10 Realities a Missionary Probably Won’t Tell You

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missionary realities overseas global work hard truth Go. Serve. Love is psyched about featuring this post from missionary Joe Holman; it originally posted on his blog and is gratefully used with permission. Fun fact about Joe: He and his wife totally pull off the missionary thing amidst a family of 13. They’ve served in Bolivia since 2007. 

First, the Disclaimers.

I’m going out on a limb here, so I’ll put some disclaimers up in advance.

1. I love being a missionary.

This post points out bad aspects you’ll not hear us normally say.  It doesn’t mean I’m unhappy or unfulfilled.

2. I’m speaking of feelings and perceptions.

I know what the Bible says and can give a counterpoint to each of these.  For example, when I share how we feel about shortchanging my children, I know that there are 100 positive things that people can point out to me. read more

Bonus! 6 Side Benefits to Fundraising

Reading Time: 4 minutes

benefits money fundraising

1. Continued maintenance of relationships.

Let’s be honest. Support-raising propels you to still cultivate relationships with that friend from high school; that relative you usually only see once a year; that couple you’ve talked with only a few times at church, but you know they love the country you’re going to.

At times, this may feel false to you: I wouldn’t be pursuing this if there wasn’t money involved.

But you realize this is about more than money–and that the mission is greater than your discomfort. You also realize you’ve gotta persist in asking until the goal is reached. read more

FREE PRINTABLE Infographic: 5+ Ways to Pray for Your Support-Raising

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We know: Sometimes you want so badly to be DONE with support-raising, for the love of Mike, that your prayers are confined to some version of ohpleaseohpleaseohplease help me find the money.

Don’t hate us for this? There’s a lot of richness to be found in this crazy, so-tired-I-could-sleep-on-an-African-bus journey.

So we want to give you something to hang your hat on–something to anchor your soul. We’ve given you 6 printable verses to encourage your support raising, so we’re taking the next natural step. read more

FREE PRINTABLE: 6 Verses to Encourage Your Support Raising

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PRINT 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27 HERE.

We know: The road can feel long in support raising, the discouragement real. Sometimes you might even wonder whose bright idea this was to go there this way.

We’re impressed by Support Raising Solutions’ top five verses for fundraising (a passage from Nehemiah? Who knew?). If you’re wanting to sink your teeth into the biblical basis for raising support, this page and this page could give you a rousing start, and here’s a longer one for all you theological (or seriously skeptical) types here.

So…we loved your enthusiasm for our 5 [Printable] Missions Scriptures to Memorize (*That You Probably Don’t Know Yet) for your Journey. Ready for more? read more

#BESTOFTHEBESTFRIDAYS: Business as Mission; fundraising bootcamp

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bestofthebestfriday

Business as Mission Infographic

The BAM Review has published a pretty sweet summary of need-to-knows for Business as Mission–all in a tidy infographic. And please, click here for 50+ BAM job openings around the world!

Totally into BAM? From their think tank, BAM Global has produced a series of 19 Issue- and Region-focused reports on business as mission.

New Book, Becoming Whole, from the author of When Helping Hurts

Image result for becoming whole fikkert read more

6 Killer Online Resources for Fundraising

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fundraising ain’t for sissies. Not that it should, but some might report it makes you feel like you just walked out of the public bathroom with toilet paper stuck to your shoe.

But what if there are resources to make your presentation just that much easier, and a touch more professional to inspire confidence? Though nothing can substitute starting with the right support-raising mindset (! Don’t miss our post on the fear of rejection in fundraising), we’ve gathered a few goodies to make you feel a little less…awkward.

  1. FOR DESIGN: Canva.com

Canva is an easy-to-use graphic-design website for people who’d love a little help in the form of professional-looking free templates and a drag-and-drop format. It’s frequented by non-designers as well as professionals. We’re talking templates for print as well as web: for social media (for your Facebook page, Insta feed, or blog), invitations (for that fundraising dinner a friend’s throwing), brochures, letters, flyers, slideshow presentations, posters–you name it. read more