Well, you guessed it, this post is about fundraising. But, please don’t let that stop you from reading this post. Continue on, and maybe God will teach you something along the way, just like He’s taught me.
I frequently get asked what the hardest part about doing missions is. People expect my answer to be, being away from home for so long, not having a steady income because of having to take off of/quit work, the flights, jet lag, new cultures, or no/very little communication back home. They lean in, waiting for me to give some tear jerking statement as to how I’ll miss being with my mom on Mother’s Day, but instead, what they hear is one word: money. Hands down, the hardest part about going on mission adventures for me, is raising the support to do so. But Patricia, God will provide, and if it’s what He wants from you, then it’ll all work out. Thank you Sister Susan, for the obvious statement. I know that God will provide; it’s the thing that keeps getting me to sign up for mission adventures, asking people to partner with me financially, and preparing in faith for the upcoming trip ahead of me. What I don’t know, however, is how He will provide. If fundraising just involved me giving money out of an endless bank account to the missions organization, then I would have zero issues with fundraising. But, fundraising doesn’t just involve me, actually, it normally involves around 100 people. You see, in order for me to be obedient to what God is calling me to do, others also have to be obedient to what God is calling them to do.
Let me back up and explain what that means. When God told me to begin the application process for The World Race, I was like, “No way Jose”, I’m not about to leave in the middle of my college studies to go to 11 different countries for an entire year. Nope, nope, nope. Thanks for the invite God, but, I’ll pass. Maybe another time. After months of Him incessantly bringing up The World Race, I said, fine, but You’ll see God, it won’t work out, I won’t be accepted. Two weeks later, He said, you’ll see Patricia, it did work out, and you are now onto the interview process. Poop! But, God was gently changing my heart to more and more desire to go on The World Race (which will now be referred to as TWR, because I’m tired of typing it all out). By the time I finished the application, interview, background check, and reference interviews, I was bursting with anticipation to see if I had been accepted. I got the call while I was at work, and took it quickly (and yes, I did check with my boss first). As the lady at TWR offices told me I had been accepted, a tear slid down my face, and a huge smile broke out across my mouth, as I fully realized that God had been spending the last two years of my life preparing me for this very thing. I knew in that moment, that I was being obedient to what God was calling me to do next in my life.
So, you know the process it took for me to be obedient, but do you know that it also takes others going through a similar process to be obedient to what God has called me to do? Did you know that God may even be calling you to walk through that process? For me to go obediently to where God has told me to go, it takes many other people also being obedient to God. I have had many people tell me, don’t you know that I have bills to pay, money I need to save for family vacation, or that I’ve already given to other things financially? My response is always the same: yes. I know that people have many other financial obligations, and that to them, it may seem as if I’m not taking that into account, or that I simply don’t care about the other things they need money for. But, that’s not it at all. You see, I pray hard about which people I should ask to support me financially. I spend hours seeking God, asking Him to lead me to specific people He has in mind to give, and then I normally worry over if I really have a right to ask these people to give. I eventually let Jesus take those worries and anxious thoughts, and I ask said people. I get various responses, some being a simple no, others being a generous yes, all usually committing to pray for me. Truthfully, I value each answer. Yes, I’d love for each and every person I ask to support me monetarily, but I value each answer, because I’m trusting that they, too, have spent time with Jesus, asking Him if this is something He wants them to do, and then being obedient in that.
So, Patricia, why in the world did you decide to post an entire blog dedicated to the topic of fundraising? Well, for two reasons. One, because I know that there are many people out in the world who love Jesus, but don’t personally understand what goes into continually fundraising for missions, and I wanted to (try) and paint a picture as to what that looks like. Second, I’m leaving for TWR on January 3, and I still need a lot of money. I know that there are those of you reading this blog that already know that, and have prayed about supporting me financially on TWR, and have given. THANK YOU!!! I have put three very special pictures in the blog, below. These children in the pictures have completely captured my heart, and me being able to meet them and invest in their lives was only made possible because of others being willing to give to my mission adventures financially.
These kiddos are from an orphanage in India where my team and I were privileged to get to love on them for a week, while sharing Bible stories. 
I met these precious faces while doing evangelism in Nepal. The kids were so ready to listen and hear what we had to say about Jesus. Little did I know, that a week after I got back from meeting these sweet people, would a massive earthquake hit their city, destroying their home, and leaving them solely with their new found hope in Jesus.
These beautiful little ones have my entire heart. I was honored to get to do life with them while in Zambia, and teach them about Jesus who loved their little orphaned souls so much that He died for them.
To those of you who are waiting to be obedient to God, either in giving to my trip, or in another area of your life, what are you waiting for?? He only has beautiful things in store for you as well, once you say yes.
