The answer is yes. Someone has to pay for the missionaries to go overseas. Either they raise the money themselves or they are part of a denomination that uses something like the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program.

Paul deal with this very question in 1 Corinthians 9. Although he supported himself by making tents, he understood that he and Barnabas had the right to ask for financial support as others were doing.

Now this doesn’t mean that every technique used to raise support is justified or that every appeal made is a good one. I’m simply dealing with the larger question. Do missionaries have the right to ask for support? Yes. Should churches support those who desire to preach the gospel in other lands? Yes. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 says this directly:

Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.