When I first started fundraising, I was terrified of it. To be honest, I still am. The last thing I enjoy doing is asking people for their hard-earned money. I was told before starting that fundraising is part of the mission work, and I didn’t really get that at first. How does asking people for money count as mission work? Since I started fundraising at the very end of January, I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone, and I’m so thankful that I have, because He’s already shown me that raising funds truly is part of the mission.
All throughout college I struggled with my faith and was so unsure of what I believed in. When I moved back home to Nashville after college, I started attending Cross Point, a church that completely changed my life. I found my faith in God returning after four years of such unclarity. A few months later I was baptized for the first time in my life. My faith has grown so drastically within the past year that here I am, leaving for almost a year to spread the gospel around the world. Ironically, as a missionary, something that has never come easily to me is talking about my faith, which is why I can’t wait to see how the next year will allow me to grow in so many ways. What I have noticed is that my faith and my ability to talk about it has grown already through fundraising. People ask me why I’m doing this all the time. Is it just because I want to see the world? No. Yes, I love to travel, but I think about how lost I felt inside when I was unsure if I believed in anything throughout my college years. Now I have a relationship with God that I lost for so long and I’m still wrapping my head around how it’s changed my life. It blows my mind that there are people around the world who have no idea who He is and don’t feel this peace that has came into my life through Him, even throughout all the hardships of the last year. If God can use me to spread His name to change the life of even one person in a broken place, then I’ll gladly spend the next year of my life dedicated to that mission.
So thank you.
Thank you to everyone that has supported me in prayer and financially. Thank you for also being a part of this mission through your support. I had no idea how I was going to raise 5,000 dollars in three months, but I reached this first deadline thanks to all of these incredible people God has placed in my life. Now two and half months to go before the next 5,000 dollars is due! I’m still terrified, but here God is, proving to me that where He guides, He truly does provide.
