The more I thought about moving cross-culturally to make disciples, the more one fear stuck in my mind: raising support. The very idea turned me off. And I know I’m not the only one. The prospect of raising your own salary has shuttered many a missions dream.

And that’s exactly how I viewed it — raising money for myself.

Then I attended Crossworld’s training on support development and my perspective started to shift. No longer was it about me but I understood it’s about God moving His resources when and where He desires.

That provided a helpful mindset as I launched my own support raising journey. But it wasn’t complete.

Fast forward a year and a pandemic later, and now I can blend my intellectual knowledge of fundraising with my experience of it. I’ve seen how this process deepens relationships — between myself and God, God and my financial partners, and myself and my financial partners.

Raising support gave me the rich privilege of sharing stories with the people I was inviting to join my team. I shared my story and they shared theirs, and we each got to hear evidence of God’s fingerprints in our lives — in the sorrow, joy, and everything in between. Sometimes that meant catching up on the 15 years since we last spoke. Sometimes it meant getting to know each other for the first time. And still other times, it meant sharing deeper parts of ourselves than we ever had in all the years we’d been friends. 

I knew my friends and family were supportive of my missions journey, but after sharing heart-level conversations over countless coffees and dinners, I feel their support more keenly than ever before. All thanks to support development.

What was so scary to me a few years ago is almost complete, as I’m nearing 100% of my funding. I can honestly say that raising support has been a delightful journey toward the deepening, strengthening, and expanding of relationships old and new. The money raised is simply the cherry on top of an already-delicious sundae!

Carrie is preparing to launch her disciple-making ministry in East Asia.