Faith + Timing

A short status update:

Having faith in God means also having faith in His timing- a lesson that Mitch and I learned the hard way. A couple weeks ago, Mitch and I had begun making plans to move to Mississippi in order to get there in time to participate in the ministry's planning week (a week dedicated to planning for the next semester). God had blessed us tremendously in our support journey and we were nearing 100% and became fairly confident that we would be finished with our support by December.

However, after a few financial setbacks, Mitch and I are no longer going to be able to move to Mississippi  in December as we had hoped. Although these setbacks were very discouraging, Mitch and I are very confident in God's timing and His desire for us remain where we are for the time being. In addition, we are very confident in the power of prayer and we are remaining hopeful that God will hear our prayers and quickly finish out our last bit of support!

For those who are unsure of the logistics of support raising, Mitch and I are required to reach 100% of our monthly support goal before we can report to our ministry assignment. As of today, we are sitting at about 83% of this goal. Because Campus Crusade is a nonprofit organization, we receive absolutely no payment from the organization itself. Therefore, it is our responsibility (through God's providence) to raise monthly funds that will cover our salary, ministry expenses, health care, etc. We do this through prayer and asking people to join our ministry team by committing to financially support us monthly.

Mitch and I would greatly appreciate any and all prayer! Please pray that we would remain confident in our calling even amidst discouraging times. Please pray that if it be God's will that we could gain our last 17% of support and hit 100% of our goal. And lastly, please pray that God will continue to grow the ministry at Southern Mississippi and that He would continue to prepare Mitch and I to do His will in Hattiesburg.

The power of prayer

(GA follow up Campus Crusade conference group!)

On October 23rd, Mitch and I travelled up to Norcross, Georgia, for our follow up Campus Crusade conference. The conference is designed to check in with new staff members and assess how well their support raising is coming. In addition, each new staffer there had the opportunity to hear a lecture series on financial freedom and meet with a stewardship counselor. Mitch and I were able to sit down with a financial counselor and plan out things from a personal budget to how we will eventually begin saving for our children's college funds. The things we learned through the financial freedom class as well as the Dave Ramsey financial classes recommendations were a huge blessing to Mitch and I as a newly married couple ("saving for college now?? we don't even have kids yet!")

(First time I've had my married name recognized-@ CCC conference!)

In addition to the financial counseling,  the fellowship, encouragement and convictions that came through that week were also a great blessing for us. After being on the support raising road for three months, it is very easy to get dejected and allow yourself to begin to believe the lies that the enemy is feeding us. One morning at the conference, we got together in groups to write down all of the lies concerning ourselves, God, others, and support raising that we were struggling with. A few of these lies included "God doesn't want me in ministry which is why my support is going slow", "No one thinks I'll be good at ministry so they don't support me", "people think i'm annoying", "people don't want to give", etc. Voicing these lies required each of us to be honest about our fears and our need to build up the Truth that will eclipse all falsities. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

Of all of these wonderful things we gained out of this conference, the greatest blessing was found in our greatest moment of conviction (funny how that happens). One of the first seminars that we had was on the importance of prayer and support- not just praying during support but praying specifically for your support, supporters, team, etc. The speaker biblically supported the need for us to not only pray about support but to believe that God will answer those prayers. He charged us to pray specific prayers, to pray  for big things, and most importantly to believe that God is powerful enough to act.

Our biggest conviction was this: Because we believe that support raising is based of our work, our prayers are weak and our faith is small.
Our biggest blessing was this: God, and God alone, is responsible for every cent that we raise. Prayer is a powerful thing.

Since the conference, we have begun to pray big prayers and specific prayers (that God will finish our support by December). The conference ended a week ago today, and through the power of prayer and God's graciousness, we have gained 6% of support in the last week- leaving us with only 15% left to go!! God is moving, and He is faithful.

"Commit your way to the Lord, TRUST in Him, and He will act" (Psalm 37:5)