Progress

Greetings everyone! I'm really starting to get pumped about fundraising, as crazy as that sounds. I have another idea for something kind of fun. I may host a party at my house and charge something like $10 or $15 a head, and we can all make sushi. Sushi is relatively easy to make, and I have all the things necessary to make rolls. The Commissary sells sushi grade tuna and salmon. Throw in some good music and I think it could really work.

I'll hash out dates sometime early next week, so please check back then.

PayPal sent me a credit card reader that I'm able to use on my cell phone. This will be helpful for people, like myself, who don't carry cash. I tested it out when it came and donated $5 to the fund. The system will text you or email you a receipt so that is nice.

I realize some people may feel awkward just handing me money. I mean, some people may not know me very well or are uncomfortable just giving money to something like this, so I put together a document you can always check to see what money is coming in, who gave it (not using last names, just last name initials) and basically what makes up the running total. I put a link under where the grand total is on this website, but you can also check out the public document here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bPTZ_fvK4CJOMamEHBsPhgm9Y8vhBo7OUj_Mho_89Ys/edit?usp=sharing

Finally, I mentioned in my last post that Kim from my church is about to go to Kabale Uganda. This is her second time going and she leaves Saturday and comes back April 1st. If you're a believer, please pray that God exceeds the mission team's expectations as far as doing God's work there. Pray for their safety and that the people they will minister to and help will truly be blessed and most importantly that they see Jesus through these missionaries, and hopefully accept Him as their savior.

Woot woot!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first $100 donor! Aaron, because of your support, you get access to the daily video updates during the mission trip, a DVD with the final video showcasing the entire mission trip, and an origami box of your choosing (once I get the origami super store up - coming soon) with a hand chosen souvenir from India for you to keep in said box. And since I know you, I'll be sure to pick out something you'll appreciate.

I'm very encouraged that people are giving. As June gets closer, I'll count the money in my piggy bank and make the deposit to the mission trip fund, and as I get paid I'll also continue to give as I'm able. There will also be a few fundraisers coming up (hopefully Salsa night and maybe a bake sale and definitely a portrait fundraiser) so keep your eyes peeled.

I do so look forward to the day when the focus of this blog can shift from raising money to the actual mission trip. This really is uncomfortable for me.

I know the level of material wealth in India is pale in comparison to what we here in the States are used to. I really feel like we as American Christians can gain some much needed insight by seeing what Indian Christians make due with and their perspective and attitude about it all.

Finally, please keep all aspects of this mission trip in your prayers. From fundraising, to laying the groundwork, to the continued effort to keep God first in every aspect of this trip.

Just Dance

I've been a little nervous about the lack of money coming in for the trip. I was a little surprised. Now I'm a little surprised that I was surprised. I mean, did I really expect this to be easy? What fun would that be? So I said a little prayer asking God to show me how to raise some money, as you know I have to get something like $1800 by June 15th for the ticket and some other things. I'll find out more and share soon.

A few weeks back there was this new couple at Church, John and Kim. Mom and I sat next to them and we had a nice conversation about juicing (which I'm a bit fanatical about). We also discussed Netflix and all the nutrition and food documentaries you can stream. That's the back story.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. As I was getting ready something inside kind of said they would be there. A lot of times I don't really trust this inner voice as I never really know when it's just me or it could be the Holy Spirit. But I remember thinking in my head it would be cool if they were there, that I really enjoyed talking with both of them.

And as fate would have it, they were. But here's the kicker. Kim is about to go to Uganda on a mission trip. When I found out, I asked her if she could share with me some fundraising ideas, to which she did. She had been fundraising since November for this upcoming trip and she had many ideas that I'm currently developing right now.

The two biggest ideas that I'm most excited about is Salsa Night at Kever Manor! What am I talking about, right? I just met a girl who loves to Salsa dance and I think I got her to agree to teach people how to do it. So I'll have a party of sorts, charge $10 at the door (100% proceeds go to the mission trip) and we can all learn to Salsa. I think it sounds like a lot of fun and a great excuse to make some fresh salsa and Latin food.

Anyhow, I have to work on it a bit more but I think it sounds like a lot of fun.

The next idea is maybe to do a bake sale. I can cook. Maybe I can con others into cooking some stuff, and I can park it outside a Giant Supermarket for a few hours selling baked goods. Of course I'll offer free samples as the Amish do that at their market and it works really well.

So there's some good news here. I suppose the bad news, or uncomfortable news (I should say) is this is really challenging me to step outside of my comfort zone. But I'm game. What's the worst that can happen?

Finally, I'd like to recognize two people for their support. Carlo for retweeting the support message and making a donation. I'm very grateful that you've taken an interest in what I'm doing. And @missionsmanual on Twitter for the retweet. Words can't explain how happy I am that people are paying attention.

Ultimately all this that I'm doing, isn't even for me. It's for the people in India where we're going. I want to be a part of showing God's love to these people, who live content and fulfilled at a much standard of living than we do. Who knows, maybe these Indians can show me something about God too.

Ouch

Part of being an adult is having to pay bills. This is not my favorite thing to do at all. I used to love pay days, but as I've gotten older, I actually don't enjoy them as much. It seems like the money is gone before it's even in my account. In fact it is. I often push bills I can back to the next pay day, so in a very real sense, the money is spent before I even make it.

For many years now I've tithed. I'm not trying to brag or get special recognition. In fact, the Bible says not to let the right hand know what the left hand is doing (Mat 6:3), so I'm a bit uncomfortable even discussing this at all. And while the Bible says to tithe 10% (Gen 14:20) over the past year I've been doing more like 20%. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but 1) I feel called to do this and 2) I'd like to be considered by God to be like the woman who threw two copper coins into the offering plate, who gave out of her poverty (Mark 12:44). Although I think I'm very far from what this woman did, I do enjoy (or at least I try very hard to enjoy) giving to the point that it hurts.

So for this mission trip, I refuse to divert the money I normally give to my church and to other ministries to what I need for the mission trip. If I did, would that really be having faith that God is calling me to do this and will provide? I don't think so.

I said yesterday after I worked out my bills, I'd make a contribution to the India fund and I have. $50. Not much and certainly I'm not anywhere near where I need to be in June but it's something. And I made the contribution without taking away from what I normally give.

There were two new shares of my post on Facebook that I want to recognize. Thank you Pastor Dave for reposting to your Church and to your audience for the Men of the Bible FB page. I'm very very grateful.

Please pray for the others trying to raise support to go on this mission trip. Also pray that God works now to prepare our path to do his work when we get there.

Thank you.

I was hoping for more of a response after my big social media push last night. That being said I'm still very grateful for mom and Sue, the first two initial donors. They also shared my FaceBook post asking for support. Thank you both. I'd also like to thank Tim, Jorge, and Matthew for retweeting my twitter message asking for support. Matthew even came up with his own tweet encouraging others to help out.

I really appreciate the help from you all.

I'm going to have to come up with something else though as this is not nearly enough to fund the mission.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

I was talking to someone today about all this and she mentioned, this is not the economic climate to be asking people for support. Maybe she's right. I wonder if God cares about the economic climate when it comes to reaching out to people in need and sharing the gospel.

I just got paid today. Tomorrow when I figure out my bills, I'll make as big of a contribution as possible to the trip. I've got to come up with close to $1800 by June 15th (I think) and I'm a bit nervous but I'm placing my faith in God that he'll work this all out.

One thing I must remember: just as important as raising enough support to make this trip a reality, I need to be praying - everyone needs to be praying that God lays the foundation now for what our team will do in India when we go. It's easy though to focus on the wrong things and I don't want to make that mistake.

Big Scary Idea

I was in the shower last night when I had this big scary idea. It may not work and it certainly may make me look silly but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'm going to ask people on Twitter, famous people and not so famous people to retweet my request for support along with a link to this site. If just one person with a bunch of followers says yes, then who knows what could happen.

I've been praying about this all day. I feel a little bit like Jonah. Is God really asking me to do this? People are going to ridicule me. But I'm going to do it any ways.

I told our small group my plan and they gave me a few suggestions on who to ask.

Here goes nothing.

Preparing to go live!

I've been working on this website for a few days, getting all the information together and figuring out my role on this mission trip. I truly fear putting myself out there asking others for support and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because this involves money, and to ask for it makes me feel needy or weak. I do however feel the familiar call to step outside of my comfort zone and in a strange way I'm able to take comfort in that.

I'll be documenting this trip through photography and video work. I'm not exactly sure what God has in store, but I invite you to join me through the media I'll produce.

If you're a Christian, I ask for your prayers. If God moves you to support this mission, please do so and know that I'm truly grateful and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

If you're not a Christian, I hope you'll pay attention to this blog just to see what comes out of all this. I'll do my best to share compelling media about what we're doing there and who knows, maybe you'll see something extraordinary.

In any event, my motives in this endeavor are to serve God, love my neighbor and finally to seek the Kingdom of God.

Here we go!

Finally a good cause for my piggy bank.

I've been throwing dollars and spare change in this glass blown wine vat not really sure what I'd eventually use the money for. I figured I'd get a full frame DSLR camera or the iPhone 20 or something. But I'd rather spend this money on the mission trip to India. So you know that I'm not just looking for hand outs, but am willing to work and put forth some of my own support, I wanted to share this with you. I figure there's a hundred or two in there. I'll cash this out as I approach my first fundraising mile marker in June.

Now is the time.

It has been years since I've been on a mission trip. The last one was with the campus ministry I was a part of at the University of Kentucky and we went to Mexico. It was hard work for sure but worth it on many levels as I still have fond memories of the people we built the two homes for and the great people I was working with. But that was in college. The idea of going on a mission trip was not something I really entertained, even when the church I recently moved to started suggesting it. But one Sunday, a voice said inside me, you'll be going on this trip and you'll be producing video for it. I immediately shushed the voice and almost as quickly felt convicted. That is how all this began.

I started praying about it and asking questions. My biggest concern was money, so at first I just assumed I'd pay for it out of my own pocket. What I really didn't want to do was approach friends, family and acquaintances, asking for support. I started crunching the numbers to see if I could afford it on my own. And even though now I know I probably can't pay for it on my own, my heart was convicted. Why, if God was telling me to do this, would I be embarrassed to do it? I can do almost anything else God asks me, but asking others for help? Is that the line I wont cross?

No.

So I'm not sure if I can raise enough to fund this trip, but I'll try my hardest. In in return, I have something to work for that will please God, and I plan to blog the whole way through.

The trip is the week of Thanksgiving and there's a lot to do before then. I believe I need to raise $1800 by June so I have some work to do.

Even if you're not able to donate anything to this, I would still appreciate your prayers and attention. God is going to do some amazing things here. I know because that is who he is.