Money Money Money
Last Monday was Giving Day.
The idea is this... none of your money actually belongs to you, it has been entrusted to you by God. We are merely stewards of His great resources, and should look upon financial blessing (of any magnitude) as a way to bless others and further the work of the Kingdom of God.
No one at YWAM is paid a wage, even the guy that founded it. Every single staff member on any base across the world pays their own way and is supported by their church or friends or even random acquaintences that God moves... so you can imagine it's not that unusual for a YWAMer to not have any money! I decided before I came here that I needed to use this trip to learn about trusting God for finances, and so I earnt as much as I could in the job God gave me while I was in London, and stuck to my conviction that for this season I wouldn't appeal for support - I wanted to be sure that my focus remained on God providing, rather than specific people I had asked. Due to a hiccup with a tax rebate form, I found myself strapped for cash rather earlier than I had anticipated, hence my current situation of not having enough money to go on my outreach phase. However, I am not the only one in this predicament...
So the whole base was together after Monday morning worship, and we put up different peoples financial needs on a white board. There were some pretty huge figures up there - one girl needed $8000 (about £4000). Having done this, we all spent some time praying into what God was asking us as individuals to give and who to bless it with. Pledges were written down and given to Rob, the base director, and he marked down the adjusted "need" figures next to names on the board. I felt challenged to give all my money away... that was scary. I don't think I thought about it too much... and I certainly felt a little sick afterwards. But we had been singing about surrendering everything to Jesus, and how God is more than enough for us, and I felt God asking me to show Him this was true by giving to others all that I counted "mine". I got pledged it all back plus $100, which was pretty cool. There was an overall total of $21000 released in that room (full of "unemployed" YWAMers) in 45 minutes... what a testimony to the power and generosity of God!!
BUT I still needed some $500 to pay for my airfares... the due date was pushed back a bit until last Wed but Tues eve I was still short. This was such a big thing for me, money has always been the hardest aspect for me to trust God with. But at this point I had truely come to the end of everything I could do for the situation except sit and trust God that He would come through. So I woke up on Wed and went to lectures. No money miraculously in my bank account. Not that I could get it out anyway, as my card had been blocked. It was clear that the cash needed to come from Australia. After lectures we had small group and we chatted about our experience on Giving Day, and everyone prayed for me cos I was the only one still needing funds. Later that evening one of my housemates told me she still had some money from her business that she wanted to give away and could make up the difference for my ticket. Just like that! It was wierd, such an amazing answer to prayer and show of love yet it felt kinda normal... like, thanks, that's really cool. I felt God was saying "Well, what did you expect, that I would forget about you?"
Such a relief to know that was sorted... but I still need to find my ground fees and they are $2000 (£1000ish), so the waiting is not over!! I am learning so much by putting myself in this position though I know it sounds rather foolish. Who goes to Australia without enough money??! Well, I guess I do, because I want to be able to go where ever my God calls me without any hesitation, including worrying about finances.
I guess all that's left is to wait for the next miracle...
The idea is this... none of your money actually belongs to you, it has been entrusted to you by God. We are merely stewards of His great resources, and should look upon financial blessing (of any magnitude) as a way to bless others and further the work of the Kingdom of God.
No one at YWAM is paid a wage, even the guy that founded it. Every single staff member on any base across the world pays their own way and is supported by their church or friends or even random acquaintences that God moves... so you can imagine it's not that unusual for a YWAMer to not have any money! I decided before I came here that I needed to use this trip to learn about trusting God for finances, and so I earnt as much as I could in the job God gave me while I was in London, and stuck to my conviction that for this season I wouldn't appeal for support - I wanted to be sure that my focus remained on God providing, rather than specific people I had asked. Due to a hiccup with a tax rebate form, I found myself strapped for cash rather earlier than I had anticipated, hence my current situation of not having enough money to go on my outreach phase. However, I am not the only one in this predicament...
So the whole base was together after Monday morning worship, and we put up different peoples financial needs on a white board. There were some pretty huge figures up there - one girl needed $8000 (about £4000). Having done this, we all spent some time praying into what God was asking us as individuals to give and who to bless it with. Pledges were written down and given to Rob, the base director, and he marked down the adjusted "need" figures next to names on the board. I felt challenged to give all my money away... that was scary. I don't think I thought about it too much... and I certainly felt a little sick afterwards. But we had been singing about surrendering everything to Jesus, and how God is more than enough for us, and I felt God asking me to show Him this was true by giving to others all that I counted "mine". I got pledged it all back plus $100, which was pretty cool. There was an overall total of $21000 released in that room (full of "unemployed" YWAMers) in 45 minutes... what a testimony to the power and generosity of God!!
BUT I still needed some $500 to pay for my airfares... the due date was pushed back a bit until last Wed but Tues eve I was still short. This was such a big thing for me, money has always been the hardest aspect for me to trust God with. But at this point I had truely come to the end of everything I could do for the situation except sit and trust God that He would come through. So I woke up on Wed and went to lectures. No money miraculously in my bank account. Not that I could get it out anyway, as my card had been blocked. It was clear that the cash needed to come from Australia. After lectures we had small group and we chatted about our experience on Giving Day, and everyone prayed for me cos I was the only one still needing funds. Later that evening one of my housemates told me she still had some money from her business that she wanted to give away and could make up the difference for my ticket. Just like that! It was wierd, such an amazing answer to prayer and show of love yet it felt kinda normal... like, thanks, that's really cool. I felt God was saying "Well, what did you expect, that I would forget about you?"
Such a relief to know that was sorted... but I still need to find my ground fees and they are $2000 (£1000ish), so the waiting is not over!! I am learning so much by putting myself in this position though I know it sounds rather foolish. Who goes to Australia without enough money??! Well, I guess I do, because I want to be able to go where ever my God calls me without any hesitation, including worrying about finances.
I guess all that's left is to wait for the next miracle...
posted by Susie at
2:58 AM
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