I got FULLY FUNDED. $1800 in less than eight hours. Four days before my deadline. (With really sketch wifi.) Here’s the story:
Let me first start off by saying that fundraising was by far the hardest and often most discouraging part of my race. I had come to dread every thought of it and hoped I could wish it away. While I had been actively working on fundraising, I was sitting in stress trying to rely on myself rather than standing in the Lord’s faithfulness. In Georgia, we had fundraising fridays every Friday; I was very excited for these to dissappear and under the impression that we would not have time dedicated to fundraising while on the field. Lol I thought…
It was Monday the 11th and my squad started off the morning with a devotional led by the base elder, Renee. Afterwards, she told us that we would be coming back together to talk about fundraising. I let out an “UGH” and scrunched my eyebrows. I was already discouraged and definetly didn’t want to be reminded that my deadline to be fully funded was only four days away.
So we came together and talked about fundraising. We talked about some practical ideas and fundraisers, but the main point was that this week would be a week of sacrifice as a family- a week of coming together as brothers and sisters in encouragement, prayer, and hard work so all of us could be fully funded. Most people on the squad had been fully funded at this point, so they were able to bless those of us who weren’t by coming alongside us and helping wherever needed. She had those who were fully funded pray over those who weren’t, and talked about how he would do it again and continue to provide for us, meaning that we got to proclaim that regardless of where we were.
After our time together, the squad had free time. My team could have chosen to do whatever (the rest of my team was fully funded,) but my team leader Kenzie immediately gathered all of us together. She said that she felt the Lord calling my team to join me in fundraising and to help me get fully funded. She had already done the math in her head during Renee’s talk, and came up with the idea for each of us to raise $360 to make the total $1800 I had left. My team went running with the idea and immediately started texting, emailing, and posting, reaching out to anyone we could.
Then Emma…
As we huddled in a circle doing the best we could to fundraise with basically one sketchy hotspot for all of us, she stopped for a minute. “Lately the Lord has been teaching me to pray dangerous prayers, and I think we should pray to be fully funded TONIGHT.” I thought to myself, “I don’t know Emma, that’s REALLY dangerous LOL.” But Emma didn’t even wait for a reaction, she just started praying. My team joined, and I, very hesitantly did too. My team didn’t care what amount of disbelief I had, they stood in the gap and intercede for me, knowing and believing I would be fully funded that day. They had nothing but encouragement and continually reminded me of his faithfullness.
The donations started coming in immediately, and they didn’t stop. Every couple minutes someone I didn’t even know was donating to me. We fundraised all day, shouting constantly, “I got another donation!” My team took the time to go to a coffee shop with me to continue to do so with somewhat reliable wifi. I started to get to a point where I realized that I was going to get fully funded.
We started fundraising around noon with $1,800 left. By 8 pm, I had $86 left. By 8:30, I was fully funded. And In shock.
The Lord didn’t have to fully fund me in that way, he chose to. He could have fully funded me super early on or not at all- but he chose to do it in such a way that would leave me and all those around me knowing that it was solely him. AND he chose to do so even in my disbelief, to meet me exactly where I was at. He showed my squadmates that he could and would do the same- and he did! Pretty cool testimony if you ask me.
The Lord didn’t have to reveal himself through my team, he chose to. He was kind enough to bless me with people that were more than willing to sacrifice for me, to come alongside me, encourage me in Christ, and celebrate with me. (We had a fully funded party!) Their kindness reflected his kindness, and WOW it was beautiful.
Clearly, the Lord did BIG things that day. The Lord is using this experience to show me that I can pray dangerous prayers, and that he does indeed want to and is capable of answering them. Power is part of his character. So if you’re reading this, I encourage you to step out in boldness and pray the dangerous prayers you’ve been hesitant to pray- I promise it is worth it and he is bigger. And in the times you feel you can’t, know that he meets us where we’re at.
ALSO: sending a big THANK YOU to all of you who have partnered with me in this fundraising process!!! I truly couldn’t have done it without you and your faithfulness. Whether that was through prayer, finances, time, or anything, I am SO blessed to share this journey with you and hope it impacts you the same it has impacted me.
In Him,
Andi
P.S. my squad has started ministry in Costa Rica and we are so excited for what he’s doing! Ministry update coming soon 🙂
Andrea God is great! Best of luck to you and your squad. ????
Andrea, I couldn’t be more proud of you and your team, or any happier for you! Emma surely has a good understanding of prayer and how God wants us to pray. You went to Him as little children…not trying to figure out how much would be “reasonable” to seek, but knowing our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He can give you as much or as little as He chooses. That’s prayer…not handing Him a shopping list of our woes…but rather, communing with Him in the abiding joy of having a Father who is willing and able to provide for our every need. Well done!