Tuesday, May 6, 2014

European Missionaries Trusting God More With Their Funding

I witnessed something significant recently. Campus Crusade in Western Europe has taken a huge step forward in their commitment to helping their staff to be fully funded and maximized for God’s call. Recently they hosted a leadership conference in Spain on the topic of raising financial support. I was invited so that I could consult and train these leaders in regards to my software that helps missionaries raise support.

What was so significant is the new culture they are establishing within the ministry. Sometimes missionaries might raise just enough support to get by. Support raising is often looked at as a chore that you do just enough to survive. They are working hard in Europe to change the perception of support raising to the biblical viewpoint: Raising support is an opportunity to involve others in reaching people for Christ!

The conference had three major components: Philosophical, Practical and Operational. Philosophical is where they focused on God’s word in the area of raising financial support for ministry. Practical is where they focused on ideas and ways to share your vision and challenge others to join with you. Operational is where they focused on the administrative side of support raising. I’ve seen many conferences on raising support that did not give enough emphasis on operations. But if a missionary can’t keep it all organized, important follow-up tasks get lost in the shuffle, and they might lose credibility and lose support!

I had the opportunity to meet with most of the attendees one on one. I helped them think about taking next steps with improving their donation processing and reporting, and I helped many with specific questions and troubleshooting problems. They kept me busy, and it felt good for God to use me! I came away with a much better understanding of the challenges facing our staff in Europe, and my mind is racing with ideas on how my software can help with these challenges.

On the last day, because of my flight schedule, I had a chance to spend extra time with our Dutch staff (pictured to the right). It was nice to get know them on a more personal level. One of the guys that I really connected with was from the province of Friesland, which is where my great grandfather was from originally!

Please pray for these leaders as they head back to their home country and work hard to exemplify God’s perspective on raising support to those they lead. And please pray for me as I prioritize my idea list, so that I can really focus on what’s most important in improving my software.