AFES
Wednesday, 19 November, 2003
Philip made a comment on my last post that reminded me that not everyone knows what the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) actually does. You could just follow the link to find out but I'll tell you anyway. AFES is the national organisation that oversees a lot of the evangelical student groups on universities around Australia. It is part of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students which originally grew out of the student movement in England (I think). Head office coordinates the payment of salaries and the organisation of the national conference that occurs at the end of each year. All staffworkers, however, are expected to raise their own support. All money goes towards a central pool out of which staffworkers are paid. So AFES are committed paying Ben $x for the year. But if Ben raises more than this, the surplus goes to paying someone who hasn't been able to raise as much. Fundraising, therefore, is very much a team effort. If everyone is able to raise more than enough to support themselves, the surplus gets stored in reserve funds which are saved for a rainy day, or perhaps used to subsidise students who cannot otherwise afford to attend Mid Year Conference or National Training Event. However, this year AFES has hit something of a crisis as two major areas (Melbourne and Perth) have been unable to raise enough funds to support themselves. It is not that they are getting paid any more than we are in Wollongong and it is not that they are doing less than we are. It is just that people are not supporting them financially. As a result, AFES is not meeting budget and the reserve funds are now all gone. Staffworkers, realising the burden that they are placing on AFES, have started ringing up asking AFES not to give them their salaries anymore, and then gone on working without pay. They are really living by faith; I cannot imagine doing that. What does a staffworker do in this sort of position? Well it varies from campus to campus but the main goal of a staffworker's work is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus on campus, encourage Christians to grow in the likeness of Christ, training Christians in ministry skills, and to teach the Bible faithfully according to AFES' doctrinal statement. This may look like leading Bible studies (in faculty groups, language groups or residential college groups); preaching; running training courses in evangelism, following up new Christians, leading Bible study groups, etc.; sharing the gospel with strangers; meeting up with students one-on-one to read the Bible and pray; administration; writing articles; organising campus missions; maintaining websites, etc. Most of the major campuses have a senior staffworker or two who heads up a team of MTS trainees (people who want to be trained in ministry who wish to see whether it's something they could do full-time and in what capacity). So, at Wollongong, we have Evangelical Christian Union. The two senior staffworkers on campus are Richard and Matthew. Shaun also joins us part-time and works part-time at St. Michael's. Currently, there are three full-time MTS boys, three full-time MTS girls and four part-time MTS girls. And there's Phillip who does part-time administration for us. That makes 14 staff. Together we look after students (undergraduate and postgraduate) in 9 faculties and 4 of the university's residential colleges. Oh, and there's also an academic staff Bible study group. Part-time staff don't have to raise their own support—the idea being that, because they're part-time, they work part-time to support themselves. One might ask at this stage why not have everyone working part-time as it would solve the cashflow problem. The answer is that working part-time and doing ministry part-time is not ideal; it is preferable to do ministry full-time you can. This is because part-time work and part-time ministry is more exhausting, more demanding on your time, more demanding emotionally (switching gears all the time) and, I would argue, less effective. (I feel like I can authoritatively say all this given that I'm doing it now.) Anyway, I think I don't have to justify why AFES staffworkers should be financially supported by other people; I think Paul does that quite satisfactorily in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. If God's plan for the world is to unite all things under Christ (Ephesians 1:10), then it makes sense to be spending one's life working with him to achieve this goal. And it also therefore makes sense to pay other people who are highly capable to do it so that they are not burdened with the necessity of having to earn their own way. But I am recrossing previously trodden ground. Here endeth this post.Posted in: MTS
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Hi Karen,
I really like your post. It explains clearly what AFES is and about giving. I don’t think it’s a big deal to keep recrossing previously trodden ground, though, as we need constant reminding of why giving is a good thing! The hip-pocket is the last place to be converted!
Hugs,
George
One thing I get confused about giving - should I be spreading money around or give to a few concentrated areas/groups?
I give a vast majority of my “giving away money” to my home church and the rest to AFES, 10+ Club and CMS. Should I also be giving to more “social-welfare” minded organisations like Anglicare?
I seem to be only giving to “Word-based” ministries.
What do people think?
Some cynical person told me AFES = Australia’s Fastest Engagement Service.
Dear Elsie,
The argument I’ve heard (which I agree with, btw) is that others will give to ministries like Anglicare because it is tax-deductible, and even non-Christians can see the value of welfare based groups, but that only Christians committed to God’s word being preached will give to Anglicare.
But I’m happy for people to argue the case
Cheers,
George
Whoops, meant to say will give to other organisations not Anglicare!!
I reckon you should give what you can to your own church and other Biblically-sound organisations. As Anglicare is under a bit of financial stress at the moment, perhaps it is a good thing to give to Anglicare. Otherwise, I don’t know if there are really any giving-limiting criteria besides Biblical foundations, aims/activities, and current financial health.
Three people in my AFES group got engaged this year. I’m inclined to believe Deb (it’s like SUFM = Single Until Finally Married).
This might be slightly off-topic: What about other organisations aimed at helping the poor etc. that might be secular or not evangelical? Can we give to them? Or only Christian ones?
AFES staffworkers work really hard and are so encouraging to the students they train! I think that it’s important that we remember to support those on domestic mission fields as well as those overseas.
So come on Monday cause the wonderful cooks that I live with have vowed to produce some sweet desert for the occasion. :D
It’s the classic dilemma: social justice stuff vs. gospel work and which to give to. I personally think that both are good to give to but gospel work has priority since social justice will not ultimately meet humanity’s greatest need which is to be brought back into relationship with God. This is why most of our giving is to word-based ministries.
I do, however, sponsor a girl in the Philippines; I’ve been doing it for ... hmm ... I think it’s 6 or 7 years now because she’s as old as Ben’s sister and she’s now 16. I do this through Australian Baptist World Aid and I like them because, not only are they committed to feeding, clothing and educating this little girl, but also telling her about Jesus. I think it’s important that any organisation devoted to social justice should also be committed to sharing the gospel. Operation Christmas Child is another organisation that does this.