Thanks to Supporters!

Recently I reached an incredibly important milestone in my Mission Year journey: I met my fundraising goal of $12,000! There are many components to my experience this year, as I hope my blog reflects, and this is one that can be easy to forget about while I'm busy with all the others. So it's important to me that I take a moment to recognize this element of my journey that you are most directly involved with--financial support. 

Honestly, it has never been something that I have worried too much about. I have fundraised this way before, and I have seen God's faithfulness to provide in such situations. But I have never seen such a large outpouring of support so quickly. I met this goal much quicker than I expected, and each month people continue to make gifts after I've met my goal, fulfilling commitments to give all the way through the year. 

Fundraising has helped me to see even more that God desires to equip those he calls. And when he calls us to something longer-term (and therefore more expensive), he still equips us.

It is also encouraging each week when my fundraising totals go up a little bit. When I see it I know that I have people who trust me, who believe in me, and who love me. And more importantly, it excites me that God has given them a little bit of the same vision that he has given me: to to love God and love people. It's one thing for a friend to tell me that they are excited about what I'm doing in Mission Year. It's another for them to show me their excitement by supporting me financially. So thank you!

Meeting my fundraising goal does indeed demonstrate that God is faithful to those he calls. But I would be distorting reality if I didn't recognize that, in some ways, it also highlights my privilege. Several factors contribute to my ability to fundraise $12,000 this early in my year: how much time I've had (several months more than most), how much I could personally contribute, the timing of my graduation (and the cultural value of giving large financial gifts upon the completion of a degree), having a large network of people from several middle-class churches, attending a university that sent my friends straight into well-paying jobs...there are probably more, but you get the picture.

Imagine if someone from my neighborhood was called to Mission Year. S/he wouldn't have those privileges. Only one small church with few middle-class congregants. Fewer graduation gifts. No friends with well-paying jobs. 

...If they struggled to raise funds would that mean that God didn't want to equip them like he has equipped me? I don't think so. I think it reflects more the privilege that they don't have.

But I believe that God would still equip them, regardless of their privilege or networks or degrees. And I believe he would probably use people like me with those privileges and connections to help make it happen.

The truth is, there are people like that in Mission Year right now! Not all Mission Year team members have the same privileges at their disposal to reach their fundraising goal, but you can help to equip them to do what God has called them to do just as you did for me. I challenge you to keep giving to support not just me but also my team and everyone who is doing Mission Year. For a few ideas of who to give to, use these links:
Sophilia Hubbarb
Nicole Roberts
Walter-Levi Wawra
Bella Fout

In the meantime, there are some special folks to whom I would like to extend more thanks. The following people have made three or more donations to my Mission Year fund. These 11 supporters have given 61 times over the past year, some giving 12 times! Their contributions alone have accounted for 46% of the funds I've raised so far. Extra thanks go to:

John Carter
Sherry Cauthen
Valentin Lazar
Densie Kootin-Sanwu
Haji Nishikori
Karen Im
Peter Habib
Ashleigh and Jeffrey Watterworth
Chip and Rosemarie Green
Fred and Susan Worthy
Ote Beshears

And the top prizes for care packages and letters go to:

Marilyn and Dorrell Benefield

Carol and Marty Hogue

Lawrence Wilson

Thanks also to friends at First Baptist Church Ravenel for supplying my team with kids' books and art supplies!

Finally, I got so excited about reaching my goal that I made this nifty info graphic! 

Halfway There!

This blog is timely because I have just reached two milestones in my journey toward Philadelphia! First, I am roughly half-way through the waiting period between December, when I was accepted into the program, and I when I move to Philly in September. In that period of time, I attained a second milestone: I have raised half of the support I will need for my Mission Year! For that, I thank you!

Many of you that have donated thus far are adults with stable (and often sizable) incomes. I extend my deepest gratitude for your generosity over the past six months. Some of you have even committed to give monthly! Thank you! In addition to your financial contributions, you have given me many potential stories to share about how the Lord has provided. I’d like to share a conversation with the friend that helped me break the halfway mark. The dollar that pushed me over that line came not from a “grown-up” with a “real job,” but from one of my peers, a college student.

This friend was not willing to blindly give to an organization he knew little about. Although he trusts me and knows my calling to see communities transformed, he wanted to know more. He invited me to dinner and respectfully inquired into the “Mission” of Mission Year: What will you be doing? How will this impact you? The community? Why should I give?

I shared my vision to see the social, economic, and—most importantly—spiritual revitalization of urban neighborhoods that have long been neglected by society and by the Church. I shared why I chose Mission Year over other programs: it balances evangelism with justice, partners across denominations, and is intentional about multi-ethnicity and racial reconciliation. I shared my hope to gain experience in a non-profit that will propel me into a career in community development. I shared my trust in the leaders to teach me well what it means to be a white, middle-class, college-educated guy from the suburbs working in a poor, underprivileged, minority, urban community. My friend, now sharing more fully in my calling, handed me his donation.

I am learning many things through the support-raising process: humility, faith, patience. But as I raise support, I must share my vision and calling with others like I did today with my inquiring friend. I share this story out of gratitude, not just for his contribution, but for his questions. As I wait until September, I am grateful to have the opportunities to rehearse that calling again and again as I raise support, building expectation and reminding me regularly of what the Lord wants for me.

So thank you for your support. I need your financial gifts and your prayer, but as I wait with anticipation, I also need you as an outlet to share my excitement about what God will do in my Mission Year in Philadelphia.