Barriers to Support Raising

We were in Fiji working towards a huge outreach and one of the local Fijian girls, a fellow YWAMer, was part of our team. She was having a hard time getting her support, so I prayed about helping her. She was about $300 short of what she needed to gather in 2 months. Three hundred USD was a lot of money to her. The Lord instructed me to do something to help. Instead of a one-time gift, I told her I would give her $5 a day, but she needed to ask me every day for the $5. She was shy and to that point had not asked anyone to assist her. The issue was an internal one, not a monetary one. It took a lot of coaching and encouragement from me and a friend of hers to get her to ask for money the first day. She did ok the second day, and to make a long story short, she never asked me for money again - even though she knew I wanted to give to her. This story highlights an important point in fundraising: Internal issues are just as critical, if not more so, than learning the skills and tools of fundraising.

We want to submit 13 of the most common barriers to raising support for the missionary fundraiser. This web site will help specifically with the first 4. The others we want to delineate for your prayerful consideration and own Bible study. If you are struggling with raising your support, ask the Lord if any of these could be part of thwarting of the support you need.

1. Lack of Knowledge: "... my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. This website, along with your desire to learn will cure this common barrier.

2. Lack of Tools: Any job has tools. This website will guide you into discover the tools and the skills you need to be effective in support raising.

3. Ineffective or Inconsistent Efforts: Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax." Support raising is a skill that needs to be developed and sharpened. It can also be compared to getting a car moving. It takes more energy to get a car moving than to keep it moving. Starting and stopping is counterproductive. Many missionaries claim they work at fund raising, but are using a dull ax inconsistently. The wisdom in this web site can sharpen things for you.

4. Not having a personal budget: "Failures don't plan to fail; they fail to plan." Harvey MacKay. An undisciplined life in spending habits and lack of accountability can be a major barrier to successfully funding your mission work.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Luke 16: 10 - 12

Again, Missionary Fundraiser, and our FYi - Fund Your Ideas eZine and secure area for our subscribers will greatly help you overcome the above obstacles to successful support raising.

As far as the rest of these go - we encourage you to get to God to discuss with him and look for His help, and ask your spiritual advisors and family to help you address and overcome if you think any of these could be barriers in your life.

5. Bad Theology: We address this a bit in our web site, but it is not intended to lay a Biblical groundwork for the philosophy and strategies we teach. Many Christians, including missionaries, have a wrong concept of money, wealth, poverty, etc. Even the stories of miraculous provision that we all love can be counterproductive. THEY ARE THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE. We need to let the whole counsel of the Bible instruct us. As an example, Philip was translated (Acts 8) - but we don't rely on that mode of transportation as missionaries! We need sound and thorough instruction and wisdom in the area of finances in the Church. From my point of view, unless God specifically and clearly told you NOT to tell anyone about your need, not sharing your needs with others and practicing sound principles is like sitting in your room waiting to be translated to a country when God told you to go. Seek out the Bible's Wisdom afresh in this area.

6. Pride: It is humbling to ask for help. That is how God designed things. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 We can try to spiritualize our lack, our lack of fundraising work, but often it is just masking pride, independence, or laziness - all which will thwart the blessings of the Lord coming to your life, including the blessing of abundant provision.

7. Fear: This can be fear of failure, of rejection, of being controlled or manipulated by supporters, etc. These fears will thwart our fund raising efforts. Being told "No" is not fun, but we must forgive where needed, and keep pressing through our fear. If we all quit when people said "No" to the Gospel, where would we be? Click here for more on Keys to Forgiveness

8. Lack of Personal Giving: We also must be givers as missionaries, not just receivers. Where and how we give is important also. The best book I have read in this area besides the Bible is: "Purifying the Altar" by Al Houghton. It is not a popular book, because it rightly exposes the flaws in the most commonly held beliefs about tithing and giving in the Church today. Purifying the Altar

9. Insecurity: Low self-esteem leads to questions like: "Am I and my work worth the support?" You may have these doubts in your heart. Sometimes support raising can be reduced to hoping people will have pity on you. This welfare mentality is not productive for fundraising.

10. Not Asking GOD correctly: We should always submit and ask the Lord what HE wants for us, including our budget and finances. There are issues that can thwart our relationship with God and this intimacy, and affect our provision (as well as other areas of our spiritual health):

a. Lack of unity with family or team or ???: "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! ...For there the LORD bestows his blessing ..." Ps 133

b. Impure motives: "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:3 - Even "successful ministry" can be selfish pleasure!

c. Treatment of spouse: "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." I Peter 3:7

There are more, but you get the idea. God cannot bless when things are out of place in our hearts.

11. Under a Curse: Curses can be very real and powerfully negate your provision. Curses can be brought on personally through your own sin and neglect, be generational, or even be part of the area or people with whom you are doing your work. Much of the Church today is under a financial curse because they rely on their "tithing" to bring a blessing when scripture clearly says; "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse," Galatians 3:10 The good news is curses can be broken.

12. Lack of Passion: Some missionaries have a fatalistic view of life. If God provides, they will continue, if HE doesn't they won't. This bad theology often curtails the zeal needed for successful missionary work - including the area of raising support.

13. Spiritual Warfare: This one is mentioned last on purpose. Many of those raising support are too quick to blame the devil! Sure he robs and steals, but so many of us make it easy for him. It is like we leave the doors open to our house and then are upset because the dogs come in! Lets close the doors (#1 - #12) and then we will be on much firmer ground to do effective spiritual warfare.

Ask God to reveal any of these areas that may be barriers to the provision HE has for you! May our testimony in the area of our support be:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20

(*Curt has built networks in the network marketing industry, and personally coaches serious marketers in their businesses: http://coachcurt.com Many of the same principles, skills, and techniques to build networks in business apply to missionaries and other non-profit workers that need to raise their own support networks. Curt has taken these principles, skills, and techniques and offers them to subscribers to his FYi newsletter free of charge.)