Monday, August 22, 2011

Support Raising

It seems like we have mentioned support raising many times in previous blogs with the promise to explain in further, but we have never really explained it!   So now is our chance to do that.
Within many missions organizations and other outreach or non-for-profit agencies money to operate must be raised from outside sources.  Christian Missionary Fellowship International (http://www.cmfi.org/) or CMF is an organization that depends upon outside donors to operate.  As affiliated missionaries with CMF we are responsible to reach out to others in order to raise the funds necessary to serve as international missionaries to Kenya.  Most of the time, funds are given through individuals, groups, and churches.
As you can imagine this is no small task.  We have been working for a few months now to contact families and churches to share with them the vision God has given us. We work to effectively communicate our desire and our call to be missionaries to Kenya as well as to share the need for us to serve the poor in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.  We then ask for others to be a part of what God is doing through us by partnering with us in prayer and financial support.  This is probably one of the  most humbling experiences we have ever had. It is also one of the most rewarding.  
Probably the coolest thing about support raising for us is getting to see God at work through others.  We can absolutely not move to Kenya and minister to those in need without others giving to us and praying for us.  We have to totally depend upon God to prompt others to partner with us and we have to trust that others will be sensitive to this prompting. 
Another fantastic thing about support raising is that everyone who partners with us is a part of what happens in Kenya.  When you read stories about what God is doing there and how he has used us to share the love of Christ with others, our partners are just as much a part of that as we are.  Our stories become their stories.  I love this.  Not everyone is called to move to another country and be a missionary, but everyone is called to share the love of Christ with others everywhere.  Supporting missionaries is one way to do that. 
A great way.A life-changing, world-impacting way. 
Our next blog will explain more of how someone can partner with us.  We will outline our need and what funds are used for.  Our need is great, but our God is greater.