I had two simple revelations today that suddenly changed my entire perspective on fundraising.
1. It’s not THAT much money, and
2. It’s not for me!
Last year at this time, I was raising $1650 to go to Costa Rica for eleven days. All the money came in the course of a week.
Now I’m raising ten times that much to go to eleven other countries for eleven months.
So if I think of the World Race as 11 short term mission trips, rather than one trip, that comes out to $1477 per country.
That’s a one month trip for less than I paid for an eleven day trip.
Yes, it’s still a big number. But it’s not as big as it sounds…and it was never too big for God anyways. He’s going to provide, just as much as he’d planned to from the beginning; it just got that much easier for me to trust him.
And through all of this, I’ve been asking people to help ME, send ME around the world, fund MY trip, etc.
But that’s not why I’m doing this, and I think I haven’t made that very clear to everyone who I’ve been begging for money from. I’ve put too much emphasis on how much I’ll be growing and learning, all the amazing places I get to see. Which are of course good things, but they aren’t the most important things, or even the things I’m most excited about.
When people support me financially, I don’t want them to just think that they’re helping me; they’re helping the orphans who’ve never been told that Jesus loves them, the church that needs a building, the teenage prostitutes rebuilding their lives, the single mother living on the street. God is using my supporters to minister to all of these people just as much as he’s using me.
So, to anyone thinking about donating: You’re not paying for me to take a vacation; you’re sending God’s love to someone who’s never heard of it before! Click the “Support Me” link on the left side of the page if you want to join me, or share this post on your Facebook so that others can give!
