Fundraising

Andrea and I are going on a missions trip at the end of next month, serving at the annual gathering for the Central and Eastern Europe region of the IMB. To do so, we need to raise roughly $5000 in the next two months.

We struggled quite a bit in trying to decide whether or not to go. Quite honestly, there’s no way we could fund this on our own. We’re still working to settle into a financial plan of our own, after getting married almost 7 months ago. However, after we spent about 3 months praying about it, we felt like God was leading us to pursue this opportunity, and that God would continue the process of teaching us to rely on His provision. We’ve been in this same classroom since before our engagement, as God has been stripping us of the drive to be self-reliant.

I long to have the faith to believe consistently that God will provide for all of our needs. Finances are intimidating, and yet I felt God calling me to a new vision for my own finances a few years ago when I read a biography of George Muller. Muller was a pastor, born in Germany and emigrated to Bristol, England, at the beginning of the 19th century. Muller felt God was leading him to establish an orphanage, yet as a pastor, he didn’t have the financial resources. He began praying, and God provided for him in quite unexpected ways. Muller continued to pray faithfully, and God continued to provide for him on a daily basis, allowing Muller to grow his project to several homes, serving hundreds of children.

So I’m seeking that God would continue to grow my faith and reliance in Him. We struggle with asking friends and family for contributions so soon after they have been so generous to us with our wedding. We struggle with explaining why we are going, even though we’re not sure what Andrea will be doing for work this fall, and that we still need a second car. Yet, in spite of all of this, we are confident that this is where God is leading us to be, so we are want this confidence to translate over to the rest of our lives.