Becca lives and works in our nation’s capital. She spent the past two years working with Chi Alpha, ministering to students at American University. She studied International Studies and Arabic language there, and is now stepping into her field professionally. In her free time, you can find her hanging out with friends, browsing Eastern Market and drinking lots of coffee.
The Good
Support-raising is not easy, but it is good.
The best thing about it for me was the relational aspect.
After attending a support-raising training for Chi Alpha and learning that the whole process is really more about building up a team of people than getting enough money, I became excited for the journey.
Support-raising wasn’t just a time of raising my full budget before I began the internship in August- it was a rare opportunity to reconnect with people I hadn’t seen or spoken to in years.
If it wasn’t for Chi Alpha, I don’t know that I ever would have reconnected with them. But this ministry on campus allowed for new opportunities to build relationships with them and be a part of each other’s lives again in a very special way.
“I don’t think that those relationships ever would have been as significant if there wasn’t such a strong sense of purpose. We weren’t just making a financial transaction - we were uniting for a mission. ”
I don’t think that those relationships ever would have been as significant if there wasn’t such a strong sense of purpose. We weren’t just making a financial transaction - we were uniting for a mission.
The Bad
Like I said before, it’s not easy. The most difficult part for me was the lack of control over how much money I would receive and when I would receive it.
I had no control over people’s decisions or how much they wanted to give. I had no control over getting in touch with people and getting a response. There was no way for me to earn my income.
I put in my work and made the ask, but ultimately I had to trust God to provide. And that’s really hard, especially when I’m so used to the conventional method of earning income.
It becomes easy to doubt the calling when you aren’t sure if a way will be made for you to do it. That’s where faith comes in.
The Godly
In order to overcome my doubt and my struggle to trust God to provide, I had to daily be in God’s word and reminding myself of the heart behind support-raising, and the kind of heart and attitude God desired for me to have towards it.
I didn’t have to carry the weight of making sure I got all of the money. That was God’s responsibility. I just needed to work hard on the things that I did have control over (letters, phone calls, asking in person), and trust God to provide.
It sounds so simple, but when I was in it I really needed to rely on the Holy Spirit to remain in the right spirit.
Prayer was the most important aspect, because it showed God that I was trusting Him with the people I was asking, and trusting Him to make things happen. And of course, He did.
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