47559 Day 285 & 286

akron


amy and i took a quick trip to Akron, NY this weekend to speak at a supporting church (first baptist Akron...this was our first chance to meet these generous folks) and to take our friend Jenna home.  we were super blessed with all the encouragement and generosity showed towards us.  we leave refreshed and energized knowing that these people are behind us praying us on!

41259 Day 219

the_sf_giants_and_fundraising

i love this story...

i have a good friend from california who has been a part of several groups i've led over the years and who has a tremendous propensity to find himself in the middle of great stories.  seriously, spend an hour with this dude and you will wonder at his incredible tales.

he's a super generous guy (actually one of the best people i've ever had the privilege to know) and is always interested in what i am doing, but when i began fundraising he didn't have the means at the time to join our financial support team (in fact, he was working for the state of california, which had no money and had to pay him in i.o.u.'s...no joke!).  anyway, he's been super supportive in a ton of other ways and keeps close tabs on our progress.

well, apparently a few weeks he was driving around listening to KNBR (the flagship radio station of the san francisco giants) and heard a promo offer for a ball signed by tim lincecum (who is really, really good at pitching).  naturally, he called in and it turns out he won the ball.  except they screwed up somehow and sent him season tickets instead of the ball.  

unfortunately, he’s not able to make all the games (as awesome as that might be) and so he’s been selling the tickets and wants to use this new revenue stream to help support us.  how cool is that!

it just goes to show that there is no end to the creativity of God’s economy.  plus it’s cool to think that somehow the giants are actually supporting college ministry in boston =)


ps. if you know who i'm talking about don't make a big deal about this to him...story used with his permission on the condition of anonymity =)

24259 Day 50

resource_team

i've written about this before, but we continue to be blown away by the generosity of our resource team. as we've begun generating support for our ministry, we created a team that would allow people to give and participate in our ministry in more creative ways than simply donating money on a monthly basis (although that is REALLY important to what we do!!!)

yesterday we got a wonderfully encouraging note, and yet another gift card! we are so blessed to have several people caring for us in a variety of creative expressions. the struggle continues to be to know how to receive these good gifts well and express our gratitude for them over and over again in genuine ways. thanks resource team!!

21659 Day 24

generosity

amy and i have been blown away by the response to our fund raising requests. it's a weird thing asking for money. but it's also an amazing process to watch God provide. as we've made these asks we've also created a team called the "resource" or "advocate" team. we wanted to do something that would allow for a bigger circle of potential partners and also give people the liberty to be creative. yesterday we got a $100 gift card to Stop and Shop (boston's Safeway). last week someone got a new battery for the laptop. we've been provided with red sox tickets and date money. we got treated to a weekend at a new hampshire bed and breakfast. i found out today that some one is taking our support letter to their church's prayer meeting...who knows what that might lead to. i could go on, but this is, i think, a picture of the Kingdom of God at work. i quoted from donald miller a few days ago and i keep thinking about this concept of crafting beautiful stories with our lives. one of the "under the radar" blessings of fund raising is that we get to invite other people in to our stories, and, at the same time, provide an opportunity for them to create their own beautiful story. pretty cool, eh!