Some of you have begun to ask about what others are doing to raise the support needed for the trip, so I thought I'd put something up about support raising.  As a missionary, Vicki and I have had to raise our support.  If you have read through your FYM Handbook, you saw that there are a number of pages dedicated to raising your support.  We like to refer to it as support raising rather than fund-raising because it is much more than raising money

.  You are raising up people who will support you prayerfully and financially while you are out on the field.

In the support raising guide we list 10 steps to support raising.  I would encourage each one of you to follow those steps.  It takes more than sending out a support letter and then sitting back and waiting for the money to come in.  It takes follow up phone calls, personal contacts, monthly updates, thank-you notes and plenty of prayer.  As you get a team of people praying for you they most likely will also give to support you.  Bake sales and car washes generate some money, but you won't get the prayer base needed.  When people have a financial investment in your ministry, they will be more committed to praying for you as well.

As you send out monthly updates, focus on the ministries you will be involved in.  Check out the reports on our website of ministry stories from current FYM's and share some of those stories in your letters.  Share about your excitement and what God has in store for you.  Share about some of your concerns, fears, etc.  Make it personal.  People aren't interested so much in the facts as they are in personal stories.  They are interested in you.  I'm praying that God will bless you as you commit this support raising to Him.