Wayne Richards on Habitat for Missions and How God Can Turn Income Obstacles into Boundless Opportunities

If your church or ministry could no longer afford to pay your salary, and you had to find a way to earn income outside the church, would that feel like a major disappointment and personal failure to you?

What if, instead, it’s a God-ordained opportunity to use your skills in new ways to impact people you wouldn’t otherwise meet and provide a financial blessing for your family?

Today we’ll hear Wayne Richards’ story of how he experienced a 70% decrease in income and how God transformed that loss into amazing new ministry and financial opportunities.

And we’ll learn how Wayne helps churches and ministries raise funds for missionaries and ministry projects through buying, renovating, and flipping houses, in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show. Let’s get started.

Links for Today's Show

• Wayne's Website: Habitat for Missions
• My Latest Post: Helping Pastors Find More Fulfillment: My Tribute to Dan Miller
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee!

Feeling Stuck? Maybe You Need a New Perspective!

Are you feeling like something's missing, but you're not quite sure what it is? Maybe in your personal life, career, relationships, or spiritual journey. And you just can't put your finger on what it is, or what to do about it?

A few days ago my wife and I ordered a Detroit-style deep dish ultimate supreme pizza for dinner. If you’re not familiar, Detroit-style pizza has an iconic square shape, and the pieces have crunchy, cheesy corners. So good.

As we started eating our first slice, we had a feeling that something was wrong...something was missing. It looked OK from the top, and it didn’t taste bad really, but it definitely tasted different. With each bite we tried to discern what it was but we were stumped.

Then I looked at my slice from a different perspective - from the side - and I immediately noticed what was missing. There was no sauce on this pizza!

When we feel like something's missing, it's helpful to look at things from a different perspective. And that's why a coach is so helpful - because they help us make sense of what's going on, see problems and opportunities in a new light, and clarify our next steps moving forward.

If you're feeling stuck in a rut, or that something’s missing right now, feel free to reach out. I would love to connect and see how I might encourage you. Click here to request your Free Coaching Session with Rich. 

Introducing Wayne Richards

I’m excited to have my friend Wayne Richards on the More Than a Pastor Show. Wayne is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church, and was very influential in my ministry formation 25 years ago as the founder and director of an innovative ministerial education program.

Today Wayne is the executive director of Habitat for Missions, an organization that helps churches and ministries raise money for missionaries or special "God-sized" projects by flipping houses.

Wayne is also a co-vocational ministry leader who earns the majority of his income through work outside of his ministry role with Habitat. And he has so many stories to share of how God has taken something that could be seen as a personal financial disappointment and transformed it into amazing entrepreneurial opportunities that impact the lives of people he’d never cross paths with otherwise while providing for his family’s financial needs.

You can learn more about Wayne and his work at www.habitatformissions.com. And now let’s dive into our conversation with Wayne Richards

Highlights From the Full Interview: How God Can Turn Income Obstacles into Opportunities

Innovation in Pastoral Education and Formation

Wayne and I reminisced about our shared history through the FLAME (Fellowship of Leaders Acquiring Ministry Education) program of The Wesleyan Church, which he founded and led from 1998 to 2013, and I was a student in from 1999 until my ordination in 2005.

FLAME provided a pathway for second-career adult ministerial students —ranging from assembly line workers to NASA scientists—to explore their calling and be equipped for ministry through accessible, affordable courses taught in formats convenient to working adults who couldn't participate in a traditional seminary model, in the days before online learning.

I have many fond memories of my time in FLAME, not only for the education I received from wonderful professors, but also from the long-term relationships developed with many of my fellow students.

The FLAME program ended with the rise of online seminary options. But Wayne and I wonder if the younger generations today, who deeply value offline experiences (see 4 Things the Church Can Learn from the Millennial & Gen Z Revival of Barnes & Noble), might trend away from online and back toward in-person programs like FLAME in the future.

Habitat for Missions: Flipping Houses to Raise Money for Ministry

Wayne has served with Habitat for Missions (HFM) for seven years, first as its director of operations, and for the last two and a half years as CEO.

The ministry was founded in 2005 by Bill and Daphne Foster, who had been missionaries to Australia for 31 years, and had come to be missionaries in residence at Indiana Wesleyan University.

During their time at IWU they had over 200 cross-cultural students who were studying to be used somewhere around the world, and one of the biggest challenges for those students was finding enough financial support to be able to go on their mission.

Daphne came up with an idea: Let's take proceeds from the sale of our home in Australia and buy a house near campus, and invite these students to help us renovate it. And when the house sells, we'll share the proceeds with them according to how much work they put in, to help fund their mission.

Now nearly 25 years later, Habitat for Missions raises funds for churches and ministries through various housing projects that involve renovating and flipping houses. The ministry channels 90% of the profits from these endeavors towards supporting missions, churches, and community projects both locally and globally.

I just love the ministry's model of using volunteer labor from churches to renovate houses, thereby multiplying impact through the proceeds. Wayne highlighted the transformative effects of these projects, emphasizing how they support God-sized dreams and contribute to community revival efforts, like the one in Westport, Indiana.

Recent HFM Success Stories

Over nearly 25 years HFM has partnered in more than 60 house projects and raised $1.4 million dollars for missionaries and ministry projects. Here are just a few highlights:

• A church of 50 people in Georgetown, Kentucky raised $100,000 to build a secondary school in Uganda.
• One year later God provides the church with another house and they raised another $100,000 for a vocational school in Uganda.
• A couple of weeks ago in South Bend, Indiana, they moved a historic house near the University of Notre Dame campus that had once been the home of famed football coach Knute Rockne. The area is being redeveloped and the house was slated for the landfill until Wayne talked to the developer who agreed to give it to HFM. They moved the house seven blocks away to a new site. HFM is partnering with an area Christian school where students, parents, and people from the community will renovate the home. When it is sold, 90% of the profit will go to that Christian school for their first-ever gymnasium. 
• In another area of South Bend, 1,000 vacant homes were bulldozed and the city sold lots cheaply to developers who would build affordable housing. HFM was given two lots and now they're building their first completely new house. When they sell it for $199,999, it will provide affordable housing to a family and 40,000 in profit to benefit missionary Brian Cushman from World Gospel Mission, who is launching a ministerial education program for pastors in 13 Spanish-speaking countries.
• When Pastor Jeff Moore came to Westport Wesleyan Church in Westport, Indiana, there were only eight members. Then God gave him a big vision to reach more people in his community by buying bounce houses and hosting movies in the park on Wednesday nights through the summer, and by converting a fellowship hall into a cafe and youth space. They recently completed a house flip project with HFM which funded the bounce houses and a beautiful new cafe and youth space. In the last year their average attendance has grown to around 100 and they've celebrated 20 salvations and 15 baptisms!

I just love this innovative model of buying, renovating, and flipping houses, using volunteer labor, and channeling the proceeds into God-sized dreams. And I hope I can get involved in a project with Habitat for Missions one day.

How God Transformed a 70% decrease in income into amazing opportunities for ministry and income

When Wayne came to Habitat for Missions from a previous ministry, he experienced a 70% decrease in salary and benefits, as the HFM staff are responsible for raising the majority of their salaries.

So in addition to trying to raise support, Wayne had to immediately think of ways to earn income outside of HFM. He began to explore the gig economy, trying things like Uber, Lyft, Shipt, Amazon Flex, etc.

It wasn't long before he came to realize that God was not only providing for him financially through these gigs, making up for that large financial gap he had, but he was also opening a huge new area of ministry for Wayne.

Wayne has dozens of stories of how God used him to minister to the needs of others while he was driving for Uber and Lyft. Here's one example:

Wayne is in downtown Indianapolis Ubering during the afternoon rush when thousands of people are leaving the city for their homes in the suburbs. He's stuck in traffic and he needs to use the restroom. He starts looking for a place where he can stop and he senses God tell him, "Go to McDonalds." And he sees a McDonalds several blocks ahead on the other side of the road, but there's a Burger King that's closer and on the same side. He senses God telling him to go to McDonalds, but his body is telling him he'd better go to the closer option, BK.

Wayne heads to the BK, parks the car, and runs inside to the restroom, only to discover signs on the doors saying the restrooms are out of order.

And he senses the Lord say again, "Go to McDonalds." So he goes to McDonalds. Miraculously, the traffic opens up for him to be able to get back on the street also turn left a couple of blocks later into the McDonalds parking lot.

After taking care of his business, he decides that while he's there he might as well get a bite to eat. He sees a man in a wheelchair who seems downtrodden, and he senses the Lord telling him to talk to him. So he gets down on his knees so he's at the man's level and asks him how he's doing. Wayne discerns that the man feels like he has no worth or value, that no one cares for him.

Wayne blesses him, telling him he's a precious child of God who is loved and valued. And after maybe a 5 minute conversations, as Wayne leaves, he's amazed how the onlookers nearby were touched and blessed by Wayne's kindness. And he sensed God's pleasure for being obedient.

Encouragement for Pastors Facing Income Challenges: Embrace Perceived Obstacles as Unexpected Opportunities

I asked Wayne what advice he'd give to to pastors who are facing serious income challenges today. His encouragement: Don't focus on the obstacle. Focus on the opportunity.

"Don't focus on the obstacle. The obstacle is that you may feel like you're lesser of a person because you now can't provide through your calling, and you may look at that and be angry at God because you say, 'Why did you take away my salary, God? You said you'd provide for me.' That's an obstacle. For me, when I looked at it, I had to instead focus on the opportunity.

You can either focus on the obstacle and become depressed, think you're lesser of a pastor, think that maybe your calling is in question because of this financial obstacle. When the truth is, God is placing in front of you an opportunity to be more than what you've been doing in your role. He's going to expand your area of ministry like in the prayer of Jabez, 'Expand the territory.'

Instead of looking at life through a narrow lens that says, 'This is the way church ministry works. This is who we are. We do these things, and we get paid this much,' what if God wanted to expand your territory, put you in opportunities to make extra money that would help supplement your income, and at the same time liberate your idea about ministering to others outside the four walls of the church?

The obstacle will leave you in the muck of discontent, in the muck of self-worth that's being destroyed. It will leave you in anger, and your relationship with God will actually hurt if you allow that obstacle to control your thinking and what you focus on.

It was very easy; I could have done that. And there were temptations to do that when I lost 70% of my income. But instead, God presented in front of me boundless opportunities. What I didn't realize was in those opportunities, God would expand my opportunity to touch others and make a godly difference. That has been huge."

Connecting with Wayne

Was there something that Wayne said that really spoke to you, a key insight you want to spend time reflecting on, or take action on? If so, why don’t you share this episode with a colleague, or share it on your social media, and let others know how it impacted you? That helps us spread the word about the show.

Wayne and I would love to hear from you as well! You can connect with Wayne at www.habitatformissions.com and send me an email at [email protected].