June 08, 2011 | Missions (General)

Support Raising: What Is It and Why Do We Do It?

You’ve heard his call, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” first as a faint whisper. Then it grew louder into a groaning. Finally, you responded to God. “Here am I, send me,” you echoed like Isaiah.

Then you heard other voices that sound like this:

“How are you going to afford it?”
“Where’s the money going to come from?”

You found yourself responding, “I can’t afford it. I don’t know where the money’s going to come from. Not me.” Then unknowingly you add, “Hmmm. Maybe I was wrong. I can’t go.”

Perhaps you are unlike many of us and didn’t pay attention to those voices. Instead, you remembered who called you to go in the first place:

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
– Matthew 6:33

And basically, that’s what it is to raise support. You’re trusting God will keep his promise to give you what you need to do what he’s telling you to do.

“Okay, I get that, ‘his will, his bill,’ but I still don’t understand how that involves asking other people to help.”

Valid point. But here’s the thing: neither Jesus nor Paul were lone rangers when it came to ministry and missions. In the same way the executive producer’s in charge of making a movie or a record happen, as the one who’s commissioned you, God will see to it that you complete your mission, recruiting the people and the resources necessary to make it happen. (If you consider Romans 16 as the credits for a film that starred Paul, you’ll notice there are lots of names.¹)

So whether God’s called you

to search for your faith by driving cross-country from LA to NYC and back;
to drop everything for eleven months to go to eleven countries;
to trade the lecture hall for an orphanage;
to use your vacation time to serve in the inner-city or rural town;

believe him when he says, “ask… and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.”

In a later post, we’ll share some ideas on how to go about gathering this support; meanwhile, read this post for more about support-raising.

P.S. Just in case the Bible isn’t enough comfort/encouragement, take it from the dude that’s traveling the country Matthew 10:9-10 style:

…If you are living out the calling God has placed on your heart, and if you’ve chosen to glorify Him in everything that you do, then anything you ask for, you shall receive.
– Max Dubinsky