“Is there any way other than begging for financial support?”

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Back in the day when my husband and I were first considering a financially-supported ministry, I was so stinkin’ geared up to raise my own salary pretty much against it from the get-go. And I’d even seen my parents do it (and do it well). In fact, since I knew what it involved, I was like, reasons not to go: 1) We have to raise financial support. (It may have also been reasons #5 and #8.)

But it’s been 14 years now. Just as God used to sell a certain number of books to keep me employed or bring a certain number of tithing Christians to church to pay my salary, he continues to sustain my family through people who catch the vision for what we’re doing around the world.

And there are a lot of reasons I’d call my old self up on the phone and say, Do this.  read more

My Story: The 90% You’d Rather Not Hear About

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Today we’re thrilled to welcome the honest story of an anonymous, vibrant American who found new purpose in the mountains of Kenya.  Take a peek at the 90% you don’t normally see.

mission story survival 90% hear about

The next time you want to ask me, or any global worker, why we’re so tired, consider reading this first.

Have you ever lived abroad? What about living among another people group? Have you ever stuck out like a sore thumb no matter where you turn? read more

On Sharing the Wins Overseas–and Ideas to Do It Well

Reading Time: 5 minutes

sharing the wins

“And that,” I told the refugee students in front of me–tears hovering in my eyes as my hands lowered after my animated lecture–“is what I’ve been waiting to tell you.”

I drew a few deep breaths. After a semester of drawing this group of students through the storytelling of the Old Testament–half of them Muslim–I had finally culminated in showing how Jesus al Masih (Jesus the Messiah) was the fulfillment of every story. read more

Raising Support: “I just don’t think I can take that kind of rejection!”

Reading Time: 4 minutes

We know you can all channel your inner Marty McFly’.

Go. Serve. Love is giddy to welcome back Jenn Fortner, blogger at Financial Partner Development. She’s helped over 300 people get fully-funded for the ministries they’re passionate about. We’re lovin’ her expertise and doable tips.

“I just don’t think I can take that kind of rejection!”

A subject that comes up regularly in the hearts and minds of ministry workers raising their finances: the fear of rejection. read more

Discern God’s Will: 14 More Questions

Reading Time: 4 minutes

discern God's will

Grab the first set of questions here

to help you discern God’s Will.

Picture with me for a moment some soggy, Middle Eastern men on an ancient boat in the middle of the night. Their arms are slick with seaspray, jellied from bailing water and rowing against the wind.

They’ll argue about who saw it first, but unmistakably, something was silhouetted on the crests and peaks of the waves. And it sure looked a whole lot like a person.

But because people can’t really float upright on water–as fishermen, they’re confident of this–their minds vault to the supernatural: A ghost. read more

Language Learning: Why to Speak their Heart-Language, Part II

Reading Time: 3 minutes
language

photo credit IMB.org photo library

Missed Part I? Grab it here.

My husband and I sat with a friend who’d spent years in Japan as a businessman. (He helped me with Go. Serve. Love’s post, Unreached People Group Focus: Japanese.)

We spoke of the culture of conformity of the Japanese. And my friend related a proverb–loosely translated, “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.” read more