Support Raising Myth: I don’t want to beg for money.

On a fall morning in Dallas, I sat at a Starbucks overwhelmed and upset. My support raising had come to a halt, my personal resources were tapped, and I was ready to give up. As I typed my newsletter, the words I was writing did not convey the defeat I was feeling. How was I going to do this? Where was I going to go? Who else was I going to ask?

At the core of North American culture, we are told that we are to work hard for ourselves, take care of ourselves, and be self-reliant. Jesus tells us to work hard, yes (Prov. 6:6), but at the same time to never forget who owns it all (Ps. 24:1, 50:10). We are challenged throughout all of Scripture to put our trust and faith in Him to provide for our needs (Phil. 4:19). He is the source and the sustainer (Col. 1:16-17). In the book The God Ask, Steven Shadrach phrases support raising like this, “Your job is to pray and work hard to discover those whom the Lord has already prepared to invest in you and your ministry. God has done His work. Now it's time for you to do yours.” Sounds easy enough, and it is THAT easy.

When your heart changes about money, it not only becomes easier to present your ministry need to others, it also becomes a complimentary ministry to the work you have been called to do. When we simplify support raising to “begging” we are showing our misunderstanding of how the body of the Christ works together to advance the Kingdom (1 Cor. 12:12-31). Steve Shadrach calls us to “slay the giants in our mind”. The giant of “begging” is a distraction from trusting God to be and provide for everything you will need. He goes on to say, “I had to overcome my mindset that asking for support was simply disguised begging that resulted only in underfunded Christian workers who, to me, seemed like impoverished nomads.” Ouch!

During my support raising experience I met person after person who told me that they couldn’t go to the places I was going because their ministry was back home, their health wouldn’t allow it, or they simply hadn’t been called to go. But they were blessed to invest in God’s work, and thus serving as an extension of the ministry the Lord had called me to. They told friend after friend of the work I was doing, growing my ministry partners and prayer partners to well over 200 individuals, couples, churches, schools and businesses.

That morning at Starbucks I had no idea that not 30 minutes after crying out to God I would meet a man who would connect me with the CFO for a major oil company. This crazy and amazing story of God’s provision led me to be fully funded, and to later join in on international calls with major executives to encourage them in the advancement of the Gospel largely because of the investment they made through me.

I never once had to beg.

Shadrach, Steve. The God Ask: A Fresh, Biblical Approach to Personal Support Raising.