Letting go, letting God

I’ve eluded to this in previous posts already: I’m at a loss as to how to continue raising the rest of our support. We’ve been at it since November 2002 now, although the last couple years I haven’t put much effort into it.

I don’t know if this is because I’m somewhat jaded at the whole process — at the lack of actual giving in comparison to expected or hoped for giving (which raises inevitable questions of faith). I open my address book and just stare at the names, wondering what on Earth I should do next. Maybe it’s because we simply don’t know the right people. Maybe God has some other creative (see previous post) ways for us to subsist in the ministry other than relying solely on personal support.

Regardless, I’ve had an amazing peace about the whole situation. There is certainly a sense of urgency which needs to be conveyed; if we don’t have significant new support (an additional 25%) by the end of the year, we’re going to be in more than a bit of a predicament. Either I’ll have to slide back to part-time at the ministry and find another part-time job, my wife will have to find some regular income to supplement what will be a greatly reduced salary from the ministry, or I’ll be looking for a different line of work.

We remain convinced of our place in this ministry now and for the foreseeable future. So I’m not really thinking about that last option right now.

With this peace, I’ve also been more casual about asking people to support us. This may be a backlash against the very formal fundraising instruction we received — friends recently told me in an interview for Propel that “It seems to us that support raising shouldn’t require you to be people that you’re not” — or it may be related to conversations my wife and I have had about relying more on prayer then strategy (I suppose this is appropriate anyway, although I’m generally a very practical person and — like D.L. Moody in this area — am not the type to spend hours on my knees.).

And, perhaps and hopefully, it’s Spirit-led regardless of the how and why.

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.