All things are possible for one who believes.
-Mark 9:23
As you can imagine, there are some things that come with the missionary lifestyle that are not so easy to do. Things like sleeping on the floor, eating weird or different foods, or even constantly taking ice cold showers. As a missionary, I find that fundraising, in my opinion, can be one of the most challenging aspects of this way of life. In order for me to travel the world as a missionary I must raise financial support to meet all of my expenses. The funds I must raise cover all of my food, transportation, and lodging costs. Without theses funds, I simply cannot do what I do. I do not like fundraising but I can see its importance and its role as a tool for God to build relationships and to bless not only myself, but to bless all those who give as well. God has taught me a great deal through fundraising. He has taught me how to be fully dependent on Him and trust that He will provide for my every need. This however, was not and easy lesson to learn.
September came, it was my third month on the World Race and my October 1st fundraising deadline was approaching. At that point I had already raised around $7,500 but needed $11,000 to reach my deadline. This left me less than a month to somehow come up with $3,500. Well, the money wasn’t coming in and I was losing hope. I wanted to believe that God would provide but all evidence seemed to suggest the contrary. As the days passed, the money didn’t come in and I watched my faith get thinner and thinner. A dark cloud of unbelief began to impede on my vision and I found it harder and harder to believe that the money would come in.
Then one day, two of my teammates and I chose to spend some of our free time by traveling to the equator, which was roughly a 45 minute drive from where we were staying in Quito. I was on that bus ride That God had spoken to me and gave me an incredible vision. His words were crystal clear and the vision was far more vivid than any HD television. With a soft voice he spoke these words to me,
“My child, why do you still not believe? The mountain that stands before you will crumble to dust at your feet. In its place you will find a paved path leading you to victory. This mountain will not fall on its own accord though. With MY strength you must strike it down. Through you, I will make my power known and my glory will be made evident to all.”
Along with these words I saw myself standing before this giant mountain that obstructed all fields of vision and in my hand was a pickaxe. This was no ordinary pickaxe though. This pickaxe was broken, beat up, and withering away. It seemed as if it would only take one swing for the top to come flying off of the handle. I was to use this pickaxe to bring this massive landmass to dust.
The mountain was my fundraising deadline and the pickaxe was all of the little things that I could be doing to fundraise that I thought were useless and inefficient but were tools God had placed in my hand nonetheless. So, with this revelation, I know had a reason to keep pressing on. Now every time I did anything pertaining to fundraising, whether it be creating an event to raise money or a simple Facebook status update, I saw myself swinging that pickaxe, and with each swing the pickaxe became stronger and more whole. Slowly but surely, I watched as that mountain fell piece by piece to the ground. Before this revelation, just the thought of raising funds brought with it a profound level of anxiety. Now after seeing and hearing that vision, anxiety would come to me when my hands and mind were idle, when I was sitting on my butt, not swinging that pickaxe.
God had told me that if I did my part, then He would show up and do the impossible. Well, after a week of sitting behind a computer, after sending out personal messages and emails to over fifty people, after posting countless Facebook status updates and sharing my newsletter and blog time and time again, I saw very little fruit being produced from all the labor I had just put forth. It was frustrating because I wanted instant results and I was only a few days away from my deadline . Unbelief was beginning to make its return. In that moment though, what I failed to realize was that God’s timing is perfect and that He will show up when He deems it necessary, not when we do.
Well just 2 days before the deadline, I was losing hope so I took the advice of someone who was helping me with my fundraising and decided to fast for the day. I woke up Monday morning and chose not to eat anything until 5pm. I had never really fasted before but I was out of options and thought that this would be the perfect way to get closer to God and be open and willing to hear anything He had to say to me.
Needless to say, it was a rough day. The first half of the day wasn’t so bad but once the afternoon hit I began to lose it. All I could think about was food and I began to question why I was even doing this in the first place. It was tough but I remained committed and was determined to walk in obedience.
5 o’clock came and my fast was over and before I knew it, God had taught me a great lesson that indeed “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
I was then happy to have food again but more so because God had sustained me through that rough time by the very words of His mouth. This was great but my deadline was still less than 48 hours away and there were still traces of unbelief to be found inside me. Then the impossible happened and in one moment, God had showed up in the only way he knows how to and kicked my unbelief to the curb.
An hour or two after my fast had ended, we were getting ready for dinner and a fellow squad mate asked how my fundraising was going so I told her that I had checked my balance that morning but nothing had come in. She then suggested that I check it again, so I did and what I saw completely blew me away. In just one day I received over $2,000 in donations! Over $100 came from small donations and $2,000 from an anonymous donor. I was in shock and simply could not believe what my eyes had just seen. God had showed me that if I maintain my faith and put forth the necessary effort, then He will do the impossible.
My mountain was finally reduced to dust and with it was my unbelief. No longer will I doubt the ways of God. No longer will I underestimate the power and capabilities of the Lord. I will rest in the comfort that comes from His Word and will always hold close to my heart the promises He has made to me. I was chosen and called by Him to go on this journey and it was foolish of me to even slightly suggest that He would not provide and leave me hanging, unable to finish the race He himself placed me on.
We must remember that our God is a god of abundance and He will provide for our every need.
My journey is not over yet and I still have one more deadline to reach. I have until January 1st to be fully funded! This means I only need a little less than $4,200 to meet that final deadline and be completely funded! Seeing how God provided and allowed me to reach my last deadline gives me all the confidence in the world that I will meet this one and not go home come January. I pray that He puts it in your hearts to partner with me and be apart of this incredible journey He has placed me on. If you would like to make a single contribution or a monthly one, then please click on this link:
And my God will meet all of your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
