Creative missions support

A few snippets from our fundraising experiences relating to creative giving:

* My wife’s father was, when we began fundraising, a car salesman and a pastor. I thought this a very humorous combination, but if you knew the man it made perfect sense. He called us one day, before we’d moved to Arkansas, and said he wanted to buy us a car in order to support us.

That was the same car we felt compelled to sell, as much as we didn’t really want to, as detailed in this post. When he told me this on the phone, which I had answered, I listened and quickly handed the receiver to my wife! I, obviously, have a closer relationship with my father-in-law now (his proposal was less than a year in to our marriage), and would feel more comfortable than I did then discussing such things.

* A lady in our cell group with a hair-cutting salon cut our hair for free, as well as donating a computer to the church and instructing them to give us the value of the machine as a one-time gift (which we never actually got — and even she knew it wasn’t worth all that much — but the point of creativity remains).

* While meeting with a couple to present the ministry and ask for support, they told us how much of an inspiration we were to them at the point in life they found themselves. This was very encouraging to me, and they also support us financially!

* Just after moving to Arkansas, my wife needed some dental work to the tune of $800. We didn’t have $800; in fact, our expenses were more than her job brought in while I raised support full-time. I don’t know how, but we didn’t ever go backwards.

One night after attending a birthday party, friends of ours pulled us aside and asked to pay for the crown. It was a tearjerker, completely unexpected, and for a while I couldn’t remember how they even knew she needed the work. I finally remembered sharing with the men in our cell group my frustration in not being able to provide this for my wife. To God be the glory.

* More recently, my wife and I strove intently to finish paying off my student loans. I knew of at least one other person whose loans were paid by a donor. For more than a year I mulled over the idea of asking our donors and churches to help out in this way before I felt the time was right.

When I finally asked, I asked two churches to pay off the remainder of the school loans. The response from the churches was very slow, it seemed to me anyway. However, a lady on our mailing list, after reading our monthly prayer email noting the situation, took it to mean we were asking her. She sent $1,000 towards the debt.

After some more months had passed, I finally received an answer from the second church. The other church had already said “no,” and by the time the second answered we’d paid a significant amount off ourselves. The same week the second church declined our request, three checks came in from individuals totaling $1,350 — including another $1,000 from the aforementioned donor. This was almost equal to the $1,500 I asked the church for.

In the end, the loans were paid off after four-and-a-half years, on a ten year loan.