Quand (When)

So far I've answered the questions qui, quoi, ou, et pourquoi (who, what, where, and why). Now its time for quand (or when). In other words: When will I be heading to Côte d'Ivoire?

Originally, the first group of journeyers were to leave mid-september and I would have been able to join only if I raised enough support by August 1st. About a week ago the deadline was pushed back to September 1st with the departure in mid-October. This was pretty exciting news to me, since getting the support I needed by August 1st seemed pretty unlikely. Now I have 3 weeks to raise the rest of my support, if I'm to leave in October. If I don't, then I'll continue support raising and will leave in early 2011.

Support raising has turned out to be a lot tougher than I first thought. My biggest struggle with it has been the right mindset: I have the (incorrect) tendency of thinking of support raising as a necessary evil. There are a lot of reasons for this: support raising can be a tad awkward, there doesn't seem to be a step by step plan that will work 100% of the time (and I really like plans), and I don't feel like its something I'm terribly good at (and like many others, I really really like to be good at things). While perhaps understandable, this mindset has lead to a fair amount of procrastination and lack of motivation.

However, a couple weeks ago I was convicted after two things: reading 'The Spirituality of Fundraising' by Henri Nouwen and having a hard conversation with my very wise mom. Raising this support, like most things, is not really about me at all. God is inviting me to serve in Côte d'Ivoire. He's also using me to invite others to participate in His service in a different way: supporting me (whether with prayer or money). Both are opportunities for me to obey and serve. Jesus wants my humility, love, trust, and obedience with both.

The cool thing is that Jesus doesn't call everyone to serve in places like Côte d'Ivoire, but He does call all of us to love and serve one another. By asking others for their support I am giving them and opportunity to do this. My supporters love and serve me while I try to love and serve.

Right now I have a bit over 58% raised ($12,620 of the $21,500). God sure is good!!!

So here I go: 3 weeks to raise 42%!!!