Grateful Missionary
Lately I have been reading over Blogs written by my squadmates and other World Racers who still haven't launched on their adventure yet. The major theme in most of them has been fundraising. Asking for money, but also giving thanks and glory to God for the money they have received already. While I feel I don't want to use up the time you spend reading my Blog always asking for funds, I think it is time I let everybody know how much I appreciate the money that has already been donated toward my trip.
The scariest part of deciding to go on the World Race was the fundraising. I'm my heart I knew that God had called me to this trip, but who was going to give money to a guy who just a few months before couldn't have any money in his possession without taking it strait to a drug dealer? I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that there were people out there with that kind of faith and trust. Not just faith that I wouldn't squander their money (the money goes to an account with AIM, so it isn't in my hands anyway), but faith that I would actually go through with this trip and not just flake out like I have with so many other plans throughout my life. I was a junkie and I'll be the first person to tell you that you can't count on a junkie.
So, what was different? How had this guy who couldn't be trusted with $20 a few months before gained the trust of all of these people who have already donated their hard earned money to his trip. The short answer is God. The only answer is God. I knew from the beginning that I had to be brutally honest about who I was, who I am, and how God completely changed my life. Sharing testimony is never easy, but it is what God asked of me, so I went into it as open as I could be. God was faithful. When I felt like I didn't posses the courage to tell the world about all of the horrible things I did in my past, the Holy Spirit gave me the words. The truth poured out of me onto that page without me even thinking much about it. The amazing part was that people read it and believed that God had really changed me. I'm naturally skeptical, especially when it comes to addicts changing their ways, so it was hard for me to believe the support that came from people after that. Not only did God change me, He also gave people who knew me during those dark years the ability to believe that I had actually changed this time. That is truly a miracle.
Now that I had written that Testimony Blog and it got spread around the Facebook universe, money miraculously started coming in. People who I would have never expected started donating money to send me out into the mission field. Some of these people I haven't even seen or talked to in fifteen years. It was shocking. It still is kind of shocking. I even got a couple of anonymous donations, one of which was $1,000. As far as fundraising goes, I haven't really even done that much yet. I write this Blog and I post stuff to Facebook. It is only October and I already have $2,865 of the $16,285 that I need to be fully funded. I am amazed at how faithful and supportive you all are. I will actually be doing some fundraisers in the near future. I will keep y'all posted on what they are. I no longer have any anxiety about the fundraising part of this adventure that I have been called to. I am grateful to all of you who have donated financially and all of you who have supported me through prayer. It means more to me than you could ever know. As always, thank you for taking the time to read my Blog and for supporting me. Love Y'all!!!
