As I am in the process of raising funds to get on the mission myself I've had some conversations over the last week that have really got me thinking about why people don't give and my own difficulties in fund raising. I've been thinking about why I don't give sometimes. I think that one of the reasons why people don't give is because many feel like if they can't write the check for a "substantial" amount then they can't do anything. I've felt that way many times. Have you ever been sitting in a service where a special offering if being taken and because you can't write a check for $50, $100, $1000 or more you "don't have the money" to give? I have. Many times. But now that I'm on other side of things I wanted to just encourage anyone that may read this that even if all you have is $1 don't think that your $1 is insignificant.
Being a missionary working to get on the field I just want to say that any donation I receive in any amount is important. I don't look at a $10 donation as any less important than a $100 donation (you can add any number of zeroes to that figure) because anyone who believes in the call of God on my life enough to sow any amount of money into my life is important. And I am humbled more than I could ever say. And I am confident that there are thousands of missionaries out there that would agree with me.
Why do we let the size of our donation prevent us from making one? Isn't our God the God who multiplies? Isn't our God the God who takes 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to feed a mulititude of people? His math could never be solved by the most brilliant of mathemiticians. The more I started thinking about it the more I believe that many of us have more ablility to give then we think. And the more I thought about the difference it could make in getting the Gospel to the ends of the earth the more I wanted to write this blog.
Think about it. How many of us within 1 month will spend $5 on either a fast food meal, a Starbuck's coffee, packages of gum or mints for when we are in church, bottled water or a soda over the course of 30 days? I would say that everyone who reads this does that. What if the next time we are sitting in the drive thru line we think about what the $5 we are about to spend on junk food could do for the Kingdom of heaven. How could that $5 effect eternity? If instead of buying that fast food meal that $5 went to a missionary who will go to an unreached tribe in a village on some island we have never even heard of that takes 14 hours by plane, then another 6 hours on a cramped bus, then 4 hours by four wheel drive vehicles and another 4 hours on foot through dense jungle with the threat of leaches and malaria -- we might just skip the drive through and use that $5 to multiply the Kingdom instead of the pounds around our waistlines.
Can $5 really do that? YES! How do I know? I did the math. I used my facebook account as an example because it was practical and easy for me to figure out. I have 595 friends on facebook. If every single person on my friends list gave $5 in monthly support it would total almost $3000/month. That's enough to send me to Israel. That's enough to send 3 people to China, Thailand, or the Philippines. That's enough to send someone to the dark continent of Europe. If one person goes to China and by sharing the Gospel sees 1 convert there are overwhelming odds that many more thousands will get saved in the process because of the rate that the Chinese church is growing. $5 + 1 missionary + 1 convert = THOUSANDS of souls. Your $5 has just touched a nation. A NATION! You would have a hand in that!
I pray that the next time I am in a drive thru the Holy Spirit convicts me and rather than throwing my money to some chain restaurant in exchange for something that ultimately destroys my body I will drive away, invest my $5 in the Kingdom and spend that time fasting and praying for a missionary. Because my $5 will effect eternity and so can yours.
I want to issue a challenge that I will accept myself. I'll call it the $5 challenge. The next time I am going to hit the drive through I will instead give $5 to a missionary and fast that meal to pray for a missionary instead. I'll sow into that because I need it and because I want to impact eternity. Anyone else up to the challenge?
