Minimum Pay & Labour Day

On Sunday we shall be celebrating Labour Day where as a denomination we honour our full-time workers especially our pastors in our midst. What is there to celebrate if a local church can’t even pay its pastor a minimum wage of RM1,200.00 per month when we claim and proclaim a God of blessings and He blesses those who believe in Him? I can well understand some local churches can’t afford to pay their pastors minimum pay, thus herein lies the role of those in authority to ensure funds are allocated to top up the salaries of pastors, at least to the minimum wage level. We are talking about a bare minimum. Most people in town can’t survive with double the amount with a small family. We are very much left behind in that the new minimum wage gazetted yesterday comes to effect next year for those organisations with less than 5 employees. The new minimum wage is RM1,500 and it is getting almost unattainable for many churches in the rural areas. We need a leadership of Joseph’s calibre whereby in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33, God promises to bless Joseph and those of faith like Joseph with blessings above and blessings beneath. Blessings from the mountains and blessings from the valleys. Do not think for once God does not care for His workers. Paul, the apostle said it was not for oxen that the Word was written but it is written for God’s labourers in His harvest fields. There must be a concerted effort from the whole Church, all levels of leadership and with unity of purpose and Joseph-like leadership we will see new graduates and newly appointed pastors paid with a bare minimum at the very least and we shall strive to see how to improve the welfare of many senior pastors serving for decades with low pay and zero savings. One pastor texted me and he had served for 30 years since his early 20s and he just started to build his house in his village. He told me he planned to complete it in 10 years for his retirement as the little savings and whatever he had he put into building a house for his old age.