Fundraising: (verb) the seeking of financial support for a charity, cause, or other enterprise.In preparation for my launch in October for the WorldRace, I have entered into a season of fundraising. My concrete belief about missions and raising support for this journey, before even committing to going, was that the Lord will provide. I have been given the gift of being a witness to many friends and family members who have raised support for missions or causes. In this, I always held myself to know that if you’re being called to a mission, the Lord will provide- if you are meant to go He will place you there. Not to say you don’t have to work for it, but He will provide the resources.I held this confidence and it was easy because my ‘raising support’ was theoretical. Until, I committed to this Race!! It is so simple to claim trust when you’re not attached to the outcome.Once I committed to the race, I saw a total, deadlines, numbers, dollar signs, and I began to stress. It made me mad that I began to stress, I thought, “How dumb is this–I claimed to know that the Lord will provide and here I am doubting Him before my journey even begins!”To be blunt, I think the hardest part about fundraising is the beginning. I’m really good at procrastinating when I am intimidated by something. So when it came to announce publicly that I am going on the WorldRace and that I can’t do it alone, it took me a second to get started. So, I tried to take all the right pictures, get my sponsor letter on point, prepare my social media in the most eye-catching way I know how, but I wasn’t adequately preparing my heart for fundraising. I was still stressing and not giving it fully to the Lord.This all caught up to me the day I planned to send out my sponsor letter back in May. I planned out my day the night before. I was planning on sending out about 100 letters, so I figured I’d spend the morning printing and preparing them and get them out into the world. Simple and productive morning, so I thought. To make a long story short, after dealing with printer problems for four hours… the only way I could print my simple sponsor letter with the correct format was through my Dad’s cell phone. It took me all day to simply print these letters, I didn’t even have them all printed or enveloped to be sent by the time late afternoon came around and I was FRUSTRATED. I was so angered that something so simple was being ridiculously prolonged.My parents saw my frustration, and this brought questioning within them about me even going on the race. Their doubt was what frustrated me the most–the people who supported me most were doubting me. Mid-day during all the mishaps, my Dad took me to lunch. He saw that I was stressed about it all- this support letter was the first concrete action I was making to hold myself accountable within the race.When I got accepted for the WorldRace, there was no decision to be made, of course I was going, so I accepted my spot on the Team and began to make plans to prepare for launch in October. Although my parents supported this decision, we never had a formal sit-down conversation about it. My dad saw how overwhelmed I was and sat me down saying, “Ris, I know you have committed to this race, but just because you told people publicly about it, doesn’t mean you have to go, are you sure you want to do this?”I looked at my Dad, first extremely upset that my #1 supporters were doubting this journey, but then it all clicked- the enemy was working SO hard to cause distractions and doubt, and that day I was letting him win.This was the moment I realized that the enemy absolutely despises what my heart is setting out to do, the enemy is not only frustrated with this work, but he is DISGUSTED by it–he will do whatever he can to get in my way.My dad and I chatted the rest of lunch about everything and I knew I needed to make the moves to fight against the enemy. Although this day was extremely stressful and infuriating, I am extremely thankful for it.I am thankful for it because it gave me the opportunity to open up my eyes and to truly be made aware of the strength, force, and how precisely the enemy will work to distract me and bring doubt to steer my focus elsewhere. This awareness is opening up the reality of how hard I am going to have to work in this season of preparation and next year to stay focused and immersed in The Word to strictly rely on Christ to protect against what I am recognizing as spiritual warfare. The way the enemy weasels his way in, even in the most minimalistic instances, is scary. I have to be prepared and bring the armor of Christ to this fight. This frustrating experience was hard but gave me the awareness that fundraising is difficult, but it is also only the beginning. I am thankful for this day because it gave me the insight to pray against the enemy in this moment, because he is only going to continue to work harder to place road blocks in my way.Once I began recognizing, praying, and fighting, the Lord SHOWED up–He truly provides when He leads you to what may seem to be uncharted waters. He doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. In this, after having a dark beginning and feeling spiritually attacked and not adequate for raising support, funds literally fell in my lap. I am SO grateful for those who have so willingly joined my Team. It’s crazy how the Lord is leading me to go on the WorldRace and it’s even crazier that He has prepared the hearts of others to get me to where I need to be. I am incredibly thankful for those who have already committed to supporting me spiritually and financially. It is such a gift.Fundraising to me is a verb, and it is the seeking of financial support for a charity, cause, or other enterprise; but it is also an opportunity to show love, be loved, and see the Lord. It is an opportunity to feel worth it, supported, excited, brings confidence, teaches trust, and builds relationships. I am so grateful for my journey thus far and cannot wait to see how each prayer and support given will benefit this adventure!!If you feel led to support me, please pray for me, pray for my Team, that we may be readily equipped to approach this adventure with armored hearts to willingly serve the Lord.“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:10-20I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to support me, let alone read my amateur blog 😉Love,-Ris
