Spot the difference

  • July 26, 2011 10:13 am

So far this year I’ve led personal support seminars in England, Germany, Czech Republic, USA, Peru, Mexico and Tanzania. At the start of each seminar I ask people to write down issues that make living on support a challenge for them.

What is interesting is that around 80% of the responses in each case are the same, irrespective of the country.
So what issues do they have in common? With some variations in wording, these are the points that consistently appear:

• The church in our country doesn’t have a vision for mission
• In our culture we don’t talk about money
• I don’t like asking
• I don’t know how to raise support
• It feels like begging

What does this tell us?

• Support raising is a spiritual ministry and, as such, is opposed to any culture.
• It is more blessed to give than to receive, therefore it is less blessed to receive than to give. Missionaries often look at support raising from the receiver’s perspective, so they assume that there is little or no blessing in the process.
• How someone feels about raising support will determine what they do.
• People aren’t usually naturally gifted at support raising, so it is vital that they get the teaching, training and mentoring they need.

Yes, each individual is a uniquely created by God. But in the issues we face about living on a support basis we have more in common than we realise.

Peru Update

  • May 13, 2011 5:28 pm

Peru seminar - group photo

We have it easy.

Thanks for your prayers for the support seminar in Peru. There were over 40 in total, mostly from Peru but a few from other Latin American countries. They came from 15 different mission organisations and spanned an age scale from 20 years of age to 81!
It was humbling to hear their stories. One couple had travelled 28 hours in a boat up the Amazon from their jungle village to get to a town where they could fly to Lima, and then another two hours by bus to get to the retreat centre where we held the seminar. They have a passion for a tribe in Brazil, hundreds of miles further along the Amazon, whose language is similar to theirs. Sometime in the next few months they plan to move to live with this tribe, bringing their six children with them. They have almost nothing themselves and their total commitment to mission is outstanding. But they recognise their need to build a financial and prayer support base before they move to Brazil, far from the family support structures that they can rely on in their home village. Mission really is a sacrifice for them.

And their story, with variations, could be repeated time and time again from those we met at the seminar.

Meanwhile we fly in, get picked up at the airport, sleep in a mission guesthouse for a couple of days, get driven to the retreat centre and then brought back to the airport at the end. Arriving home, we sleep in comfortable beds, have warm showers, wash our clothes in a washing machine, drive to the shops to buy some food and watch a bit of sport on television.

Like I say, we have it easy.

Pray for the emerging world of mission, where people often leave one form of relative poverty to bring God’s love to another version of poverty. It truly is humbling to be in the presence of these Princes and Princesses in God’s Kingdom.

Prayer for Peru Seminar

  • May 3, 2011 11:39 am

Right now (2-5 May) we’re in Peru for a support seminar organised by Wycliffe Bible Translators . 45 people have signed up and there is a waiting list! Please pray that the seminar will help a new generation of Peruvians find the support they need to get involved in Christian ministry.

News of more training

  • May 3, 2011 11:34 am

A couple of special personal support training opportunities coming up soon: 22-24 May is a Trainers’ Training to help people who have already gone through a Funding the Family Business or similar basic support seminar and who want to learn how to train others. Then on 24-27 May, a Basic Support Seminar based around the Funding the Family Business concepts for people wanting to learn how to raise support. They will both be held at the Wycliffe Germany Centre, north of Frankfurt, and will be conducted in English. For more info use the Contact Myles tag on the website home page to email me and I’ll get back to you.

Welcome to Funding the Family Business

  • April 5, 2011 5:00 pm

Welcome to the Funding the Family Business blog. If you’re reading this I guess you already raise support yourself, or you are considering it as an option. If you already have a copy of Funding the Family Business I hope it has helped you get to grips with the Biblical and practical implications of living on support. If not, today would be a good day to order your copy!

Raising support isn’t really about money. The end purpose of all that we do is to reflect God’s glory to others. Raising support is just a means towards that end. So as you communicate with existing supporters and contact potential supporters, remember, this is all to allow Habakkuk 2:14 be fulfilled: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

By raising support you are able to follow God’s call to devote your time to introducing people to the knowledge of his glory. You are bringing much needed resources to the task of introducing people to the knowledge of his glory. And you are encouraging your friends to partner with you in introducing people to the knowledge of his glory. Now that’s a privilege!

Through this blog I’d like to get some discussion going about how you view support, what sort of encouragements you’ve had, ideas that have worked for you and so on. I’ll add my thoughts from time to time, but let’s hear from you.

When Paul wrote to his supporters in Philippi, he said how much he appreciated their partnership in the gospel. So, for a start off, what has been the most encouraging thing a supporter has done for you in the past few months that has demonstrated that they are truly a partner with you and not just someone who sends money?

It might be something practical, or perhaps some emotional encouragement, maybe a surprise extra gift, or a visit to see you on location. Whatever it has been, share it with us and let us all rejoice that there are still people who want to be partners in the gospel with us.

To avoid embarrassment to your supporters, don’t add their name to your comments unless they have agreed that you can do so.
Over to you….

Myles Wilson