I have an idea for the next Hollywood blockbuster. The setting is in Samaria during Old Testament times. Imagine a hot, arid land that is parched of any form of vegetation, maybe even an old tumbleweed going down the street. The people in the town are hard and rugged, many have a hopeless look in their eye, and their skin is taunt over their bones; there has been a famine in the land for quite a long time now. It has gotten so bad that the unwanted parts of animals (AKA a donkey’s head) are selling for a king’s ransom. To top that off, they hear the sound of a thundering army outside of their gates. It appears the Syrians got word of their hopeless situation and decided to try to attack the town. So within the gates, they are going to starve, and outside of the gates, they are going to be killed by an army. Not a fabulous situation if you ask me.
In the town, there is a prophet named Elisha who has done some pretty cool things in the past such as healing a man of leprosy and providing oil that doesn’t run out for a widow. Elisha surveys the situation in Samaria and announces that tomorrow food will be flowing plentiful in the streets. Who is this nut? Picture people with quite the skeptical looks on their faces.
Act II: night has fallen and people are trying to sleep in spite of hunger pains and the sounds of a giant, murderous army outside their front gate. The Syrian army is pretty boisterous, knowing it’s only a matter of time until they have the town in their grasp. So after a night of pre-celebration drinking and eating, the Syrians nod off to sleep. A few hours later, though, they are awoken with the terrifying sound of thousands of hoof beats and chariots headed right at them. In utter terror, they flee in their PJ’s and with their teddy bears, leaving everything else behind, not giving the noise a second thought. What the movie audience soon finds out, though, is the sound of an approaching army is not real, but instead, the God of the Israelites sent the noise and terror in order to get the Syrians to flee. These big tough men just scampered off because of IMAGINARY hoof beats. To top it off, because they left all their stuff, the next morning, food is flowing plentiful in Samaria and Elisha turns out to be correct, the Lord has provided.
Why tell you my Hollywood blockbuster (which by the way can be found in 2 Kings 7, plagiarized from God a bit…or a lot)? Because it mirrors a lot of my World Race fundraising journey. We have heard me say it a million times, I dreamt of doing the Race for YEARS, always said I would do it if I won the lotto, but no way on earth was I going to fundraise and actually trust God to provide. Not a chance, but hats off to those who do. So this summer, after feeling called to the Race, applying, and getting accepted, I assembled a war room of my top advisors to my house for lasagna and war planning aka fundraising 101. The mountain of money needed looked utterly impossible to me. So I sat them all down and started listing all my fundraising ideas, pretty much suggesting I do an event every night and run myself ragged trying to earn the money and coax people into giving. Each and every person that night, in their own way, suggested, why not ask people and then wait see what God does? Why not pray big things and see what God does? Why not trust if God brought you this far, He will provide? My mind exploded, you mean not work every second of the day on it, but just trust God will provide? So I gave it a shot. I sent out some letters, made a FB page, and started telling my story to friends, family, random people on the plane, whoever would listen.
And that’s why I have gathered you all here today. I’m in awe and overjoyed to announce that I am FULLY FUNDED for my World Race journey. That’s right, generous supporters have given $16,250 for me to be fully funded and ready to go on this journey. And much like the Samarians in my Hollywood blockbuster, it happened in ways I never would have dreamt possible. It happened in the form of anonymous donors (thank you, sure hope you are reading this), it happened in the form of family, friends, co-workers, community, and more. It happened because people were generous and bought into this idea of what The Lord is doing. It happened because I follow a God who can send armies fleeing at the sound of imaginary hoof beats, who can invite fearful disciples to walk on water, and can take a girl obsessed with control, force her to a spot where she has none, and then provide in ways that have brought tears of gladness many times.
Thank you to everyone who gave. There is no way I can express to you how grateful I am that you would choose to invest and it is my prayer that you see what your investment does around the world. Every time I send a thank you letter, all I can think, is this falls far short of expressing my immense gratitude to you. You have forever challenged and changed the way I will give in the future after I have seen extreme generosity and sacrifice. I pray we get to celebrate what The Lord does around the world together!
And for other folks reading, what I would truly want the takeaway message of this post to be is don’t put God in a box. Don’t limit how God is going to come through or spend an unnecessary moment trying to come up with ways He will provide. If I had been in Samaria during that time, I probably would have spent all day putting baskets in the yard hoping it would rain manna because I’ve heard that worked in the past or I would have been scheming with neighbors about how to get food. It probably wouldn’t occurred to me to bow my head and ask my Father in heaven who promises He knows our needs and provides. Future and current fundraising Racers, God has a different fundraising plan for each of us. For some, it may be barely making every deadline and hustling lots and for others it may be fully funded way early. How we provides does not define you or your journey, it just means He handcrafted lessons just for you to learn.
Bummed to hear I am funded because you still wanted to give? Well there are quite a few people on my squad still trying to meet the next fundraising deadline. By this Friday, Dec 19, everyone must have $7,500 raised to launch with us in January. Consider reading the blogs of my teammates (links on left hand side) and giving to one of them. My teammates Jenni Murphy, Rachel Radack, and Sabrina Lyle are all still working to meet this Friday’s deadline!
Also, be looking throughout the year as we get to know local people, we may have squad wide fundraisers trying to meet the needs of folks abroad as well!
Praying after this experience that I continue putting myself in positions where I need to hear the hoof beats and get to see what God does. Will you join me?
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:16-17
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-33
