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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When I interviewed to work with Cafe 1040 I was working as VP of Finance and Information Systems for a medical group in northeast Georgia.  My wife and I had 3 kids (now 4) at the time, and we had been considering a call to Missions for most of our marriage. 

I was beyond apprehensive about taking a job based on raising financial support.  I had a pretty nice salary with a lot of opportunity for growth, a growing family, and I’m an extreme introvert so reaching out to my network to ask for funding sounded awful, if not impossible.

When we decided to take the job I planned to continue working while support raising, and to scale down to part-time eventually.  I knew at the time that this was where the Lord was leading us, but I would be lying if I said that my faith gave me confidence that He would provide for my family.  In my pessimism (or lack of faith) I fully anticipated draining our savings account and taking on a few thousand dollars of credit card debt in the process of getting funded.

There is no denying that God really came through for us as we did our best to walk in obedience to Him.  The support raising training that Cafe 1040 provided prepared us very well for that season, and the coaching they offered throughout the process helped to keep us focused through the ups and downs of the daily work. 

As we met with people we began to feel a new love for our local church, and as a result of those meetings we experience a much deeper connection to that fellowship.  We also saw God work practically in our finances:  He gave me favor in my corporate position so that I was able to continue working part-time while setting my own hours, and at one point when I was going to have to delay my start date with Cafe 1040 because I needed one more paycheck from my previous job He even provided cash (the exact amount of the paycheck) through an unexpected gift from my in-laws!

My wife and I put off God’s calling on our lives for years because of how scared we were by the prospect of raising support.  As with most fears, though, it became much smaller as soon as we faced up to it and got started! 

There may be other reasons not to consider work with Cafe 1040, or with any other support-funded ministry, but in my view the fundraising has become a reason to take the job – not an obstacle!