I heard a stat last night that sounded a little sketchy. You know that sense, “This is probably made up, likely not documented, but certainly punchy.” It was something along the lines of, “More money is embezzled from Christian churches each year than is given to missions.”
Trouble is, it seems to be true:
“Applying findings on fraud from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), it is plausible that in 2023, approximately USD 62 billion, or 6.6% of all funds given by Christians globally (USD 945 billion), was lost to fraud and embezzlement. This is, unrelatedly, USD 7 billion more than the total income (USD 55 billion) of global foreign missions.”
This was written by my friend, Muslim Connect reader and possibly the smartest human I know, Todd Johnson. He co-directs the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is as reliable as the moon. If Todd says it, I believe it.
Sorry to drop a bummer on your day, but that’s depressing, isn’t it? I’m thinking of launching a fund raising campaign under the theme of, “This Year, Let’s Give More Than We Steal!”
Two take aways from this little tidbit of information:
- Ramadan is not just a time of fasting and feasting for many Muslims, but also giving. It’s also sadly a time for increased fraud associated with that giving. Let’s pray that the money Muslims give to zakat this month would neither be stolen nor used for nefarious purposes, but would put food in the mouths of hungry kids.
- If you’re in leadership of a church, this is my gentle encouragement, sisters and brothers, to check your systems and processes. If you need more “snake smarts” in how your money is handled, get it. Dr. Johnson has some starting points at the end of this article. Find additional ideas here.