100% Fully Funded!!

Hi everyone! I know it has been a while since I have posted to this blog, but I am here today to share some incredible news. As of today I am officially fully funded for my trip with Adventures in Missions! I do not think I can possibly put in to words how grateful I am to each and every one of you, for all of the support and love you have shown me throughout this entire fundraising process.

Raising support for this trip has taught me so many lessons and I know that God has been using this support raising season to prepare me for the challenges ahead. As I am wrapping up, I want to share a few of my main takeaways with you all.

One of the greatest lessons that God taught me is to trust in His timing, and how to practice patience. I began fundraising for this trip back in May of this year, so I have been support raising for the last 8 months. Over those 8 months, there were many times where I wouldn’t see a single donation come through for a couple of weeks at a time. I often felt like I was doing everything I could, and I wasn’t seeing any donations come through. It was in these times that I would hear His still small voice remind me, “patience.” There were many circumstances where I would have a support raising meeting, and receive a commitment from someone that they would provide financial support for my trip. Then days and weeks would start to go by and I wouldn’t see the donation. If I’m honest in a lot of circumstances I really doubted that I would ever see the promised donation come through. But, as we know, the Lord is faithful to His promises, and so are all of you! Sometimes a month or two after my meetings, I would see a donation come through that I never expected to see. It was in this waiting, and “in between” that the Lord really helped me to grow in patience. I learned to trust that even if He has something for me, it may not always come right when I want it. Sometimes, the waiting makes it even more sweet, and each time it was well worth the wait.

Something else that I am taking away from this season, is that the Lord is a promise keeper. At the beginning of this whole process a friend said to me “If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.” Another piece of wisdom that I received is that “God’s provision will provide direction.” These are two pieces of advice/wisdom that I have held closely during this whole process. With any big decision in life, especially something so life altering, I think we are bound to have doubts. It is our human nature to question if this is the right decision, if things are going to work out, or if we are even capable. And the truth is, on our own we are not capable, but with Him we are limitless. Time after time during fundraising I was reminded that I serve a God who keeps His promises. This same God has called me to this mission, and so of course He will provide the funds necessary. He reminded me time and time again that it is not in my own strength that these funds would be provided, but through His generosity, and His moving in the hearts of others. This leads me to my next lesson learned, which is that I can not do this in my own strength.

As many of you know, during the first 2-3 months of fundraising I was on fire. I had 2-4 meetings scheduled each week, I was meeting with everyone I could possibly think of. I met with some of you over zoom, shared with some of you at your dinner table, and some of you may be strangers that I approached at church! There was one weekend that I was visiting back home in Michigan and during 2 days, I was able to have 10 meetings! I felt as though the Lord had called me to this mission, and I was determined to make it happen. But, after those couple of months went by, my list of names to meet with or reach out to began to dwindle. Slowly, my steady flow of 2-4 meetings a week began to look more like 1-2 meetings every couple of weeks, until eventually I wasn’t really having meetings anymore. Initially, I was very discouraged. I didn’t know how I was supposed to keep this momentum if I didn’t have a consistent flow of meetings. This is where I learned undoubtedly the most important lesson. I heard God’s voice so clearly tell me that it actually wasn’t up to me to raise the funds, that it was up to Him. So eventually, weeks would start to go by where I was certainly thinking about fundraising, talking about it, and praying about it, but I wasn’t actively meeting with people or asking for support. And like clock work, every time the Lord would remind me that it was in His hands He would consistently show me tangible proof of that, through His provision.  There were many times were I would question if I was being lazy, or if I wasn’t doing enough, and those were the exact times that God would show me that He actually just wanted me to have faith, and trust in His provision. I learned that when I put my faith in Him, He will provide.

Although there are many more lessons I learned, this is the last I will share. Something that God showed me throughout this season is that sometimes help and provision will come from where we least expect it. This is a lesson that has opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that this trip will hold. We are so quick to assume that we know how God will move, or the best thing that He can do for us, but the truth is we don’t know the best thing He can do for us, only He knows. Fundraising has taught me to slow down when I am eager to jump to my own conclusions, and to trust that His way is always better. Even when it’s not the way I thought He was going to take me.

Once again, I just want to thank you all so much for being a part of the first step of this journey. I thank God for all of you each day. I have felt every prayer, received every word of encouragement, and feel just so incredibly blessed by your financial generosity. Thank you for being a part of this journey, and a part of my life. Genuinely, I couldn’t do this without you all.

Hugs and prayers,

Amanda