Putting the Fun back in Fundraising!

By Tamara Neely

When I presented the idea of an IY theme on ‘living by faith in a recession’ to a YWAMer in southern Africa, she laughed and asked, “What recession?” Here in England, headlines are exclaiming over a financial crisis which pales in comparison to the financial norm of many nations.

But finances are on everyone’s mind – even if you live in a comparatively wealthy nation, the threat of economic collapse has made everyone feel a little insecure. Or has it? In this issue we wanted to explore how YWAMers approach fund raising in very different situations because it is too easy to think that your experience is the only experience when it comes to such a sensitive topic. We also hear from YWAM International Chairman, Lynn Green about why YWAM persists in structuring itself as a “faith mission” and offer some practical advice on raising support.

Thanks to all of you who responded to the last IY! We love to hear from you and welcome you to tell us your thoughts about anything you read in the IY at: iy@ywam.org.

We are also working on developing a new website for the International YWAMer which will give you online opportunities for feedback and even more news and views from YWAMers around the world. We hope to have that up and running before the next issue, but just in case there are any unemployed IT professionals out there: we could use your help. The salary is unbelievable!

Are You A Levite?

by Lynn Green

Is money an issue for you? Do you sometimes feel that life in YWAM is one long financial struggle? Do you sometimes feel that you would like to put the financial issue behind you and just get on with your ministry? I know how you feel.

But recently I have been studying God’s call on the tribe of Levi and I think we can learn a lot from them – in fact more than I can write in this brief article. So, later I will write some more on this subject and send it to our leadership letters mailing list.

If you do not receive that letter, please subscribe by sending your name and email address to : ict@ywam.org

I am convinced that YWAMers are a people living in the tradition of the Levites. They were a tribe that was set apart from all the others and they were called to:

• Serve the Lord without other distractions or obligations.
• Live a life of holiness.
• Understand God’s ways and teach them to all of God’s people.
• Joyfully accept that their inheritance was the Lord himself, not land and material wealth like the other tribes.

When Israel strayed from the ways of God, the Levites suffered because they were dependent on the tithes and giving of the other tribes. So their well-being was directly linked to the spiritual state of the nation. When Israel fell away from the Lord, the Levites suffered. When Israel was restored, the Levitical service was restored.

You can draw the parallels with our calling to live by faith and our relationship to the wider Body of Christ. As they prosper, we prosper. We are not called to find other ways and means of finding the money or material things we need, we are called to pray and work towards the restoration of the Church and one of the fruits of that is their generosity. When the Church has vibrant spiritual life, then missionary work is also vibrant and growing.

I don’t mean to make this an exact equation: The Church Prospers=More Missionary Activity – or – The Church Declines= The Death of Missions. God is still our provider and he is able to provide even when the Church is in decline. A study of the Levites will show that God wanted them to be doing their ministry regardless of what the others were doing. He was also faithful to them when others were faithless. Take Jeremiah 33 as an illustration. In verse 22 God says, “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.”

When we come to the New Testament, Jesus was the fulfilment of all of the ways of God as illustrated in the Old Testament. So, Jesus and his disciples were “Levites of the heart”. They weren’t born into the tribe of Levi, but they set their lives aside to serve God, giving up other normal pursuits, trusting God for their provision (and receiving it via those to whom they ministered), and joyfully accepting the Lord as their inheritance.

My point is this: Our calling is both a sacrifice and a great privilege. Only a small minority of believers are called to this life of “living by faith” and it is sometimes a struggle. We will have times where we don’t know where the next meal will come from and sometimes, like the Apostle Paul, YWAMers can be led to temporarily earn a living. But this life of faith is more than worth it! The Lord is our inheritance.

So, serve Him joyfully and without distractions, whether you have much or little. The life of the New Testament Levite is described by Jesus in Matthew 6:33:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Lynn Green is the International Chairman of Youth With A Mission

Getting Down to Business…

by Tamara Neely

It has been said that three subjects to avoid in polite conversation are money, politics and religion. We’ll have to apologise later, because we asked a number of YWAM staff what their experiences are when it comes to raising funds.

Working Together in Africa…

Team leaders, Ismael and Sibeli Mendes, a Brazilian couple working in Angola were faced with the question of how to raise finances for their church planting ministry in a nation which had been isolated by 30 years of civil war. Although rich in resources, most Angolans live in poverty, but there was a small Christian population who were ready to engage in mission to the unreached peoples of that nation. The Mendes’ realised the only way to survive was to work together with the local church. Their goal in making relationship with the church was not to raise funds, but to partner together in ministry. They ran DTS’s at night, so church members could attend lectures, organised mission trips, and became leaders in the church ministries. The congregation had no expectation that the foreign workers would fund any of the ministry – they were all in need together. An observer notes that years of isolation and the challenges of war pushed church and mission leaders to truly, practically care for one another.

In such a challenging location, it was also vital that YWAM leaders were actively engaged in assisting new staff with support raising. Ismael and other YWAM leaders became very involved in facilitating their staff to find support – not taking responsibility to do it, but advising and providing opportunities for new staff to get involved in ministry where they could meet people.

The fruit of these efforts is that all staff members who have been in YWAM Angola for more than four years all have support sufficient to their needs! A notable achievement, indeed, which they credit to two key factors : meaningful relationship with the local church and leadership commitment to guiding staff through support raising efforts.

On the other side of Africa, similar principles are followed by Sam Abuku from Arua, Uganda, who left a salaried position as a pastor to join YWAM but kept his relationship with the church who supports his new ministry. YWAM leaders in Arua agree that the lack of close relationship with local churches in this region creates isolation and financial challenges.

Many other YWAM centres in Africa have relied on strong relationships with bases in Europe or North America for their financial support. Jon Armstrong, former base and national leader in Uganda says, “I tried all sorts of things as a leader to help people raise funds. Some were successful with small income generating schemes but in many cases this left people with no time for ministry. There are no easy answers.”

Jon goes on to explain that “cross-cultural friend-raising” doesn’t always work when there is not time to build genuine relationships. “Sometimes the staff person who worked the hardest was the least well supported because he did not put himself forward when the money was available.” Jon says.  “In many cases I have seen a leader make sure his team is supported, but often be without funds for himself and his family.”

Overcoming Unbelief in India…

YWAM Member Care leader Ah Kie Lim, who is from Malaysia and works in India has spent a lot of time helping South Asian YWAMers raise the support they need. She says, “Many South Asian YWAMers believe they would not be able to receive any support from their local church and friends. Two years ago I asked one of our workers to write to her church and friends from her hometown to support her ministry in YWAM. Her response was, “My church only support missionaries sent out from the church. They will not support me. Even if they support me it will only be a minimal amount of 500 rupees (US$11) monthly. I do not have friends who are able to give me monthly support, unlike the westerners, because they have money. We Indians do not have the resources that they do.” I encouraged her to write to her pastor regularly. As her leader, I also began to write to her pastor to establish a relationship with the church. To her surprise, her pastor wrote to her and said that the church would give her 2000 rupees (US$44) monthly support and since then they have increased that to 4000 rupees (US$85).”

“I believe as leaders in the mission we have a role to play in helping the South Asian missionaries overcome their negativity towards raising support from their own sending church and local friends. This same worker today has also begun to receive some support from her friends in the church. I believe these small victories teach our national workers to take the first step of raising financial and prayer support locally. Often they tend to look outside without looking at the resources that are available in their own country.”

(Taken from “On-field Member Care For YWAM South Asia,” MA Thesis, Ah Kie, Lim. 2002. Fuller Theological Seminary: Pasadena, CA.)

Miracles in Latin America…

Latin America is a source for a lot of amazing stories about God’s miraculous provision (read about the founding of YWAM Brazil in the book, “Against All Odds” by Jim Stier – YWAM Publishing). From the newest student to the regional leaders, almost everyone can tell you a remarkable story about faith in finances. Alejandro Cruz, who leads a communications ministry in his native Argentina tells us one of his:

“A long time ago, I started to understand God’s strategy for finances. I used to be part of a travelling art team and I found myself in Thailand without my ticket to return home. We were quite desperate, and we tried every possible way to collect the money we needed. We brainstormed and we made budgets. Then I went to God in prayer and He spoke to me: “Your strategies are good, but it is for Me to provide.” I cried and I asked forgiveness for my independence and I started to ask God for His perfect plan.”

The next day in the afternoon, the elevator I was in stopped suddenly. The doors opened and a stranger looked in and said, “Are you Alejandro? God told me to give you this money.” I said goodbye to this person as the doors of the elevator closed. My ticket to return home was in my hand.”

Alejandro says, “The real challenge is not finances, but to understand what God wants for my life. The challenge is to trust that His strategy is the key to walking on water and to see miracles happen.”

Partnership – relationship – persistence – prayer. These are all elements in the economic plan God has for YWAM : the challenge and the privilege of serving in a mission which has over 17,000 staff but no payroll.

What is your story? Share it with us at: iy@ywam.org

Keeping Your Support Up When the Economy is Down

by Terry Sherman

Whether you follow the news through television, internet or newspaper, you can’t avoid being overwhelmed with the headlines of one financial crisis after another. Maybe you, like me, have found yourself being tested in the source of your security. As in every time of struggle or crisis, we need to look at what God says and live out of His truth rather than what the headlines are telling us. Just doing a word study on “provide” has already reminded me how faithful He is in providing for ALL of my needs. And Philippians 4 helps me again realize that God’s ability to sustain us remains the same no matter what our circumstances.

Below are some practical things we can be doing during this season of global crisis to help keep our focus on Him and our support going strong.

1) Review your calling and what God has said. Our calling isn’t dependent upon the ups and downs of our financial situation. It will test our calling, though, which is not a bad thing.

2) Don’t panic and start sending out crisis letters. This only communicates a lack of faith and doesn’t motivate people to partner with you. Seek God and His perspective.

3) Broaden your base of support. It’s healthier to have many people giving smaller amounts than a few who give a large amount. Be as personal as possible in asking people to partner with you in ministry.

4) Keep the ministry vision central. Remember, you’re inviting supporters to advance the Kingdom, not merely meet your personal needs. For more on this, an excellent article is : www.scribd.com/doc/13621366/THE-SPIRITUALITY-OF-FUNDRAISING-Henry-Nouwen

5) Keep up your personal communication with supporters. Empathize with them, ask how you can be praying for them and send a card telling them how God led you to pray.

6) Focus on the essentials. Get rid of debt; build up your savings; repair things rather than replace; work together, and just like your struggling supporters, prayerfully distinguish between your wants and your needs.

7) Let this be a wake up call. Get your finances in order; ask for help if needed. Learn from the ant in Proverbs 6:8.

Adapted by Terry Sherman, from YWAM Heidebeek (Netherlands) and used with permission from Steve Shadrach, December 2008 issue of Support Raising Solutions.

Would you like to see more training developed in how to raise support for YWAMers internationally? If you’d like to network about this, please email Terry at tsherman@solcon.nl

Book Review: Towards an Institutional or Apostolic Vision by Alejandro Rodriguez

by Michele Hernandez

“Budgets are good, but they should never govern the decision of our ministries. They help us, but they don’t govern us.” That is one of the impacting quotes from Alejandro Rodriguez’s new book “Towards an Institutional or Apostolic Vision?.”

This challenging book, oriented to YWAMers from all over the world, discusses relevant issues such as base development, leadership, financial dependency on God, and much more. It responds to many situations lived by workers and leaders and it encourages readers to think, pray and believe beyond the security of our institutional structures and walk towards an apostolic vision and lifestyle.

Loren Cunningham affirms in his foreword that this book “will bring you understanding, revelation perhaps even, and help equip you to better serve in the ministry that God has given to you.”

Free for a donation if you order 10 or more. Email: oficinanacional1@yahoo.com.ar for details.

A Moment in YWAM

YWAM teams in Myanmar made a super-human effort to help rebuild villages after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis one year ago. Their heroic efforts have resulted in over 137 new houses, food distribution for thousands and a lot more! Find this story and more in the YWAM news archives : http://ywam.org/articles/article.asp?AID=658.

Send pictures of your interesting moments in YWAM to : iy@ywam.org