Update: This month in Malaysia I don’t have access to Wi-Fi. This blog post was written while sitting in a coffee shop in Penang, which is a ferry ride and train ride away from our ministry site. I will answer texts, calls, Marco Polos, emails, and comments whenever we get the chance to be in a Wi-Fi area!
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Dear reader,
I am currently $4,651 away from being fully funded for all 11 months. As I am now in Malaysia and begin Month 3 of the World Race, please pray about giving a $50 or $100 donation. The donation is partnering with us as we bring a tangible expression of God’s love to the next 9 countries! God’s love is already all around us everywhere all the time, but we are just actively taking big steps of faith in order for people to recognize the Father’s love for them and point them towards Jesus.
So, please DONATE, subscribe, and share this blog with everyone you know. As you go around shopping this Christmas season, please remember Malaysia, which is a majority Muslim country. Pray for them to have dreams straight from the Lord pointing them to the truth of Jesus. Pray for hope, love, and the Holy Spirit to sweep through and stir hearts in every single place that all 39 of us step. Pray that each interaction we have will be like the book of Acts and the early Church and that signs and wonders will follow us.
My prayer is to be fully funded by Christmas, so I can step into 2019 and fully focus on ministry and pouring into the people God has put around me at this time, as well as encouraging you on your own life journey through blog posts.
Now on to: An unlikely journey of courageous faith
At my most recent job, I was an Account Rep at NY’s number 1 hospital in the Finance department, specifically Patient Accounts. The job was both rewarding and frustrating. There were politics and unspoken rules that made the actual workplace environment sometimes overwhelming. Overall though, when we figured out how to get an overdue claim paid, it was satisfying. Sometimes it would take months and years of back and forth between the medical records, doctors, administration, insurance companies, and the government all saying different things. Shout out to my coworkers who are dedicated and get the job done bringing in big money for the hospital so that the doctors and nurses can focus on top-notch patient care.
I say all of this to contrast it to my journey of fundraising so far. At that job, it was what we did that brought in the money. Our jobs and quality reviews depended on the steps we were taking to get the claims paid. With fundraising, God is calling me at this time in my life to release control and trust Him more intensely. He’s calling me to a new level of faith by trusting that these 11 months are all provided for by Him through the supporters.
I am so thankful for all of my supporters so far. I didn’t think I would even raise $5000 and make it to Training Camp in August or Launch in October, yet God provided it and used unlikely people along the way. There’s the gentleman I had as a client when I worked at the Department of Labor years ago. Somehow he heard about the World Race through a mutual acquaintance and donated. There’s my church family that believes in sharing the Gospel everywhere and not just our corner of the world in New York and have given varying amounts and letters of encouragement. There’s my former coworkers who came to my Pampered Chef fundraiser and bought GoRings. There are the neighbors I never really talked with or had ever seen before I had that one garage/ tag sale that raised over $900. I went into that garage sale with small faith, but my small faith along with Aunt Lois and Uncle Mike’s big faith combined and drew people into the tag sale.
People ended up giving money at the garage sale without even buying anything. I walked away from that day vowing never to doubt God again, but my human nature always seems to kick in. I doubt and wonder and worry how, questioning God’s gentle directive to simply trust Him. Most of my belongings ended up at Goodwill that evening of the garage sale. Some of the stuff ended up in my parents’ attic and the garage. Sorry Mom and Dad!
Then there are the anonymous donors. I don’t know who you are, but WOW! These folks give without me being able to thank them for their sacrifice. There’s also my friends from various circles. My running club (RunnersConnect) friends, my Guatemala Beauty for Ashes mission trip ladies, my coworkers, sister-friends from the YMOL Women’s ministry, and so many more. Thank you! Thank You! Thank You!
When God called me to take this journey, a part of me never believed I would raise enough to get to training camp, now I’m in Month 3 and at another crossroads. Will I learn from past lessons and trust that God will provide, or will I worry, doubt, and fear I will be sent home not having completed all 11 months?
I trust God. I have courageous faith. I am a daughter of God who knows Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. I am so thankful to be here in Malaysia and I’m so excited and expectant what He will do in and through us over the course of these next 9 months. I’m confident that my steps are ordered by God.
In courageous faith and for His glory alone,
Sharon
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah to everyone!
And a healthy happy blessed 2019!
