Contributor Chagrin?

The national economy is not a support-raising friend. Corporate America may be doing better, but small business.....NOT! But even corporate America reflects the economic pinching. Down sizing adjustments have been made in work schedules, employee numbers, hours worked, bonuses, healthcare packages, etc. The money is just not out there.  

So what's a God-trusting wanna-be-campus- missionary supposed to do? Well, it still crystallizes around TRUST.

 I'm frequently asked, "What do you do knowing that so many of the people who supported you in the past are now retiring...living on fixed incomes?"...a question I have found myself answering multiples of times in the past months. The answer to it is simple: expect less. 

 Unless you've done some support raising or you've been faith-supported yourself, you can't know the solid sense of exhilaration I get when someone makes a monthly commitment of $10, $15, $20. It's HUGE! It's like lifting a cold drink to one's lips on a really hot working day. In the context of faith support it merely means I need many more of those. The reassurance I get when my friends--the people who know me well--are behind me, that they are there, praying and emotionally invested...well, it's irreplaceable. 


I've also discovered Contributor Chagrin. That's my label for what friends feel who want to give, but slip into a three step faith-deterioration skid.  Sympathetic and well-intentioned they realize they can't give "enough." Disappointed and maybe even a tad ashamed(?) of what they can give, they procrastinate and....and then don't do anything! Oooh, that's thrice the pain! It's painful for them that they can't give "enough," that they've done nothing  yet--and then don't do anything; and it's painful for me because I know they intended to support me, but they haven't, and my support account's growth curve is flat, flat, f-l-a-t. So, please let me encourage you, "Don't be that guy!" I can promise  you that what you think of as "a little bit" will go a long, long way. So, again, here's my  Missions Door web page, see the top right-hand corner, and click!


In just a few days I will be flying to the Tucson area. I'll be joining other Missions Door ministry staff from the Southwest and Rocky Mountain mission regions for a collaborative conference. It'll be encouraging to spend time with these men and women similarly focused on ministry efforts throughout these two regions. The event, referred to as SWaRM (Southwest and Rocky Mountain...hmmm), will offer some strategic encouragement, program planning insights, spiritual focus, and fellowship.

Thanks..n..keep praying.

Dick
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