I am not a huge fan of writing but I felt inspired to put down a few thoughts on paper on my recent ministry fundraising trip. Fundraising is an uphill task, but it has taught me to trust in God and to go for it. Fear can keep you from trying but just try it anyway. What is the worst that could happen? There have been times of deep disappointment and at times deep discouragement but the Lord has been a great comfort to me on this journey. There is a big concentration on getting people who can financially support you, however, this is not the only thing. There is a huge spiritual impact that comes with raising support, which I intend to share today.
There is a huge spiritual impact that comes with raising support.
I am writing this on my flight back to Kenya (from London), just before we take off. I sit next to the window where i have such a beautiful view of the airport. There are lots of planes landing and taking off on the runway. There is a big highway that I can see in a distance which seems to be very busy and in the horizon is a luscious green forest. Seated next to me, is a father flying with his 3-year-old daughter. This is the first flight on their 23-hour-long journey to New Zealand. The young girl looks very comfortable on the flight. I quickly exchange pleasantries with her dad and then settle in my seat. I had 7 hours long on this flight so thought to myself, ‘Let me make good use of this time’.
As I am looking through the window, I quickly get lost in my thoughts. I start reflecting, on how my one month in the U.K. has been. I simply can’t help but be astounded at how good and kind God has been on this trip. I must say I was not very excited about coming to the UK. Probably more anxious than excited, just because I felt there were lots of things that were still pending. I also had a few people who had not yet confirmed their availability. In my mind, I kept asking myself if my trip to the UK was worth my time and money.
In hindsight, I ended up having so many appointments, to the extent I couldn’t schedule anymore, despite people wanting to meet up, because I was too tired. My crazy schedule meant, hopping from one train to the next. My ministry partners all vary in terms of the stages of life they are in, some awaiting to get married, some single , some expecting their first child, some navigating through the busyness of having young kids, some approaching retirement and others who are quite elderly. This has meant there is quite a lot that I have learned as I have interacted all these people. Here are a few things I have picked up.
Live life with the end in Mind.
There is just a lot to learn from those who have gone ahead of us. Particularly those who have lived many days on this earth. This was the case, in seeing this elderly man in his late seventies. Recently diagnosed with cancer which was quickly spreading. For him, life had been feeling as if it was a hardship after hardship. It was such a joy to see him. My heart sank when I saw him, as I remembered all that he had shared with me earlier on email and I started battling tears and sort of feeling sorry for him. He warmly welcomed me into his house and I made myself comfortable on one of his lovely sofas.
I decided to deviate from all the sad thoughts that were going through my head by asking him about what was going well. He joyously shared the joy of having his grandkids close by and a church family that he had sort of plugged into. He shared about a recent charity organization that he had been part of which would help the poor and homeless within that community. From his facial expressions, you could see that all these things brought tremendous joy to his heart. But what struck me the most was to see him serving others and reaching out to others with the gospel, amidst his cancer treatment.
It was a joy to hear the different seasons he had been through life. Having committed his life to the Lord when he became a father, going through the busyness of life in his younger years, serving among the youth, later on loosing his wife a few years back, and now battling this ailment among other things. He kept on insisting life has its seasons, enjoy them. Maximize them but remember what counts is what you do for the Lord. There will be difficult seasons. When they come, may they not move you away from the Loving the Lord.
Life has its seasons, enjoy it… Maximize it but remember what counts is what you do for the Lord.
No one will live on this earth forever, there will be a time when you will die and go to meet your maker. I know for some of us the reality of death comes when someone dies suddenly or when you attend a funeral. But this is somewhat short-lived. Knowing that you will die someday should not make you pessimistic, but make you live life more fully. Enjoy every season of life that God brings your way. Don’t just look forward to the next phase, but maximize on what you have now.
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom
Brokenness will never end, at least not in this world
Have you ever had a moment of reflection where you felt that if you had all the power in the world, you would fix every bad situation in this life? This is what I sometimes feel whenever I hear of a family who have not been getting food or a person who is ailing or a child from an abusive home. I wish I had the power to correct every wrong. But this would deny me one important thing, Trusting in God.
I have come to terms that there will be really sad cases that I will encounter that will make me feel powerless but the good thing in those times I can turn to the all-powerful God. I will not deny there are quite some occasions when several questions are ringing in my head. For example, when is this going to end? Why would God allow this to happen?
Cases of mental health are now on the rise. In the few weeks I spent in the UK, I got to hear about such cases of two men, living in different cities under different circumstances. One was in his early thirties, believed and trusted in the Lord Jesus, and was well accomplished in his career. And the other one was just having lots of difficulties in his life. From living in a deprived situation, not able to meet his basic needs, getting lost in alcohol, and feeling worn out by life. They both took their lives. This is very sad and it brings me great sadness. It leaves behind lots of questions. The more questions I ask, the more questions arise. There are times when you might want God to give explanations but you get no answer at all. It is very difficult but it is ok.
All these should make us long for the new earth and heaven. To remember on this earth, there will be many tears, grief and sorrow, but there is a place of perfect peace. Where brokenness will be inexistent. This is in the arms of our everlasting Father.
Revelation 21:3-4 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
How is your walk with the Lord?
It has been really wonderful, to be in meetings where there are lots of other godly women. This has been mainly through attending the women’s Bible studies which I got to be part of on two separate instances at two different churches. Both of them, the women were encouraging each other to study and meditate on God’s word. Life indeed gets busy particularly when you have young kids. But even then, it was lovely to see women getting together and sharing through the business of life.
How are your spiritual disciplines going? Are you diligent at ensuring that you keep your bible reading and prayer time regular? This is not so that you can tick the box or prove to others how good you are at doing it but that you may grow in the love of the Lord Jesus. Of course, remember to extend grace to yourself, there will be days that will be quite hard and difficult and your prayer time may not be as you would like it to be. But keep going do not lose heart.
Perseverance
We are in the ‘micro-wave’ era where everything is within the click of a button. Waiting is not inculcated into our value system. There is something I admire as I interact with people in their 50s and above. My main area of conversation with this group of people is concerning church and how their experience has been over the years. I must say as young people, we sometimes want church to be customized to our needs. We want a church that looks successful, where everything is going well. We are not willing to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in serving when things are difficult.
Two particular instances stand out when I think about this. One is when I got to attend a church that has been in existence for over 20 years. The church was small, seemingly not growing but you could clearly tell that they were faithfully preaching the gospel and intentionally reaching out. It was lovely to hear from some of the church members, who were still willing to be part of it even when things were hard.
The second one is of people who were sent out to a church plant. The church plant was doing well initially. However, just as it clocked 10 years since it was planted, it came to a point where things started becoming difficult and even the church pastor quit. The members of the church family were left without someone to lead them. So they were went back to their sending church. They were later relaunched and the same people who were in the first plant went out again to a second plant with a different pastor. I got to be hosted by a couple who had gone through this experience. These were people who knew it was not going to be easy to start another church in a new place but they were ready to do whatever it takes.
The question for you and me is, will you hold on when things are tough or will you simply want to jump ship when the conditions are not very favorable? Will you keep pressing on even when the gospel least feels popular around you? Will you be faithful when it feels like nothing is happening in your ministry? So, keep holding on!
God is at work
I happened to walk away from a church feeling low and disheartened. I had tried to bring up the idea of ministry partnership in individual conversations and in a presentation I did during their services, but it did not seem that they were keen on this. There were good promises of support through prayer, which I do not deny is good but I also wanted to see if they could come along as financial partners. It was a sad train journey back to where I stayed. However, two days later, I received an email from the church treasurer saying that they had transferred some money to support the ministry work that was going on in Kenya. I was elated!
I also had times when I would receive a few emails saying that people would be discontinuing their support due to one reason or the other. This was very difficult. But even amid disappointment, God brought people who were ready and willing to support. In all these, It could only be God at work burdening and convicting people to give.
So, Fundraising may seem like a daunting task, but there are lots of good things that God teaches us through our interactions on this journey.
