From the Memo Board: February 2024

Dates to Know

February 1 – 1099 Forms and other tax documentation for the 2023 tax year are available on Secure Cloud.

February 1 – January Financial Reports will be due for Non-Resident Missionaries. This includes FNPO Reports for those with Foreign Non-Profit Organizations.

March 1 – January Financial Reports will be due for US Missionaries. This includes FNPO Reports for those with Foreign Non-Profit Organizations.

March 1 – February Financial Reports will be due for Non-Resident Missionaries. This includes FNPO Reports for those with Foreign Non-Profit Organizations.

April 8-12 – Family Fellowship Week at Caraway Conference Center in Sophia, NC.

New Excel Templates for Financial Reports

A new Excel template for the year 2024 will be available on February 15. This will give us time to review the need for any possible updates. January financial reports for US Missionaries will be due on March 1. Should you wish to complete your January report before the new template is available, you are welcome to submit it on the 2023 template. However, starting with the February report please be sure to use the new template.

Financial Status Report

We have uploaded a Financial Status Report to your SecureCloud account, showing figures for the fourth quarter of 2023. This is meant to show you the financial details that we have on file, such as your support estimate and the average amount of support you received this past quarter. This is the information we provide to pastors who may call about your ministry. We ask that all missionaries update their support estimate once every four years, or as their lives and ministries change. Please review this information and contact us if you have any questions.

Benefits of Financial Reports for US Citizens

The Monthly Financial Report (MFR) is the tool that US Citizen Missionaries can use to become accountable to WWNTBM for their reimbursable expenses, rather than having all funds listed as personal earnings. Over the course of 2023, 73% of those eligible chose to submit MFRs. By doing so, they were able to reduce their 1099 Personal Earnings by a combined average of 23.67%. If you are not currently utilizing MFRs and would like information about how to begin, please contact our office.

IRS Information For the 2023 Tax Season

The IRS has issued several notices about this year’s tax season. Please click here to view the information from the IRS.

We encourage all missionaries who are subject to US Taxes to contact your tax preparer and begin the filing process as soon as possible.

Preparing and Filing Taxes for US Missionaries

Please note that, while our Office Staff is familiar with many of the IRS regulations that affect missionaries, we are not authorities on the subject. We will attempt to assist our missionaries in any way possible; however, questions that are beyond the scope of your mission’s status are best directed to a tax professional.

We will provide you with the following information at the end of January. Please watch for emails in the coming days with details on how and when this will be distributed. You may wish to submit this to your tax preparer:

      • A copy of your 1099
      • A year-to-date Summary of the MFR information that you have submitted to the Office. This can be especially helpful if you have completed Categories 17-22, as many of those categories can affect your personal taxes. This will show your Personal Earnings Calculations for the year, as well as Housing Allowance information and details of estimated taxes we may have submitted for you during the year. There may also be notices on this document specifically for you and your tax preparer about any situations we are aware of that may impact your tax filing.

You should also provide your tax preparer with the following:

      • List of the dates that you were in the US vs. out of the country during the year.
      • Details of any Housing Expenses, to be used in addition to the Approved Housing Allowance for completing Worksheet 1 of IRS Publication 517.
      • Information on any retirement plans that you may have contributed to during the year, or that you have received a distribution from during the year.
      • Names and Social Security Numbers of all family members.
      • Names and dates of any family births or deaths (children and spouses), as well as whether you were married during the year.
      • US Treasury Department regulations require that if you have any foreign bank accounts, and if the sum total of all of your foreign accounts has ever been $10,000 or more at any time during the year, you should fill out a TD-F90-22.1 Form. Further information is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov.
      • You may also need to complete Form 8938, which deals with foreign assets.
      • If you participated in the Healthcare Marketplace, you will need to provide your tax preparer with Form 1095-A.

Request Your Absentee Ballot

Did you know that many U.S. federal elections for the House of Representatives and Senate have been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by absentee voters? Click here to register for a Federal Post Card Application for an absentee ballot. Submitting the FPCA allows you to request absentee ballots for all elections for federal offices (President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives) including primaries and special elections during the calendar year in which it is submitted. All local election officials in all U.S. states and territories accept the FPCA.

Graphics, Website, and Social Media Design Services

Josiah Hill is a student at Ambassador Baptist College with a desire to help Baptist churches and ministries in graphic design, website design, and social media. His rates are $15/hour, plus additional set fees depending on the project. For information, you may contact him at [email protected].

Uplift

Three Remembrances in the Race by Fred Daniel

Encouragement in the Lord’s Work by Mike Renfrow

 

Divine Love Would Have Put You There

by John O’Malley

Years ago, I came across a statement by Charles Spurgeon in his Morning and Evening devotional. He repeated the quote in a New Park Street Pulpit Sermons sermon.

The quote helps my mind understand inexplicable situations and human wondering. The quote from the New Park Pulpit series is:

“Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, God would have put you there. He puts you in the most suitable place, and if you had had the picking of your lot half-an-hour afterwards, you would have come back and said, “Lord, choose for me, for I have not chosen the best after all.”

We, in ministry, can easily allow our minds to wonder in moments of attrition, moments of despair, and moments of difficulty. We wonder, did I miss it? Did God miss it? What is happening?

I don’t know what is happening in your ministry this week, month, or year. But I am sure, had any other condition been better, God would have put you there.

Perhaps your current affliction concerns people, physical health, or financial stability. Whatever your concern about where you are, know this: had any other condition been better, divine love would have put you there.

Yours for the harvest,

John O’Malley

If this article has been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. O’Malley to let him know.