Praying over Pledge cards

A few of you have asked how fundraising is going, so here’s your behind-the-scenes look at the glamorous world of mission support raising. (Spoiler: it involves a lot of stamps.)

Someone pointed us to a book called The God Ask by Steve Shadrach, and honestly it was kind of a game changer for me. The whole idea is shifting your mindset from “oh no I have to ask people for money” to “hey, want to be part of something God is doing?” For someone who would rather reorganize a closet than make an awkward phone call, that reframe helped. A lot.

The recommended strategy was to call everyone we know, give them the big picture, and ask about grabbing coffee to talk it over. Which sounds lovely! We genuinely would love to sit across from each of you with a warm cup and catch up on life. But since that’s not exactly feasible for most of you, we landed on letters and phone calls instead. Old school, but here we are.

We’ve been working on our first batch of letters – many of you will be getting one soon. It shares a little about what we’re doing and invites you to join us, through prayer and financially. (We also finally got all our giving options set up, so that’s ready to go too.)

Now we’re literally praying over the letters and pledge cards before they go out. Asking God to work in your hearts as you read, to give you clarity, and to make it obvious what He might be calling you to.

Here’s the part that honestly makes me a little emotional when I think about it: one day, Lord willing, we’re going to sit down with Thai people who are hearing about Jesus for the first time. And we’ll get to tell them people in Kentucky, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee… they were praying for you before we ever met. Before we even get there. God is already working.

"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth." - Isaiah 45:2

Our mission network says it all the time: prayer is the work. Not a warm-up to the work. Not a nice add-on. The actual work. We believe that completely. Without God moving, we’re just a family of five with suitcases and big feelings.

So if you’re able to give financially, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. And if what you have to offer is prayer? That is not the consolation prize. That is the foundation everything else is built on. Either way, you’re in this with us. You’re part of the Great Commission from right where you are.

"You will be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth." - Acts 1:8

Bangkok is part of that “ends of the earth.” And so are you.

Thank you. We love you guys so much.

— The Heltons