Fundraising: A Humbling Experience

Group Picture (Americans & translators) Summer 2009

The only thing more uncomfortable than talking about money...is asking for money.  We all want to believe (and assert) that we can take care of ourselves.  The truth is, traveling to Ukraine for 2 weeks and putting on a camp is not cheap.  And so all the members of our team are called upon to humble ourselves and reach out to friends and family for help.  The first year I set out to raise the almost $2,000 it costs to go on this trip, I thought it was an unreachable goal.  Nevertheless, I put together a modest, safe list of the family and friends I knew most intimately and who I knew were Christians who might support our cause.  Even with many generous contributions from this group, I quickly realized I needed to expand my list.  Feeling anxious about offending anyone, I hesitantly sent out more letters, praying that God knew what He was doing.  I sent letters to friends of my family, friends who are not Christian believers, and others that I originally had precluded.  As it turns out, God does know what He's doing!  I learned so much about faith and trusting God from that second wave of letters.  The story of the orphans in Ukraine and the mission of our team touched all kinds of people:  people I have only met a few times in my life, non-Christians who believed in the cause of reaching out to the orphans, and even individuals who I knew harbored a lot of anger toward God because of tragedies that had occurred in their lives.  I received donations from some of the  most unlikely sources as well as words of encouragement from many of my financial supporters.

Each year, I have taken a list of my supporters and their kind words with me on the trip as a reminder of how I got there!  It doesn't get easier to ask for money, but it has gotten easier to have faith that God will supply the support we need as long as we are willing to humble ourselves enough to ask for it. 


To those of you who have supported me this year and/or in the past, I thank you!  It continues to be difficult to ask for money and so writing this post has taken me easily 5x as long as the others, but I feel called to continue my fundraising efforts as our trip approaches.  I'm only about $400 away now but I know that it is not only up to me to find the remaining funds.  I know that while I am not sufficient in my abilities to solicit financial support, I know that our cause in going to Ukraine is worthy, and that God will work through my community to make this year's trip happen! 

If you want to contribute, the link to my paypal account is to the right of this post.  You can also write a check to Missions Development International (MDI) and I will turn it in.  Thank you!

2 Corinthians 3:5
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God"


2 Corinthians 9:10-12
"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God"