A 'Thank You' From Our Missionary

The GO Fund recently partnered with a missionary who will live in Nepal to work among an unreached people group where less than five people have heard the Gospel. While already living and developing relationships with the people there, he was told by friends back in the States that he needed to return to manage his student debt. He knew it was the right thing to do, but he was torn between a flourishing ministry the Lord was obviously opening and an immense burden awaiting him in the US.

In November, a selection committee decided The GO Fund would accept him as a missionary partner. The joy he now experiences as a man who is freed from the barrier of student debt flows from his letter and it is something that has never before been shared outside The GO Fund walls.

I can still recall the day that I was in an area next to Kathmandu. I was in my room late at night and anticipating a much-needed Skype session with one of my pastors. I was excited to give him some amazing updates on what the Lord was doing among the people that I loved and was living with. I can remember when he called. By the tone of his voice I could tell he was a little uneasy. After the greeting he said, ‘I will just get to the point.’ My heart dropped. He continued with, ‘The missions committee wants you to come back home to take care of your student loans, finish school, and raise support.’

I was torn to pieces and told him that I would pray about it. After I got off the phone, I was angry, and crying in agony. God had provided a way in with these people, and I was living with two Buddhist Monks [within the people group], studying the Bible everyday... (Would you have wanted to come back?) Furthermore, God was allowing me to disciple an Ethnic Tibetan Church. I was in love with these people, I was pouring out my soul into their lives. They had become my family that I never had. (I didn't mention to you guys my parents, and grandparents died when I was young.)

Eventually, I decided that I need to go back home so that I would not have anything left undone back in the States. I had to tell my closest friends in Nepal that I still had school, and I owed a lot of money and the right thing to do was to go back and pay it off.

A man who is like my spiritual father was always worried and asking how I will pay off my debt. (I always had faith that God would somehow take care of it somehow) When I came back from Nepal and we prayed with each other I can remember clearly that he prayed that God would just eliminate my debt so that I could return to Nepal. We are both speechless right now at what God has done.

I want to give you guys my deepest gratitude from my heart. I thank you guys so so so much for obeying our Father and letting him do amazing marvelous things through you! I am telling you the truth; tears are streaming as I am writing this letter. Please continue to fight the good fight of faith. Thank you for obeying the Matthew 25:14-30 passage and pleasing our Lord by investing in the Kingdom!

With love,

Chris*

P.S. It means so much that I can go back to Nepal without anything tying me down. It is like a release and I am not a slave anymore! You all have helped me to come back and tie everything up so that I will be leaving nothing undone! It is so huge, I wish you could feel what I am trying to express. I am experiencing the excellent grace of God.  Thank you!

---

*Name changed for security

We Are Living in a Crisis

Second highest to mortgages in this country is student loan debt when it comes to personal indebtedness. Our country has collectively accrued $1.5 trillion in student loans, higher than both credit cards and auto loans. This is a crisis.

While tuition continues to skyrocket, disproportionate to American wages, private-loan lenders hold their interest rates at astronomical heights. Graduates are incapable of obtaining a career-position without a college-level education. This all results in a trifecta culminating in decades of debilitating loan repayments.

The average student in the Class of 2017 graduated with around $40,000 in student loan debt, compared with $37,172 for the student who graduated in 2016. Among the several consequences, the most notable are that young people in their twenties are not buying homes and they are unable to obtain jobs in their fields.

Individuals burdened by student loan debt aren’t willing to also take on a mortgage, if mortgage lenders even choose to accept them. Also, the workforce is filled with men and women who hold degrees in fields which may have nothing to do with their jobs, simply because they need an income to cover the cost of their high payments.

The latest student loan debt statistics for 2018 show how serious the issue has become – for borrowers across all demographics and age groups.

Student Loan Statistics: Overview

Total Student Loan Debt: $1.52 trillion

Total U.S. Borrowers with Student Loan Debt: 44.2 million

Student Loan Delinquency or Default Rate: 10.7% (90+ days delinquent)

Total Increase in Student Loan Debt in Most Recent Quarter: $29 billion

New Delinquent Balances (30+ days): $32.6 billion

New Delinquent Balances – Seriously Delinquent (90+ days): $31 billion

(Source: As of 1Q 2018, Federal Reserve & New York Federal Reserve)

What this means for the Christian who is called to life among the unreached, is that they are kept from the field.

Missionaries who are equipped with the degrees to be effective in their ministries are tethered to the States for more than a decade, paying off their loans before they can finally make it overseas. That is 10 or more years of a lost generation dying without the chance to hear the Gospel. 

Why not send them without the degree? Sixty percent of unreached people groups live in what are called “closed,” or “creative access” countries. This means, higher education is essential. A doctor, engineer, teacher or business owner will gain access while the name “missionary” will not.

“What this means for the Christian who is called to life among the unreached, is that they are kept from the field.”

Why not send them with the debt? Most missionary-sending agencies cap the amount of debt one can be sent with at around $15,000. When the national average of total debt for a graduate is more than double this number, the question of how remains unanswered. Even if a missionary goes with debt, on average, within two years they will be forced to come back to raise more finances to make certain their payments are covered.

We are left with a crisis within a crisis. There are capable, educated and trained men and women who are called and ready to share the Gospel among unreached people but they are chained. Meanwhile, their peers surround them, working in roles they didn’t earn an education for and living in homes they can not afford.

At The GO Fund, we believe we can overcome the crisis. Through generous Champions, individuals who give of their resources for the sake of the Gospel, we are eliminating the barrier of student loan debt for qualified missionaries. Click here to learn more about the unreached, or to find out how you can step in the gap between our missionary partners and the lost, learn more about becoming a Ropeholder.