It was almost two years ago that Susan and I sat at the lunch table with Brian Derringer who told us a story about support-raising. He told us how he went to a conference and just sort of checked out. He sat in the back of the church and didn't engage very many people. He described himself as pretty poor model for missionaries trying to raise support. At some point during the weekend he found a man in a wheelchair. He, too was in the back of the church and so the two of them sat together. At the end of the conference, Brian said goodbye to the man who when he shook Brian's hand slipped him a very large check. I jokingly asked,"Is that how we should approach support raising?" He responded, "Yeh - If you want God to kick your butt!" I have remembered both of the lessons of that story. One, I don't want God to kick my butt and there is no doubt he could do it if he wanted. Though there have been times of discouragement as the support-raising process has lasted far longer than we anticipated, we have taken seriously the responsibility of being active in the process. Sometimes we didn't know what to do next. We have prayed and asked others to pray. We have also been creative in searching out potential supporters. Our story has been on TV, radio, and in two newspapers. We have put together packets and made a support video to attempt to reach beyond our normal circles. Friends have volunteered to reach out to others on our behalf, often sharing those packets and support the video. We are doing what we know to do, though sometimes as I said before, we don't know what to do. When leads pop up, it is our aim to follow them. The second lesson in Brian's story is that God is just as sovereign in support-raising as he is in anything else. The past week has provided reminders of that truth. Susan and I took Eli and Paul to the mall on Saturday and as we were walking to the car a friend (that I don't recall seeing since high school) walked down the same row to help a customer load something in her car. Naturally we began to catch up on each other's lives. He told me about his wife and children. We updated each other with what we knew of our mutual friends. Then it happened. I told him that we were preparing to move to Bulgaria to do mission work. He immediately asked if we needed support and he told me he would make a contribution. Isn't that amazing? It reminds me of Jesus sending his disciples out on the sea overnight and how they rowed with everything they had all through the night, but didn't get so far that they couldn't be seen from the hill
overlooking their push off point. It wasn't until Jesus showed up that they reached their destination. Today I went to have lunch with a dear friend. I wanted to see her before with moved to Glennville. While we were eating and conversing, one of her colleagues walked in and began talking to us about mission work. She said that her church has had an increasing interest in getting involved with mission work and her pastor has been inviting missionaries to come speak. I had an extra packet in my bag just in case this type of thing occurred. I told her I would love to speak to her church and I handed her a packet. She said she would share it with her pastor. Look at that - unplanned. Now we have an advocate in a church that we have not pursued. Pray that a partnership would develop through this contact.
This is Dr. Page. I have talked to several people who know him and they all have a lot of confidence in him. He seems to be a really nice guy and has a great bedside manner. He replaced my eardrum. I look forward to being able to report that my hearing has been restored. The process takes a few weeks. I go back to see Dr. Page a week from Monday.
