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Support raising is probably one of the top reasons people don’t go into missions.

When I say raising support what I mean is the process of asking people to give money, on a regular basis, to cover the costs of your ministry expenses and salary.

Sounds fun, right?

We’ve been raising support for several months now and it hasn’t always been a cakewalk. But as we look at the big picture, we say again and again: we are so glad we’re raising our support.

Here are 5 reasons why:

1) Our confidence in God’s provision has grown

People told us in the beginning “You’ll be surprised at how God brings this in. You’ll get support from people you least expect and you may not get support from people you would expect.”

They were right. One of our partners is a family in Texas that Becca only met once, years ago – and I didn’t meet until just a couple months ago. They have faithfully and generously been a part of our team from the beginning. 

God is the only one who can put that together. We’ve seen again and again that he is directing this process from start to finish. As support comes in unexpected ways, we’re forced to say “wow – if you did that, how can we not have confidence that you’ll continue to provide?”

2) Our relationships are deeper

One day recently while driving to work, I started praying for a friend who is looking for another job. Then it hit me – I wouldn’t have known about his need if he wasn’t a supporter. Sure, we were friends before his family started their support, but their partnership has provided us with an excuse to get closer.

Praying for the various needs of people on our support team is such a privilege. Sicknesses, job transitions, relationships – it is such a joy for us to walk with people through some of the stuff of life in ways that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise because we may not have known.

3) Our mission is more clear

“What are you guys doing again? You’re going to Haiti, right?” 

We’ve been asked this question countless times, often in passing. We love being asked about this!

But how do you summarize 14 years of personal history with Haiti, years of training and prepping and the possibilities of the future there in 30 seconds? We can’t.

So we’ve been forced to take a step back and ask ourselves: What is at the essence of what we’re going to do? How do we boil it down? Answer: We’re going to train leaders and make disciples in Haiti.

Could we talk your ear off about what this looks like? You bet. But having something this concise is a great help for keeping us focused both now and in the future.

4) Our marriage is stronger

Becca and I have always enjoyed a great sense of unity in our marriage, but support raising adds a new depth to it. 

Before we started, like most couples, we would live in separate worlds during the 9-5 hours and then come together at night. There is nothing wrong with this, we just had to be more intentional about how we’d spend our evenings. We’d have to say things like – “OK, no Netflix tonight – tonight we need to do something that lets us talk.”

Now that we’re raising our support, we’re constantly working on it together. It’s been so fun!

Don’t believe me? Look what happened when we tried to do a video together:

5) We have become more thankful 

We’ve written a lot of thank you notes this year. So many that we now keep a working document in Evernote in an attempt to try not to forget anyone.

You know what? The more of these you write, the more thankful you become. It’s inescapable. Again and again, as we sit down to write, we’re amazed by the sacrifices people are making to come along side us in this ministry.

At some point, we noticed that thankfulness spilling out into other areas of our life.

Somewhere around the 50th or 100th note, it clicked again: all of this is grace. God has graciously given us a ministry to be a part of, and he is graciously bringing people to our team to provide the support we need to make it happen in Haiti. It’s all grace.

I don’t know if we would have see that in quite the same way if we weren’t raising our support.

Question: How would you characterize your thoughts about support raising? Scary? Exciting? Something else?  –Why? Let us know in the comments.

Do you like traffic?

I’ve never met anyone who does.

Here in Dallas it has become a part of our daily life. Depending on the time of day and road you are on, it can be terrible. If I leave 5 minutes later than normal from work, I can add 20 minutes to my commute home. Each day is a new lesson in sanctification. At least it has the potential to be.  🙂

In the past month I have been stuck in traffic in Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, San Jose, Los Angeles and here in Dallas.

None of it compares with traffic we find while driving in Port-au-Prince.

Occasionally I’ll catch myself whispering under my breath while sitting at a standstill in Dallas: “I can’t wait to get away from this traffic!” Then I remember where we’ll be living next.

Discovery Channel Canada recently featured a show highlighing the craziness that is driving in Port-au-Prince. If you’ve spent any time there, you’ll immediately relate to this.

Enjoy!

(EDIT: Looks like the original full episode has been pulled down – here’s a highlight clip)

Which city’s traffic drives you the most crazy?

Recruiting season is in full-swing in my job at DTS.

We spent last week in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, meeting with prospective students who are thinking about seminary. Since it was so close to Dallas, Becca and the kids were able to come along with me. We had a blast!

Monday and Tuesday was San Antonio. During the day, I hung out at Starbucks and had appointments with prospective students while Becca and the girls hung out at the pool.

In the evening, we were able to expolore some of downtown San Antonio. We visited the Alamo and went down to the Riverwalk. If you’ve ever been to San Antonio, you know that the Riverwalk is one of the best things to see in the city.

The last time we were in San Antonio, Becca and I were engaged. It was pretty crazy to be back there now married and with three kids.

Tuesday night we drove up to Austin and I met with students all day on Wednesday and Thursday. While I was working, Becca and the kids were able to explore some of the city.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights we were able to visit with supporters in the Austin area over dinner. It was so great to connect these families! Most of them we hadn’t seen in a few years. One of them I had never actually met.

Late Thursday afternoon, we were able to sneak in an hour or so of downtown Austin. We walked around the grounds of the capitol building and Grace and I were able to get inside and see the rotunda.

Austin is such a cool city.

Friday morning, we headed back to Dallas. Just north of the city, while we were crusing down the highway, we had a blowout on one of our rear tires. Thankfully, I was able to get the spare on pretty quickly and there just happened to be a Discount Tire on the other side of the highway. Two hours, a couple Wendy’s sandwiches and about $100 bucks later we were back on the road, heading back to Dallas.

As we drove down the highway we both reflected on how cool it is that God is putting such amazing people on our support team. Everytime we connect with a supporter, we come away thinking: “Wow! We’re so glad we get to share in this ministry with people like this!”

This week I’m in Chicago, recruiting for DTS at Moody and Wheaton. Next week, I’ll head to California to spend time in Sacramento and Los Angeles. We’d appreciate your prayers for us while I’m traveling and Becca is home with the kids. We have three kids three years old and under – so Becca needs the prayers more than me! 🙂

How can we pray for you this week? Let us know in the comments below. Or, shoot us an email.

Thank you so much for praying with us throughout this pregnancy. He’s here!

Check out this short video where we introduce him to you:

Keep an eye on your inbox – our June newsletter is ready to go and we’ll be sending it early this week. We have some fun news from the seminary in Haiti and we’ll share that with you there.

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in two worlds.

Last week I spent a good part of my week at Catalyst Dallas, a leadership conference held annually here in Dallas. I always enjoy being at this event because Catalyst pulls in some great speakers. This year was no exception.

The event is geared towards young leaders in their late 20’s and early 30’s. You see this right away in the marketing for the conference but you also see this in the structure of the conference itself.

This year, the conference featured a climbing wall outside, a dance party in the lobby, a caricature artist in one of the booths and inflatable duckies in the baptismal. It was loads of fun!

But, there was one thing that hit me in a weird way.

In between sessions, volunteers would form conga lines, grab some instruments and parade through the crowds playing their instruments in an effort to drum up some excitement.

The first time I saw this, I did a double take. For a brief second, I thought I was in Port-au-Prince.

Let me explain.

Rara Bands

Every year around the time of lent, Haitians celebrate carnival. Carnival is essentially a wild party with thousands of people in the streets drinking, singing and dancing.

Closely associated with these carnival celebrations is something called Rara. Rara bands are groups of people that parade through the streets with various instruments dancing and making lots of noise. Rara is generally associated with Vodou and Rara bands often make their processions during Holy Week.

I remember one year in Haiti we were having a Good Friday service at the church when a Rara band passed in the street just outside. When they came to the church, the band stopped in the street next to the sanctuary and camped out there for a few minutes in an effort to disrupt the service.

Rara bands are perceived by some as celebrating the death of Christ and those who killed him – so you tend to see them do this kind of thing especially on Good Friday.

I remember the noise was so great that we paused the service and prayed for the Lord to move them on. As soon as we prayed, He did. Talk about something they don’t prepare you for in seminary!

Culture is Huge

It’s funny how something can mean one thing in one culture and something entirely different in another.

At Catalyst, something that resembled a Rara band (to me anyway) was being used to drum up excitement so we could celebrate what the resurrection of Christ means for leaders of the American Chruch. It was fun.

In Haiti, Rara bands are used for something entirely different.

As we prepare to move to Haiti, one of the things we spend a lot of time thinking about is how the things we do as Americans will be perceived by our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Truth be told, there are things about our faith that are not only Christian but are also distinctly “American.” We want to import as much as we can that is distinctly Christian while being mindful about the things that are distinctly American.

The challenge will be that regardless of where we live, we will always feel like we are living in two worlds. Sure, with time we will become more “Haitian” but no matter how many years we live there, we will never stop being “American.”

Our hope is that as we continue living and serving in Haiti, we will have an awareness of both the things that are distinctly Haitian and the things that are distinctly American so that as we disciple people, we can pass on things that are distinctly Christian.

After all, our hope does not come from a Rara band or from being able to grill a killer burger – our hope comes from the fact that Jesus defeated death by stepping out of the grave.

That is a hope that is good news to Americans and Haitians alike.

Do you notice anything particularly American (or Haitian, etc) about your faith? Leave a comment below – I’d love to see your observations.