Icing On The Cake (or off)

God is good to me all the time. There’s always icing on the cake with God but sometimes, He’s so good, it’s like He lets you lick the extra icing while the cake is baking. mmm. (That would be my unwritten confession that mom let me do that growing up!)

I experienced one of these moments Sunday. As you (hopefully) know by now, I am preparing to leave for Albania to serve with Global Partners as a missionary. Part of that preparation is raising support, both prayer and financial support.

I’ve been raising support since August and by November I had reached 20% of what I needed to leave in July. By December, I was still around 20%. January came and went. February also came and by the end of the month, I was still around 20%.

Of course I know I’m doing exactly what God wants and I know He will provide in HIS time (which never seems to be my time). But still, it’s hard sharing your story and asking for money and getting little to no response. When you are so excited and passionate about something and share that with your friends, family, and even strangers only to have it met more often than not with them not understanding what you’re doing or why you’re doing it is always hard.

Don’t get me wrong. I have do have a lot of people who are very supportive! Don’t think I haven’t met people like that. It’s just that for every 5 super encouraging people I meet, it’s easier to remember that one not-so-supportive person.

So needless to say I felt like I was in a rut. But towards the end of February, things started picking up.  I confirmed 3 churches and a conference to speak at within 3 weeks of each other. They are all in April and May so I was trying to find more places to share before then.

My pastor approached me one Sunday and asked if I would be interested in participating in a Faith Promise Sunday where I could share about my ministry and talk more about Faith Promises. So of course I said yes.

Well, I spoke yesterday and God was definitely in it! I ran into several problems along the way but lucky for me I have experience with technical difficulties. So I’m used to coming up with a plan b, c, d, or however many I need until I come up with some kind of solution (even if it’s not as good as the original plan a).

So Sunday I briefly shared about my ministry (I had already spoken more in depth about what I would be doing earlier) and then I talked about faith promises and why they are important. Spoiler alert: because it’s a way for us to exercise our faith and put it into action.

The pastor also preached on the importance of faith and focused on faith promises. At the end  of the service, faith promise cards were passed out and instead of an offering (though people could give cash donations), people committed to faith promises.

Before I tell you what happened, let me give you some background about my church. It is fairly small. On an average Sunday, we have around 50 people. We are a very giving church but have never been very foreign mission oriented. We have missionaries come and speak from time to time but not often. Our focus seems to be more on the local community. So what I am about to tell you may not be a big deal to you, but it is to me.

Before I spoke, I was at 36% After the pastor had the benediction and passed out the cards, I waited at the back with him. And waited. (I was hoping this was a good sign as it meant people were filling out their cards). People started coming. And giving. And supporting.

It was very encouraging and amazing. I don’t know the official percentage yet but when I left after church Sunday, I was definitely over halfway funded. I went from 36% to over 50% thanks to the people of my church and their response to God’s leading.

Believe it or not, this was not the most encouraging thing for me. It WAS very encouraging but what encouraged me the most is that several of the kids and youth are either a prayer partner or a faith promise partner or both! My youngest faith promise partner and prayer partner is 6. 6! A six year old is financially backing my ministry! That is just incredible to me.

It’s just so encouraging to me since one of my goals is to connect missions to a younger generation. I haven’t even left yet and the youth and children in my church are already becoming involved in missions. Both through prayer AND financial giving! That is just so amazing to me. (It could just be me but I just can’t get over it)

So I tell you all this to say that God is amazing! He knows just what we need when we need it and then He gives us more than we imagined and sometimes almost too much handle. He gives us the icing…but not so much we get sick! He is simply wonderful!

Also, let me just mention, if you don’t want a 6 year old to one up you on supporting a missionary financially, you can support my ministry here 🙂