If It's Not a Miracle, It's Awfully Close...

When we started in earnest on this journey towards full time missionary service in Haiti, it was November of 2010.  I "knew" what the basic steps would be:  apply to a mission organization, downsize, put the house up for sale, take the kids to Haiti for a preview, and start fundraising.  It was that last step that held the most anxiety for me.  I am basically a quiet, keep-to-myself kind of guy.  I don't like putting people on the spot.  I don't like asking others for help.  I would rather be on the fringe of most conversations, rather than at the center.

After being accepted as missionaries by One Mission Society at the end of summer, we went through orientation and then funding training.  I was secretly relieved when our trainers kept telling us that we should wait until training was complete before we actually started in earnest to solicit financial support.  NO PROBLEM!!  I was more than willing to wait as long as I could. 

As part of the training, OMS gave us a book to read. On page 22, the author presented a "Fundraising Acceptance Barometer" and challenged me to find position on the spectrum:

Resist <------------------------------------------------------> Accept

The four categories went like this (from left to right):

"Try to get out of it."
"Resignation, sense of duty."
"Embrace it reluctantly."
"Embrace it joyfully."

I knew I couldn't ever "get out of it" if we were to fulfill our call to Haiti, so I figured the best I would ever manage was "resignation".  (I must confess, though, that I answered a Publisher's Clearing House email in a blatant attempt to "get out of it", but God did not answer that prayer.  Nobody ever showed up at our door with an oversized check for 10 million dollars. All I got was a whole lot of extra spam in my email.)

Well, after the last two weeks, I have moved across the barometer.  And not just to "resignation" or even "embrace reluctantly" but to full on "embrace joyfully"!  Praise God!  Honestly, I am enjoying the process:  We are meeting up with some of the most fantastic people around and having serious, deep conversations about things that truly matter.  Melissa and I have already been blessed so much in these meetings and we are just getting started.

In the last two weeks or so, we have met with folks we know through:  a shared mission trip, Melissa's work, small group and my high school days!  I also met briefly with our pastor and he said the church would offer substantial support which will start in June. 

Yesterday we went to worship and then headed to Shelbyville to see my brother and his kids in a community theater production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever".  (Not having seen every Christmas pageant, I can't vouch for the "best ever" part, but they did a great job.)  Then we headed over to the home of my old high school friend, Scott, and his wife and kids.  Great family.  We caught up, talked Haiti, and then they treated our whole family to dinner at Cracker Barrel.  A truly great day.

Today (Monday, December 12) we met with the mission board of a church in Seymour, just down the road.  Last week an electrician had been working in Melissa's classroom and they got to talking about Haiti.  He's going there in January to work on wiring a hospital.  He told Melissa that he was on his church's mission board and she should make a presentation some time.  A couple of phone calls later and we were on the schedule for today at 4:30!  What an impressive church it was, too.  The board was so gracious and accommodating and they ultimately gave us an hour of their time.  In the end, they all gathered around Melissa and me and prayed for us and for our kids, thanking God for His call on our lives and asking for protection and perseverance.  As we left their parking lot a few minutes later, I noticed their exit sign, which reads, "You are now entering the mission field". 

This coming Sunday we will have a chance to speak briefly at our former church in Indy and I'm already on the schedule to preach there on January 22!  The funding process is turning out to be a great excuse to catch up with old friends and get to know their hearts in a deeper way.  Plus, we're meeting with some folks that I don't know too well yet, but I'm looking forward to getting more acquainted as they possibly partner with us over the next few years. 

At one time I was dreading the next few months because of the fundraising.  Now I am looking forward to them.  It's going to be a blast.  God is so good!