As I prepare for the upcoming summer, I have been tasked with raising $5400 of support by May 1; that gives me just over a month to raise the funds from the time of posting this.
The Temptation
I confess that as someone who is supposed to be paying attention to the quantity of funding coming in, it is very easy to uphold a reductionist attitude toward support raising. It can easily be boiled down to be a means to an end. This is such a counter-intuitive way to think about it!
When I neglect the people on the other side of my invitation for support, I miss out on so many things.
“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.1”
Partnership
Let’s take a look at one of the first-ever New Covenant short-term missionaries in Scripture. His name was Epaphroditus, and a short blurb was written about him in Philippians 2:25-30.
According to Paul, Epaphroditus was sent to him in Rome by the church of Philippi, and he was able to deliver necessary supplies to Paul to assist with his ministry. Although it does not specify how, Epaphroditus nearly dies of illness while on this journey. I want to highlight what Paul says about him though:
“I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need.”2
Epaphroditus was used as the tangible component of the church of Philippi’s partnership with Paul. Recall that in chapter 1 of Philippians,3 Paul writes about his partnership with the church of Philippi. Here are some of the things he writes about them as his supporters:
- Every time he thinks of them, he thanks God. (v. 3-4)
- He considers them partners in the gospel. (v. 5)
- He reminds the church of the perfect work of Jesus in them being brought to completion via sanctification. (v. 6)
- He considers them partakers of grace. (v. 7)
My hope and prayer is that if you choose to partner with me in prayer or with financial support, please let me know and reach out! I would love to pray for you as you partake in the grace that God has bestowed upon you and others in your proximity. We can partner together to make known the riches of the Lord’s kindness. I certainly have been forgiven much, so it only makes sense that I love others much by sharing a salvific message with them, to the glory of God.
Reducing the supporter-supportee relationship to a transaction yields minimal fruit, if any. There are so many blessings that come from that rich fellowship, and the Paul-Philippi example is no exception.
An Invitation to Co-Labor
My heartbeat behind support raising is to invite people into ministry through prayer and financial support. I hope to engage in mutual encouragement and prayer to labor and yearn for the kingdom of God on this earth together, and the for redemption of the lost. I pray that reports of my efforts would elicit or inspire a Spirit-driven desire within you to engage in gospel work where you are at. Thank you to everyone who has set such a phenomenal example for me in my upbringing of this.
BOLD Faith
I believe that if God is bigger than all I can ask or imagine, and that if He calls me His son, He would have no problem with me asking for great things in bold faith. God is investing in His children to yield a return of 30, 60, or 100 fold! Investors want their investments to yield 100-fold returns! That is exactly why I am inviting everyone I can into this partnership, asking for as much as they are able to give cheerfully. I am so excited to see what God does this summer when He chooses to move in the regions of central and eastern Europe. I truly hold onto this exhortation in 2 Corinthians:
‘“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”4
Nice Theory, but What About Practice?
How will I invite you into this?
If you haven’t already received one, I’d love to send you a support letter! It gives details of my trip, what I’ll be doing, and what to pray for as I prepare for my summer missionary internship.
Additionally, if you feel led, I invite you to give! You can click here to find the online donation portal.
I would be remissed if our contact stopped at those two pathways. I encourage you to go to the home page and fill out the contact form with a message desribing how I can stay in contact with you. I can also add you to the subscriber list for when I post for this blog! This blog will be updated weekly while I am in Europe, so stay tuned for prayer requests!
Lastly, my phone number is on the contact page as well. I’d love to hear from you with any prayer requests you have that I can be praying for. This will help me be aware of what God is doing in your life, and how I can encourage you!
My cell phone number is +1 (480) 320-8898. Text me anytime!
How I am Fighting for This Posture
Josiah Venture actually had me take a small reflective course on support raising. Support raising can be uncomfortable because you don’t see the other side of what you believe God is calling you into, until you get there. In other words, I don’t know if I will have all of my funds raised by May 1, but I know that God can provide. This is an opportunity to trust in His provision, even though I cannot see the outcome. This is inherently uncomfortable, but that is okay! In my support raising course, I was asked to chart out a few lies I was fighting to reject. I was then asked to rebuke those same lies with the truth. Here are some of the things I wrote:
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Lie 1: I can control the things that truly aren’t within my control.
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Truth 1: At the end of the day, I do not control how many people decide to support me, but I can be faithful by inviting them into this process and journey with me.
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Lie 2: I can passively wait for God to provide support.
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Truth 2: Faithfulness is an active posture. I still need to invite support from others, and trust God will take care of the rest. Money or prayer from others does not ‘fall out of the sky’ in this way.
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Lie 3: My prayers do not do anything in the support raising process.
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Truth 3: Prayer is not preparation for the work. Prayer IS the work. 5 God invites us to petition for His provision as an act of faith and worship.
An Expression of Gratitude
Ι hope this post is able to unpack the nuance surrounding my support raising journey for you. I pray that as you consider joining what God is doing in Central and Eastern Europe, that God will begin to unveil things in your own heart, that you yourself may grow in intimacy with Him. He is the true fount of our salvation; He is our portion! Thanks be to God, for enabling us to co-labor with Him as broken yet mighty vessels of grace, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
χάριτος καἰ εἰρήνη,
(grace and peace)
- Carson