Update!

I know. It's been a while. Since our last post:
-Adam and I have moved. We now live with the amazing and fun Sunata family. They are giving us cheap rent and a place to live while we figure out a more consistent home (somewhere to settle for a while).
-I (Tina) started Grad School! I am pursuing a Masters of Art in Global Leadership at Fuller Seminary. I'm doing one class at a time and loving it! I spent two weeks in Colorado this summer doing an intensive as part of the program. While I was there...
-Adam went on the "Intern Trek". He drove new staff from the area to Albuquerque, NM and Flagstaff, AZ where they received training and processed their transition onto staff. It was a highlight of his summer.

This weekend we're meeting with new donors in the Bay Area and sharing about the ministry. We are excited to report that we are 77% funded and are down to looking for 19 new donors at $100/month.

As we go, my whole perspective on "making the ask" has been changing. Of course it stills feels like I'm trying to initiate a dtr (define the relationship), but I find myself more and more excited to be inviting people into a living, breathing partnership in the ministry. Sorry for the gush, but I actually do think of my donors in the same way that I think of people I will be friends with forever. They hold a special connection with Adam and I, and I think of them (you!) often.

Thank you for your prayers for us in the process. It really does mean so much to us and I promise to keep everyone more updated on our progress!

God Meets us in our Storms

This is the group of students that I recently spent the week studying the first half of Mark with. There was one point during the week when we studied Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the storm. My co-leader asked the question "what is the storm in your life?" Immediately my mind jumped to fund development. I often feel like I am yelling at Jesus "do you not care if we perish?". Jesus responds to the disciples "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?". The rest of the week at camp I sat in the reality that God is aware of our situation, God is in control, and it's not actually about us anyway. It's about God building his Kingdom among students and advances his purposes in the world. And it's a crazy ride that we get to participate in.

The Mind of a Fund Raiser

The comment we most frequently get while discussing fund development with people is, "I could never do that."

I belong to a really great small group through MountainBrook Church here in SLO. We are reading If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat, by John Ortberg. Hello long title. This book has been really great for me to be reading during this time of focused fund development. It exposits the passage of Peter walking on water as it discusses taking risks, discovering our calling and trusting God. Last week we read a chapter on calling and how to find yours. We discussed how, often, a calling involves things like downward mobility and pain. Yikes. Ortberg also quoted Frederich Buechner who wrote that calling is "the place where you deep gladness meets the world's deep need."

Fund development is one area of our ministry where I feel that the difficulty and joy of pursuing our calling are held in a delicate tension. Yes, it is difficult, nerve wracking, and identity threatening to ask people to invest their resources in what you are doing. But every month when we receive our donor transaction report (DTR - another acronym for ya), I look at every name and thank God for their presence in my life and on campus. I consider it a joy to connect people with a ministry that I believe has lasting effects on the world and in people's lives (not to mention eternal effects). So while fund development can cast me into dark places in my soul, it drives me to a deeper dependency on Jesus and gives me a deep gladness.

Welcome to the 30 campaign!

It official, we have a logo and a blog.

Welcome to the 30 campaign. Here it is plain and simple. We're looking to add 30 new partners to our support team at $100/month (or more) each. Our goal is be fully funded for our new budget now that we have transitioned to the coast and (for Tina) into a new position.

We'll be posting our progress, prayer requests and praises, as well as stories from the campaign. We are so thankful for our current partners and have been blessed so much by your generosity of finances, prayer, and time. Thank you for sharing your resources and teaching us so much about living in the community of the Kingdom.

We're excited and hopeful for what God will do. Join us as we kick off The 30 Campaign!