With so many books, resources, techniques and ideas out there, it can be hard to know where to begin when raising support to serve on a short-term mission. We can lose balance with information overload and feel completely overwhelmed or go to the other extreme and do nothing and hope it works out.
In addition to this lack of balance, most times raising support is viewed as a necessary evil to get on with the real ministry. Oftentimes, what most do is simply send out a letter announcing their plans with a request for support. While prayer is a key component of this approach, we can miss the heart of discipleship that God intends for the short-termer and those who will take part as senders.
Is asking for financial support biblical?
Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. John 16:24 (NAS)
If you have been charged with the responsibility of raising support for your short-term mission you can’t do it without establishing the conviction that asking is biblical. Now, I didn’t say it was necessary for God to provide for your ministry, but it is clearly one of the methods by which He chooses to provide. Here are examples from the Old and New Testament:
Then the heads of households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the command of the LORD. Joshua 21:1-3 (NAS, emphasis mine)
Here we see the heads of the Levites verbally reminding Eleazar, Joshua, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel of God’s command to provide for their needs. Even though it had previously been commanded it didn’t happen automatically. It took this verbal reminder for them to respond obediently.
Let’s take a quick look at this New Testament example:
And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. Matthew 10:11 (NAS)
To “inquire” or ask required verbal communication with the believers in a particular city for their support and provision while ministering. While there are other verses we could examine, these two make it clear that asking for resources has been, and always will be, a part of growing ourselves and others to be more like Christ and a biblical way to accomplish ministry.
Go and Make Disciples of all Nations
If you’ve committed to serve on a short-term mission, most likely you are aware of the Lord’s mandate to go and make disciple of all nations provided in Matthew 28:19. In fact, your participation on a short-term mission may be one of the practical ways you are carrying out that mandate in your life! Yet, we must remember that the call to make disciples is not just an overseas call but also one we must live out in the U.S. and within our own communities. This is by no means a new concept, but oftentimes it’s a value we ascribe to as important but never fully live out. In fact most believers agree with this strategy laid out quite nicely in Acts 1:8 (to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth) but they struggle with truly living a missional life.
Have you ever thought of “asking” others for financial support for your short-term mission as a viable part of making disciples? Have you seriously considered that God might have plans to challenge and mature others in their faith journey as a result of your short-term mission? After all, isn’t giving just as much a spiritual discipline as praying or reading the Bible? Most of us are very comfortable challenging others to pray, to read the Word or to serve but are genuinely intimidated at the thought of asking for financial resources.
As short-termers we have a tremendous opportunity to help others become “more complete in Christ” (Col 1:28-29) through their giving and an opportunity to be co-laborers in the short-term mission. We also have a tremendous opportunity to grow as we step out in faith, ask, and trust the Lord for His provision.
How do I ask for financial support for my short-term mission?
Without love “it profits me nothing” (1 Cor 13:3). Authentic loving relationships are the bedrock of asking for financial support. Our relationship with the Lord is our first priority followed by our relationships with those we intend to ask for support. Oftentimes, the support raising process is a good indicator of the quality of loving relationships we have in our life.
1. Pray.
Begin by acknowledging and adoring God for who He is. Psalm 50:10-12 states, “the world is Mine, and all it contains.” These and many other Scriptures make it clear that everything belongs to God. We can love and worship God by acknowledging and resting in this truth through prayer. There’s no single vision or need He can’t provide for.
Share your fears and concerns for His guidance, and ask for the right words. Also, pray for the individual(s) you intend to contact. Pray that you will be able to connect with them, that their hearts would be open and ready for your request, and for God to lead them in their response. This is not a “pray and pay” approach. God knows our hearts and our prayers need to be rooted in love. If we sincerely care about each person, our motivation is that all would be obedient to the Lord’s leading – however that may turn out.
2. Be personally invested and trained (Luke 6:40).
If we are not personally invested in the short-term mission, it can be difficult to encourage and ask others for financial support. Jesus Christ set the ultimate example of generosity and challenges each one of us to conform to His image. As individuals seeking to serve on a short-term mission, we cannot attempt to develop other spiritual disciplines in our life yet neglect generosity, nor can we take others on a journey toward generosity or expect others to give if we are not personally committed ourselves.
A model often recommended for short-term mission fundraising is the 1/3 – 1/3 – 1/3 approach, where the first one-third comes from the short-termer, the second from the church and the last one-third from family, friends and others who want to partner financially with your short-term mission. This is not a hard and fast rule but only a recommended breakdown. The key here is that you personally invested at any amount and were generous towards what you are asking others to be generous towards. Your portion can come from a monthly gift that you set aside prior to your trip through budgeting, out of your personal savings, or by creative ways to generate additional income such as taking on odd jobs or having a yard sale.
3. Involve your local church.
Acts 6:6 provides an example of the early New Testament church commissioning and sending missionaries to share God’s Word and make disciples. Involving the local church is biblical and critical for success. Most likely your short-term mission is taking place through your local church, but that is not always the case. Either way, it’s important early in the process to schedule a time to meet with your church’s mission team or pastor and to share a bit of your testimony and journey, why you want to participate on the short-term mission and what you hope God will accomplish.
This is also a great time to determine if there are any scholarships or funds that would be available to help you along your way. Most churches have a line item for short-term missions and plan for scholarship opportunities, but if they don’t have funds set aside, determine if there are any plans for members of the team to work together to raise additional funds. This could be a number of things such as a fundraising dinner or dessert, silent auction, food sales, or something else! Be prepared to step in and help with events like this any way you can.
4. Share the vision and need.
Consider who you are contacting and what their passions are before making contact with them. Because you are in relationship, you will know if what you are going to ask for is in alignment with their passions.
Seek first to meet face-to-face to share about your short-term mission and the opportunity to help with financial support. If you cannot share face-to-face, the next best approach is by phone. As you share, be clear and concise with your request. Start with the vision or need of the short-term mission, and then work your way into the critical details such as the timing, overall budget and how specifically they can help. Be sure to express how your role on the short-term mission can help meet the need.
After sharing, ask them if they will pray about supporting you financially. If the answer is “no” or they make it clear it’s not a possibility, thank them for their consideration and ask if they would be a part of your prayer team. If the answer is, “yes,” to joining your financial support team then always follow-up with the question, “When can I contact you to determine how the Lord leads you?” All too often, this is where the “disconnect” takes place in the discipleship process. We ask them to “pray about it,” and fail to identify what the next step will be. Good discipleship requires good follow-through! By asking them for a follow-up date, you are essentially getting their permission for follow-up. This allows them to have ownership of their decision made between them and the Lord as well as to your follow-up contact with them.
5. Follow-through to obtain a “yes” or “no”.
Once you identify a date and time, be sure you make that follow-up call or contact. Your chances of connecting are very favorable because they will be expecting you to contact them. Once you connect, greet them, and briefly remind them of the reason you are calling again and that you are following up on the day/time they had indicated would work for them. You have an opportunity to demonstrate a genuine sensitivity to their life situations by asking them if this is a good time to determine what decision they have made. The goal here is to get a “yes” or “no” answer not provide a “sales pitch.” If you are unable to determine their decision be sure to ask them for permission to connect again. Continue this process until they have responded with a “yes” or “no” answer.
This is most often where the support raising process breaks down due to a lack of persistence, fear, or forgetfulness. In Luke 18, Jesus shares about a persistent widow who was finally granted her request from a judge. Verse 5 hilariously states, “because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” The context of this verse is persistent prayer to God, yet I also believe God works and honors those who are persistent to fulfill their various ministries. We don’t want to be a pest, but it is biblical to receive a “yes” or “no” answer from those who said they would pray and get back to us.
6. Thank supporters.
Regardless of how individuals respond to your request always express your gratitude and appreciation for their time and consideration. Saying “thank you” is another key component of an authentic loving relationship. Take the opportunity to do this verbally during the follow-up meeting. This may sound odd, but I have had the opportunity to thank individuals for saying “no” to a financial request. I typically do this when I realize later how God intended to provide for a specific need. Remember that a “no” can be an obedient answer and that God can use a “no” to reveal His pathway of provision.
When individuals do choose to support your short-term mission, set a personal goal to thank them a minimum of five times. These “thank you’s” can come verbally, through written cards, emails, a final report, or by sending a thank you gift. You can never say thank you enough.
What questions do you have about raising support for short-term missions? Or perhaps you have some additional advice having been on a short-term mission yourself? Leave a comment below!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris and I used to go round and round about ‘asking’ disciples of Jesus for funds to carry out the gospel.
Regardless of my view or his, I find it odd that we as ‘believers’ neglect just the simple call of God to support such efforts.
I would argue with Chris about the George Mueller method; that of asking no one for funds, being the best way.
AND YET!!! It remains the same whether verbal to the church or in prayer to God… ARE YOU LISTENING! And how are we to know what the need is? Most of us don’t spend 15 minutes before God seeking that will.
I wonder, I really wonder! How many of us would obey if we even KNEW God were telling us?
Well… Has he not called us by his word to lay down all we have?
I know what fear and faithlessness is. It is just sad after the price he paid for our souls we are not more grateful.
I have been recently reading a book called ‘Radical’ by David Platt. It tore at my selfish heart. I have been struggling with missions. Grant you… I have a good job, a nice home and all that… but am I willing to obey God?
In this book the author told of a Christian publication where the editor either intentionally or by accident put two articles side by side.
On the left the headline read: “First ‘ ‘ Church Celebrates New $23 Million Building” describing the ornate opulance of the complex.
On the right a much smaller article ” ‘ ‘ Church raises $5000 to relieve the suffering in Darfur.
I was stunned and critical and angry UNTIL my heart was smote with “YOU ARE THAT MAN!”
I cry the loudest and that cry is the mirror reflecting back my lack and hypocrisy.
I am going back to India. That struggle has carried on for years. For me… it is no longer can I but will I!
I don’t want your support… I don’t need it. But there are many who do truly need it and have been working and saving of their own labor to finance their trip. Those are the valient ones… those of conviction.
Imagine an all volunteer army called up to war. And each volunteer having to raise their own finance to buy their weapons, uniforms, supplies and transport to go off and lay down their lives for YOU!
Consider in prayer creating a ‘Jesus Fund’. This isn’t your tithe… but an offering for times when there is a call or need for mission support. That way you’ll have it and won’t have to think about it. Start out with 1% or 2% or 5%. You’ll be surprised at two things… (1) How good you’ll feel… and (2) How quickly it will add up. Just a thought.
But also the cause of Christ and whether your position is just a matter of conviction of preference. One you are will to give your life for… the other is just a convenience.
Great article to help people Biblically think through this “partnership” idea of short term missions. Chris gives some great ideas to help the “goer” assist others in their relationship and commitment to Christ by allowing them to experience the blessings of giving and being part of a missions trip that they may not personally be able to do themselves.
This would be an excellent “tool” for churches to include in their short term mission packet they give to those preparing for their trips.
Hey Chris –
GREAT practical insights about a topic rarely addressed with sound, balanced wisdom as well as encouragement to be reasonably aggressive in making the need known. The early apostles were not timid about letting needs be known, both for addressing the needs brought about by famine, etc. AND for the spreading of the Gospel and ministry of the Word.
I feel that short-term missions is a waste of Christian resources. Most of the money is spent on transportation, not getting the Gospel out. Throw in the language difficulties and it is a questionable expenditure. If all the money thrown into short-term missions were invested in long-term missions, what a difference those long-term missionaries could make.
James, you make a good argument. I think we have to look at each mission independently and decide whether to fund it, take the trip, etc. I’m sure that there are instances where long term missions have accomplished less than short term missions – it depends on the circumstance!
This is a good point that I wish would be evaluated more in the local church. It seems like we are more concerned with getting a Christian vacation where we can feel good about ourselves helping rather than really make sure we’re helping the missionary or church we are presuming to serve.
While earning a degree in missions (though the goal was to do ministry in the US; I really liked the program) I learned that the main reason for most short term trips is the growth of the individual on the trip. Yes, it does help the ministry, but on a purely financial basis it is very inefficient.
I am naturally along your lines of thinking and would rather get the most bang for my buck, but many people need to see it in action to be invested. I have never been on a short term trip, but I still support missions and encourage others to go.
@James, I thought long and hard about that when I was a missions pastor. I came to the conclusion, from talking with our missions partners around the world, that missions trips were a vital part of our ministry. Yes, that money could be used to directly fuel the mission. But the missions trips did so much to fuel people’s passion of missions in general and that mission in particular, and helped foster a life-long passion for missions in the lives of many people.
Missions trips need to be planned well. People need to be equipped before they go to know what to expect, how to go in as servants, how to leave their cultural baggage behind, etc. When you’re on the trip, people need to talk about what they’re seeing and feeling. Many times people sense a new or renewed calling on their lives, so we need to do a great job of exploring this while on the trip. Get people to journal and write down all their thoughts, feelings, learnings, etc. Most importantly, there needs to be great follow-up after the trip to help people take those steps, or make those changes, that they felt they needed to do.
Many missions pastors tell me they believe that long-term follow-up after the missions trip is crucial to keeping the passion going. But most churches focus more on pre-trip planning than post-trip follow-up.
Rich, great comments. Check out http://www.thenextmile.org This is a ministry and curriculum we developed in partnership with over 20 mission agencies to address that very issue (post-ministry discipleship).
James, thank you for your input. I hear that sentiment now and then, yet I’ve never heard anyone support that sentiment clearly from the Scriptures or with biblical examples. That is, that the model of short-term missions is wrong. I am open to learn and would love that kind of support to your sentiment. I agree, many do waste resources on short-term missions because they are not getting properly trained or discipled after returning home. That is why we are members of the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission (http://www.stmstandards.org) and strive to do short-term missions with excellence. If done well, they can be very effective. I am open to learn and would love that kind of biblical support to your sentiment that “all” short-term missions are a waste. My research shows that most every mission within the early New Testament church was “short-term”, or less than 3 years. Paul did lots of short-term missions to plant churches and develop leaders. In fact, the shortest, short-term mission I ever read about was when Jesus took a trip to Samaria to witness to the woman at the well. In fact, even Jesus’ earthly ministry was relatively short-term (3 years). I think we see that the clear answer is that both long-term and short-term, when done well and with excellence, have always been God’s model of accomplishing the Great Commission.
Chris, you make some great points in your post. I think the last one is super-vital: thank your donors and show them (through stories, photos, etc.) how their support made a difference.
I definitely believe it is biblical to ask others to help finance our missions trip. And I count it a blessing to be able to sow seeds in the Kingdom by joining with others in supporting their missions trip or long-term missions service.
Personally, I have a growing passion to get creative in finding more ways to fund missions trips (or other missions giving) through personal creativity and entrepreneurship. Some people generate significant income for missions by holding bake sales, buying and selling stuff on e-Bay, starting money-making websites, donating plasma, selling garden produce, starting a part-time business, etc.
@Steve mentioned George Mueller’s example of not directly asking others for help. I love reading of Mueller’s trust in God’s daily provision. He definitely felt he was called to do that. He served thousands and thousands of people, but I don’t think his work really carries on today.
In contrast, William Booth started The Salvation Army a few years after Mueller’s ministry, and as we all know from the red kettles, he actively asked others to give to support the Army’s mission. 150 years later, the Salvation Army has served millions of people in countries all over the world, and is still going strong today.
Is one model of funding better than another? I don’t think so. Both models really require faith in God to provide. The bottom line is to do what you feel God is calling you to do.
I appreciated the constant Biblical support for each point, including the legitimacy of asking for funds to support ministers and the work of the gospel. When Paul writes the book of Romans, he states that he hopes to continue to Spain with their prayer support and financial support (Romans 15:23-33). Among being the most straightforward systematic treatise on Biblical truth concerning salvation, Romans was also a missionary support letter. Thanks, Chris.
Steve,
David Platt’s book is a great call to action and helped reorganize my spiritual and financial priorities. He recently preached a message at the “Together for the Gospel” conference that is available to listen to online about God’s sovereignty as the death-defying fuel of global missions. It was a great sermon!
I would love to see an article on how to raise money for a non-prof, ministry, church plant, etc
Caleb, this article might help.
Caleb, thanks for your input as well. John’s provided an article by Carol that will help, but I will also plan to write something like this in the future. I’ve been in that role (raising support for a mission) for nearly 10 years now and will share from that experience.
Great and practical. I love that you emphasize that support discovery is both Biblcial and relational and not just about marketing or schemeing. I’m always a fan of having a plan or a strategy, but someimes I can get caught up in the DOING and in “working the plan” and forget to pray, to relate, and to allow the Lord to do His part of working thorugh all of us. Thanks Chris.
now i understand that it is biblical..because the person i knew,commented indirectly when i send him my appeal of supporting a mission in any means and ways..by saying that asking FINANCIAL SUPPORT always for the church is not good,he interpreted my appeal as literal money..then he flashed back the negative syd of the pastors of his nation and compare to the korean..
Maritess, so glad you stumbled onto this article and that the Lord used it to speak truth into your heart and life. Be encouraged. The Bible provides us examples of those who asked for support in both the Old and New Testament. Their response is in God’s hands.