During each Support Raising Leaders Conference, we recognize a life-long champion of personal support raising who has given decades to the service of others in this critical area of ministry. It is our honor to recognize Betty Barnett with the Lifetime Service Award for Modeling Relational Support Raising at the Support Raising Leaders Conference in Colorado Springs, CO April 12, 2023. Watch the recap video of the award ceremony! Betty Barnett has been in full-time Christian service since 1975, dependent upon missionary support from her church, friends, and family. Describing herself as a “missions equipper,” she has served with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for […]
Keep Reading →“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”Philippians 1:3-6 Imagine Paul getting to Europe the first time around. His expedition was altered by the Holy Spirit, taking him from Asia Minor and into Greece, not as he had planned. Upon arriving in Philippi, Paul had no starting point […]
Keep Reading →A number of years ago, Izzy* chose to follow God’s calling to our team. She was a missionary force to be reckoned with. As a student, she regularly would see students from her shared Latino heritage come to know Jesus. However, she came from a low-income family and background, was first generation college, and had very few MPD resources. She spent the whole summer sitting at our dining room table, making call after call, faithfully trusting the Lord to provide for her support. Although advocacy was a relatively new concept, my husband and I wanted to come alongside her in […]
Keep Reading →You probably know the verse, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). You probably also know that any of us become cheerful givers to the cause of Christ when we really understand what Jesus did for us on the cross. When I really experience the grace of Jesus, I give gladly out of my heartfelt gratitude for what Jesus has done for me. As support raisers, you get all of that! Your question is “how do I get people to give cheerfully to the ministry I lead?” To answer that question, let me ask you a question: What percentage […]
Keep Reading →Introduction My name is Victor Mushimbami and I am from Zambia. My wife’s name is Dorcas Mushimbami and my daughter’s name is Nuru Mushimbami. Both my wife and I come from poor family backgrounds. My short conversion testimony Before I came to the Lord, I was in witchcraft. I initiated a lot of souls during that time and nobody wanted to preach the gospel to me. One day, a Jehovah’s witness pointed at me and said, “He can not get saved, no matter how much he can repent.” But God, in his mercy, stretched his right hand with his salvation […]
Keep Reading →Does culture affect coaching? You bet it does! I’ve noticed that most coaching training originated from cultures that could be described as individualistic and egalitarian – countries like Australia, Britain, and the United States. However, much of the world is group-oriented and hierarchical in their cultural ways of behaving. The peoples of Arab-speaking countries, China, Greece, Indonesia, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, West Africa, in fact, the majority of the world’s population follow these cultural tendencies. Coaches must be aware of their own cultural perspective, and the perspectives of their clients. Coaches from individualist, egalitarian cultural settings may be […]
Keep Reading →My favorite book related to support raising is Henri Nouwen’s The Spirituality of Fundraising. I read it at least once a year to be refreshed in a biblical perspective of giving, receiving and asking. I will admit, though, that perspective is most tested when it is time for my year-end appeal to ministry partners. It is no secret in the nonprofit world that year-end giving makes a significant impact on annual budgets, sometimes up to 50%. It also is no secret to the gospel worker. With such a great opportunity — and for some, such “high stakes” — it is […]
Keep Reading →What can I get by with? This is a question worth asking. Maybe a better rewording: what is the minimum needed to still be effective? This is the question I want to ask and re-ask when looking at the various support raising training needs of my staff. If you have a robust partnership development training, such as SRS Bootcamp or something similar, then it’s tempting to use that one training for every situation. You know it’s effective! But what about the small needs? I’m thinking about semester interns instead of career salary. Maybe it’s staff that will have supplemental income […]
Keep Reading →“Spiritually Healthy, Vision-Driven, and Fully funded” – You have heard these words numerous times, but what do they mean? What do they look like as qualities of a God-Asker? My husband and I moved from Monterrey, Mexico, to our Jos, Nigeria site. By the time we arrived in Nigeria, we had depleted our staff account to move our family, establish housing, etc. We had two very different perspectives: mine believed God could supply our needs, and in faith, we trust Him to that end as I know He called us to serve there. My husband was full of doubt as […]
Keep Reading →We all know asking good questions is key to great coaching. Do you ever let yourself wander down the lane of questioning? Do you ever wonder about why? Or think about the “what ifs” in a good way? Especially on behalf of the people you are coaching. For example: What if this obstacle went away? What if they didn’t have to do X? As coaches and leaders of others, we can wonder our way to some discoveries and find answers to struggles, even struggles that are not ours. We can help the people we coach by wondering things on their […]
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