To Send Or To Be Sent; Both Advance The Kingdom
As I was reading through some of my squadmates’ blogs the other day, I realized that one of the reasons Adventures In Missions has us write a blog is to keep people updated on fundraising. I have done a pretty horrible job of keeping up with this aspect of my blog. I think this is partly because I post a lot of fundraising updates to my Facebook page. I also think this blog would be pretty obnoxious and pretty boring if all I ever wrote about was how much money I have raised and had my hand held out for more donations. That is exactly what I am going to do in this post though. Sorry.
As of today I have raised $7,592 of the $16,285 I need for the trip. I am completely amazed by this. When I started this journey, the thought of raising $16,285 was more than I could imagine. I told God that if this trip was part of His plan, He was in charge of the money because nobody was going to hand over their hard earned cash to this former junkie. Apparently He agreed to these terms because money started pouring in from the first day that I announced on Facebook that I was signing up for the World Race. Crazy! I guess this really is part of His plan, so I’m in it for the long haul.
I have also given people the option of supporting me through a link to an REI wish list on my blog. There is a lot of gear I am going to need for this trip. In order to live out of a backpack for eleven months, one must first have a backpack. I have received some gear, but there is still some stuff that I’m going to need. I’m not worried about it though. I trust that God will provide.
Selling T-shirts to raise funds for my vaccinations and for my passport has been going pretty well. I have gotten my passport already and am going to start getting the vaccinations soon (some of them are crazy expensive). I still have some shirts left to sell, but they are going fast.
Prayer Support is the most important thing I need for this trip. I have been under spiritual attack since I signed up and I know that it isn’t going to get any better while I’m out in the field. The enemy has been targeting me while I sleep. There have been very few nights in the last eight months that I haven’t woken up in the middle of the night either terrified from some nightmare, filled with rage for no reason, or had a dope dream where I have used some form of drugs and ruined my sobriety. As soon as I wake up, I know that they are just dreams and are an attack from the enemy. All I have to do is pray and I sleep like a baby the rest of the night, but it is still pretty annoying. I will need continual prayer while I’m preparing to leave and while I’m in the field. I have an army of prayer warriors already, but I’m always accepting new recruits.
I still have $8,693 left to raise before I am fully funded. While I have until six months into the trip to get this money raised, I would really like to have it all by the time I leave in July. My Beard Campaign promise still stands (see Beard Campaign blog post). I have even started growing the beard early. I would love it if all of you would team up with me on this journey to advance God’s kingdom. Wether you choose to support me through financial support, through provision of gear, and/or through prayer support, I’m going to need all of the help I can get. I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family. Without y’all none of this would be possible. As always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
I learned in a course called Undone at my church that God uses people to advance His kingdom in two different ways. Some people send and some people are sent. People who send are people who may not be called to actually leave their home to spread the gospel, but have recourses that they can use to support those who have been called. These senders are a very important part of God’s advancement plan. I believe I fall into the second category. I feel strongly called to leave home and go out into the world to spread the gospel, but I have absolutely no financial resources of my own to make that happen. Without all of you amazing people back here at home, there would be no way for me to live up to this calling. Though I am going to be the one going on this trip, it is truly a team effort.
Love Y’all!!!
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