Ok, so you may or may not have heard by now that it will cost $3000 to go on the mission trip to Naples, Italy, in September and that the $375 non-refundable deposit is due to DELTA Ministries by April 18. Stop right there!
When most people hear $3000 and the words “mission trip,” their mind starts going down the path of “fund-raising.” Followed by that initial gloomy thought is usually a list of reasons why they don’t think it will be possible to raise the money necessary to go. “I’m in college.” “I don’t make a lot of money.” “I don’t have a rich uncle.” The list goes on and on. Let me help you with a little shift in perspective that will change everything concerning “raising money.”
The provision that you need for this mission trip is already available. God never calls someone to do something, which He doesn’t also provide everything needed to get the job done. If God is in it - no one can stop it. God is able to supply everything you need to accomplish His work. Period. So our part isn’t “fund-raising” it’s all about “provision discovery.” Start the process now of discovering the provision God already has for you to go on this mission trip.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying sit and wait for God to drop financial resources in your lap. That’s not living by faith, that’s just being lazy. Pray, act, move, work, write letters of support, think outside of the box. When you do this, provision discovery becomes an adventure - almost like a financial Easter egg hunt. If we approach this mission trip with a sense of discovery, we are more likely to think outside the box and look in places we might not otherwise think of looking.
As you write your letters of support I encourage you to do so with excitement, not dread. All of us are called to advance the Kingdom of God. Someone once said, there are two kinds of Christ-followers, “goers” and “senders.” Not everyone has the ability to go - so don’t be ashamed to give them the opportunity to be a “sender.” Don’t be afraid to ask. Your faithful act of obedience is the key to unlocking God’s provision for you.
I want you to memorize these verses and meditate on them often as you go about your adventure of provision discovery.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 21:22 “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
