Banking from the Field

As the US dollar weakens against many foreign currencies, missionaries in those countries are essentially experiencing a drop in financial support. This according to a recent Christianity Today article, “Missionary Money: Easier to Give, Worth Less than Ever.”

One example: Income for US missionaries serving in China is down 25 percent in recent years due to the dollar’s decline against the Chinese yuan. “In 24 years of missionary ministry, I have never seen things as tough as they are now,” said one missionary leader.

The article also reports an encouraging trend. While the value of many missionaries’ financial support is down, they do have quicker access to the funds that are donated to their ministries. More and more donors are giving electronically, and missionaries no longer have to wait for checks to clear.

“When we served inIndonesia, we got paid once a quarter,” said Elmer Lorenz, chief operations officer for The Evangelical Alliance Mission, which supports more than 600 missionaries. “Getting our money was an arduous process. Today we pay everyone electronically.”

Some financial institutions are working to provide missionaries with easier, more economical access to their funds. Quoting the article: “The Assemblies of God maintains a credit union that enables its missionaries to withdraw salary payments for less than the wire transfer fees at a commercial bank.”

ECCU has taken similar steps, eliminating fees for international Visa® over-the-counter cash withdrawals or ATM withdrawals (international or domestic) from their ECCU checking accounts and offering affordable electronic payment services like wire transfers. If you’re interested in the details, you’ll find them on our personal banking website.

What steps are you taking to counter the decline in value of the dollar against currency in the country where you’re serving?

A few months ago, we were traveling through Italy (we live in Greece serving Muslim refugees) to a conference in Switzerland. We had stopped for church in Treviso and afterwards met a missionary who was going to help us find the right train to Venice. As we shared lunch together at a sidewalk café, the conversation wandered down a familiar path…how do you do your banking? Does your bank charge you ATM fees? Do they have a decent online system? Are they helpful when your need is urgent? 

This conversation comes up every time we meet someone new. Banking is tricky in a foreign country. You have so much to think about—currency exchange rates, international ATM fees, whether the ATM near you will accept your card, the time difference between you and your financial institution. Is it cheaper to wire the money to a local bank and pay wire fees, or to take cash directly out of the ATM and pay withdrawal fees?  And there’s always the lingering thought in the back of your mind that you’re spending other people’s money and you don’t want to waste it. 

Here’s one real-life example of the kind of banking realities missionaries like us face. Our landlord wants the rent money paid by interbank transfer, so we have a Greek bank account, even though we read in the papers that Greek banks are insolvent. So we try to only put money in that account long enough to pay the bills. 

I am by no means an expert, although when I lived in the US I worked for ECCU. In those days I always balanced my checkbook and had a plan. I felt competent. Now that I live in Greece, my checkbook is locked in a drawer somewhere unless I’m on furlough, because no one in Greece takes checks. We live frugally here and rely on the Internet to know if we have enough money in our account. Frankly, we’re too busy doing ministry to spend much time trying to estimate our bank balance. There are too many variables and it just frustrates me to no end. 

Because missionaries like us face all these uncertainties and realities when banking in a foreign country, we know the importance of having a bank you can trust. This is why, during conversations like the one we had in Treviso, we highly recommend ECCU to other missionaries. You don’t want to be as far from home as we are without someone you trust watching your accounts. If our Visa card is compromised, we know they will track us down and tell us. If an ATM machine eats our debit card, they will figure out a secure way to get us another one. 

Yes, we pay fees for some of our financial services (although fewer now with ECCU’s recent changes), but when you are spending other people’s money, it makes more sense to pay fees to a financial institution that invests in ministry than to a banking giant. 

Banking internationally may not be easy. In our case, “not easy” includes having a Greek bank account and one at the credit union that holds the mortgage on the house we own and rent out in the US. But it can become easier when you choose the right bank. 

For this former banker, that choice is easy.

Lisa and Kenn Dirrim are missionaries with International Teams (Elgin, Illinois) to Muslim refugees in Athens, Greece, where they have served for more than four years.