so common—or become overwhelmed and feel unable to make a difference.

According to Pastor Brickley, a focus on a single ethnic group freed church members to care about a particular place and not “feel the burden of the whole unreached world.” A major part of this congregation-wide focus will be the sponsoring of the Audio Bible recording and using it to form listening groups.

We appreciate all of our church partners who, like Hoffmantown, have made a commitment to remember the needs of poor and illiterate people even in these uncertain financial times!