Raising support to sustain a life of missions can be overwhelming. It can be a major obstacle that keeps people from ever obeying God's call on their life. We know God controls every resource in the world, but do we truly believe He can provide in this way for our life? We've put together a series of support raising stories from people in different stages and viewpoints of life as a way to remind you that God is at work and He loves to show off in this way.
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2017 was the year I quit the comfort of a set salary with benefits, and the false security of finances shattered in front of me. It was the year I embarked on the greatest, craziest adventure of my life: support-raising. As with most missions organizations, we are responsible for raising funds to cover our salary and ministry expenses. God has led Cafe 1040 to this model of ministry funding and has provided in significant ways for many years.
My journey to come on staff with Cafe 1040 was not something I chose lightly. After two years of a friend and fellow staff member sharing her heart and experience with the ministry, I found myself saying things like, “the mission, the organization, the job are amazing, but I could never raise support!” Support-raising was something I knew little about and completely shut down the idea that I could ever do it myself.
I have found when I make statements like never, God tends to take my “never” and turn it into a miracle.
He started breaking my heart for what breaks his; the 3.1 billion unreached people in the world who have never had the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus. He started to challenge me and ask me, “Am I worth it? Are these people worth it?”
I couldn’t ignore God’s pull on my heart for the unreached. I finally stepped out in faith. I said yes to the Father’s prompting and started a stateside position working with Cafe 1040.
This faith journey has called something deeper inside of me - a faith I never knew I was even capable of having. I have read about the faith of so many characters in the Bible that inspired men to lay down their livelihood, leave everything they knew to be certain to follow God into the unknown. I never imagined myself doing the same, and yet that is my story at this moment.
Time and time again I have seen people (myself included) put their faith in something other than God only to be disappointed that things did not turn out the way they wanted.
But I know for me, when I truly surrender everything to God, I am never disappointed because He is always enough.
This kind of dependence on God can be scary, I am a planner and a strategist. I like to know what's on the horizon. Support-raising has been a season of complete trust and faith in God's provisions for me. It has allowed me to trust God in ways I never knew possible.
I can see God's hand in every step. He is always with me. He will always provide for me. His grace can carry me through any situation I may encounter along the way.
