Many Fun and Fantastic words start with the letter ‘f’. Like finger. Or fettaroni. Or FKC (Fried Kentucky Chicken). But the one word that makes most people in ministry sick - some have been said to ‘fomit’ - is the word ‘fundraising.’
And my friend Floyd Mc Clung is the one who inspired me to get positive about it and inspired our ministry to choose to love it!! I know it sounds crazy and I’m not even going to bother to try and explain exactly how we got there. But I can say that after a 3 day crash course on fundraising (How much is there to learn!?), I can truly say all our staff that attended the 3 day course, are pumped!
So look out!! I have faith - and I am ready to WORK in order to get my family on a 100% planned budget! Which includes savings, long term planning etc etc. It’s absolutely crazy to see how much the Bible actually says about money and about ministries built on support. And it’s also amazing how wrong we go with support raising due to lack of skill, lack of structure and plain lack of effort.
It’s 13 years now that THE wife and I are living on support! And God is looking after us! That said, we often just ‘get by’! And never raise enough funds for the extra important things. Then again this is all relative because compared to rest of the world we probably do better than ‘get by’. Most 13thFLOOR staff (who own cars) would be listed under the richest 20% of people in the world - as all car owners are.
Which brings me to an interesting philosophical point about the rich and the poor… There has always been rich people and poor people. Jesus often comments on the subject as if this distinction is default. He has a lot to say about how the rich should treat the poor. I think we view money so different to the way God views money.
What I do know is that I want to make wise decisions with the money I have. I want to be a wise steward. I want to spend wisely. And I want to have an open hand.
By God’s grace… Thank you Jesus for all you provide.
