Fundraising is hard. There’s no way to sugar coat it. It is tough, and it will test you. Seeing the amount that needs to be raised is daunting, and at first, I had a pit in my stomach thinking about how I was successfully going to $17,700.00. And then it happened, something no one saw coming. A global pandemic. A complete lock down across the country. My entire fundraising plan had been trampled on. I was no longer going to be able to meet with people in person. I wasn’t going to be able to set up appointments, or even speak with people in church. Everything changed, without warning, and without anything to fall back on. How could I possibly raise the money when I couldn’t even leave my house? Surely, this wasn’t in God’s plan. Or was it?
In the midst of the spread of COVID-19, I have been forced to dig deeper into my faith. If this was something that God had called me to do, which I whole heatedly believed that it was, then He would really have to come through. $17,000 is a lot of money. And althought it all doesn’t have be raised until February 2021, there were honestly moments when I doubted if God was really going to come through. There were months when I raised barely anything. So little, that it wouldn’t have even scraped the bottom of the barrel. And in those moments, my anxiety got the better of me. I started to question whether or not I was called to missions. I wondered if I really heard God’s calling, or if I had confused His voice with my own personal desires.
As I was walking around the neighborhood with my sister, I decided to voice my doubts. I had held them in for so long, I felt as though I was going to burst. There was a guilt that began brewing inside of me for having these doubts. If I was truly saved, then I wouldn’t have doubted or questioned God, right? And then she said it. “You just need to have mustard seed faith”. Simple words that I have heard a thousand times before in church. But this time was different. I had been so concerned with having faith the size of a mountain that I forgot that faith the size of a mustard seed is big enough to move my mountain. So, with my mustard seed faith, I prayed, fo what felt like the thousandth time, over my fundraising. And the next day, I prayed again. And again. And again.
The next week, I received an anonymous donation of $500.00. I stared at my phone, jaw to the floor, unable to come up with the words on how to thank God. Over the next couple of months, God came through. Over and over again. And now, here we are. In a little more than 2 months, I will travel from Texas to Georgia to begin my journey. I have already surpassed my first deadline, and am working to raise $8,500.00 by September. I know that He will provide in abundance.
From this, I came to realize that fundraising, despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, is not based on my ability or my financial circumstance. It is all completely dependent on Him. Always. It is up to me to obey, and He will take care of everything else. He always has. And if God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, then He will come through for me again.
A beautiful story of growing faith, Hannah! I am old enough and have known Jesus long enough to know we are never finished learning to trust God; it’s a life-long journey. But it’s all part of the adventure of living life with Him! Every time you take steps toward Him, and trust Him with something new, you learn a little bit more about His character, and about His unending, overwhelming love for you! I am so excited to know that you are on this path! God bless you as you grow, sweetheart!