#1 REASON: GOD GETS THE GLORY!!

Only through Him can this be possible!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

#2 REASON: Focusing more on prayer!

Raising money right now is forcing me to be more in prayer than if all of my expenses were prayed for already. How sad is that? As believers, prayer is the basis for every ministry. Hudson Taylor, the founder of OMF, relied fully on God and took everything to Him in prayer. I am thankful OMF realizes the importance of prayer and continues to ingrain the need for personal prayer and the prayers of prayer partners. I find it unique that OMF members tell me…”Yes, the money will come in, but you need to be diligent in finding prayer partners that will really pray.” God is in control, we need to bring everything to Him. Please Please Please Pray with me!

#3 REASON: More people partnering at smaller amounts of money equals more accountability, more prayers, and a larger part of the body invested in reaching the nations!!!

So right now a lot of people do not have an extra $50 or even $25 a month to give. So the solution is either pray and see if God wants you to sacrifice something to be able to give more or we should be praying for MORE PARTNERS giving at lower amounts. I have a list of people that receive my prayer updates and if everyone on that list gave $8 a month my expenses would be covered. That’s like taking me out to lunch once a month! And you know, that is a requirement in most of my friendships anyways. : ) So here are some plus for having more partners. More people invested gives me more motivation for me to be fruitful in ministry. I know the amount of people connected to the ministry. I will remember faces of those who are partnering with me and realize their investment along side of mine in His perfect plan. It will also hopefully remind people to pray for the ministry God is calling them to invest in. Praise God for his Body!

#4 Reason: Senders have to make more of a sacrifice to give then they would have in the past

Previous years, people had more dispensable income, people could give to missionaries out of their wealth without even seeing the affects of their monthly giving. This is not a bad thing--giving to missionaries is ALWAYS a good thing--Don’t let me talk you out of it. But, this does remind me of one of Jesus’ teaching moments in Mark 12:41-44. In this passage, Jesus is at the temple watching people give their offerings. At the temple there were a group of the rich people who were giving large sums of money and a poor widow came to give all she had, a penny. Correct fund-raising would tell us to push past the widow and focus on the richest people. We want to focus on those able to give the most to God’s work. Right? Lets check in and see what Jesus told his disciples "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." Jesus saw the true faith of that widow. It’s not bad that the rich people were giving to the Lord, its not bad if rich people support me : ) BUT its when people give in FAITH that truly counts. It would be nice if a rich person just gave me all of the money and send me on my way BUT it would be a billion times better to work along side a team of faith-filled people giving and investing in God’s work in Thailand.

# 5 REASON WHY I'M THANKFUL: The recession causes the church to work less as a business and more as a body of believers.

Many churches today are run as businesses. This can be an effective way to organize a church. The church has a budget that people give to and from that budget the church is able to support ministries. That is all good and everything but right now people are broke equaling less money in the church’s budget. For example, my home church used to be able to give large amounts of money to missionaries out of their budget. Now is a different story. I heard from someone that my church is not going to be able to support me from their budget. So I did what I do best…I took this personally: I thought things like “They are not even going to support me. I thought they were my main sending church? Maybe I shouldn’t even go.” I was heartbroken because I put my trust in a missions budget.

Then a friend, without realizing it, changed my perspective. She said, “Cornerstone is really supporting you, huh?” I responded “What do you mean?” (while thinking exactly the opposite) She said “Well, I always hear about you at Cornerstone, like in the main service when Josh shared your story, or when I get the emails about community dinners, or the flyers for the garage sale.” That is when it clicked for me: It’s not a financial amount from a church’s budget that makes you supported by a church (that can be part of it)--- but its the love and support of the real church—the people that truly matters. I am thankful that the people of Cornerstone ARE my main sending church and I am thankful for the rest of the people sending me that are not a part of Cornerstone. It’s awesome to watch the Holy Spirit working through His people to make this ministry possible in Thailand.

The road to Thailand continues November 2009

Welcome to my blog. This blogging stuff is a new adventure for me. As many of you know I have been raising support and preparing to move to Thailand for a while now. This blog is just the next step in better connecting with my partners in this ministry. I am so thankful for everyone who has been behind me so far with supporting, garage sales, prayers and just the love you have shown. I am continuing to pursue God's will in this journey and hopefully make it out to the field in the early part of 2010. Thailand is in need of workers so that is what I am going to continue to strive to get out there in the near future.

Prayer for this month:
1. That I would grow in a knowledge of Him so that I can better share his love.
2. That i would trust in God's perfect timing.
3. That God would raise up a monthly support team.
4. That God would be working in the hearts of those that will partner with me in prayer and finances. They are just as essential to the ministry as I will be.