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fundraising-partner-prayer notebook

Jul8

So my fundraising coach (with KingdomComeTraining) gave me the idea of having a notebook for organizing partner information. (My previous coach suggested an online system, but I drag my feet with online stuff– I have a love affair with paper, notebooks, writing by hand, etc.)

So here’s what I’ve done so far: In the cover, for now, I put our letter for fundraising for our 90-day project.

Here are the tabs: Van Project, Prayer, Full Funding (monthly income), Apartment

I haven’t found one of those insertable pockets with the three-ring holes yet, to hold my loose stuff, so it’s still in the front pocket–stationery, envelopes, stamps, lists, etc:

then, I have a page for each of our partners with their names and the dates of contact with them– shared meals/visits, then any notes I’ve written, etc. I pray for a person, usually one a day, then move their sheet to the back of the stack.


In the prayer section, I start with scriptures that encourage me in our fundraising:

Then I have various requests (about all kinds of topics, not just fundraising) with room to add thoughts, developments, answers:


Then in the apartment section, so far I just have a list we made of the major things we need to buy/do: 

Voila! This is my current organizational plan that ‘floats my boat’ to keep up with things 🙂 Vitaliy would have every thing on the computer/phone. To each his own.

 

fear and fun in fundraising

May16

When I anticipate calling or writing people (about meeting with us and listening to our stories), I have this nervous fear that I will offend someone and wreck our relationship.

Thanks to my KingdomComeTraining.com coach, I worked through this unfounded but usual fear pretty fast.

Most of these people, I didn’t have much of a “relationship” with to start with, so I’m extending a hand and offering deeper friendship.

And it’s a no-pressure, structured appointment to be asked questions of, and to listen to some stories.

In reality, I have experienced the exact opposite of that fear over and over.

People are so nice, so open! I’ve not had a single person be offended that I contacted him/her. In fact, we have experienced a tidal wave of blessings by listening to people when we meet with them. So many share their hearts with us, their struggles and desires. We have cried and laughed. I’ve seen people that I’ve not seen for almost 25 years! It’s just been wonderful. We leave our ministry visits so blessed by having taken time to get together and share.

This has been really cool 🙂 Take heart. God made us for relationships. And fundraising has been a really neat way to initiate, build, and maintain relationships with some pretty amazing people!

 

fundraising: paper progress

Apr25

Spiritually, we’ve made leaps and bounds in fundraising this year. This goes back to my year where God is emphasizing my spiritual growth through relationships with other believers. Vitaliy and I participated in KingdomComeTraining.com training and now their coaching. It’s totally reformulated how we look at and feel about fundraising. I highly recommend it.

I have practiced being open and honest with my coach, and she has given me keys and questions to plowing down to the heart of my issues. I’m glad she’s my coach and not my friend, if you know what I mean. She’s asked me hard questions that a friend would never ask. Friends are nice for sympathy, however 🙂

We’ve met with many of our current partners. A few others still to go! It’s been so refreshing to share their lives for a while, catch up on kids, family news, life happenings. I’m very grateful. Vitaliy mentioned that this is the first time he’s starting to feel really emotionally connected to people, and that’s … special.

We have nine new partners that total $400 in new monthly support. About 6-7 friends are still considering and figuring out budgets and all the things that money reflects in our lives. We’ve been really encouraged by the responses of people, to pray for us, to partner financially with us.

What has been more amazing is seeing God’s hand exactly making people’s hearts ready. That brings me back to one of my main mottos from the Kingdom Come Training: God is my Main Partner.

Yes, He is. And He is Your Main Partner, too, making you fruitful for all eternity.

So far we’ve visited six of our appx. twelve partnering churches. It’s amazing what God has done. Each church we go to, we meet people who embrace us emotionally and spiritually, who are so open to us in their love for God, for us, for God’s people, for reaching the world with God’s Good News. We have fellowshipped with the salt of the earth. Their love offerings, that I know of, are something around $5,000. We’ve put all of that into our van fund.

So, praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth!

fundraising: an armor of God prayer

Apr25

In our ladies’ Sunday school class, we’re studying Priscilla Shirer’s The Armor of God.

I want to back up a minute and give a bit of context. For many years of my life, God emphasized talking to me through Scripture. By “talking” I just mean generally teaching/leading me. In 2017 He emphasized teaching/leading me in prayer. And this year He’s been opening my heart to be taught/led through His people.

Now, all these factors (prayer, Scripture, God’s people) have always had places in my relationship with God. He just is maybe filling it out more or something, balancing it, or making me focus on them more intensely and individually for certain periods.

So, honest moment, I’m normally somewhat nonplussed by pre-written Bible studies. But due to God’s emphasis in my life right now, I’ve been specifically working to open my heart to this.

It’s been an incredibly insightful study, helping me shift my thinking about some major, long-standing issues. She emphasizes prayer. And truth. So I wrote a prayer about fundraising, based on the truth.

Dear God, fundraising is a good work You planned for me to do so long ago. It has eternal value and rewards from You. In my weaknesses, You are strong. God, in the acts of fundraising, You are fulfilling my desires–good desires that You’ve placed in me to serve people and Your church, to make others fruitful for eternity. Fundraising is a path of righteousness in my life, it is part of my life’s cup overflowing. Lord, especially in fundraising, I lack nothing because You are my shepherd. May I live ever deeper in the life of Christ, gloriously fulfilling the specific part of Your magnificent plan which You’ve entrusted to and ordained for me to fulfill. And may I know Jesus through this, experientially know Him, His suffering and resurrection power, that others may also know and be emboldened to believe and obey who You truly are.

In Jesus’ name,

So be it.