Thursday, June 18, 2015

For the love of Missions!



And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

I have been a Christian for 35 years and I have loved and served the Lord ever since.  God placed a desire in my heart almost 20 years ago for missions and outreach.  Since then, I have served locally on and off through outreach to the needy and homeless; as a ‘Camper Buddy’ and as Staff for our Kid’s Camp to abused and neglected children; and been on several mission trips Internationally to HaitiDominican RepublicRomania and South Africa.  I have also been involved nationwide in Disaster Relief in MissouriColorado and New Jersey helping storm victims with cleanups and rebuilds.  This year I became certified as a Chaplain through ICT, and I am a volunteer Chaplain through the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (yet to go on my first deployment!).

From this, and a series of other events, God's direction for me has led to the creation of Help Fund My Mission
This website was birthed as a result of my recent commitment to be part of a team headed to Thailand in the fall that will work alongside a Christian ministry in Northern Thailand which cares for girls from at-risk backgrounds, supporting, training and inspiring them. (More about that to come later).

As usual, it got me wondering how God was going to provide the means this time for me to go. After prayer and some time considering my options, I was made aware of a workable concept that has been growing exponentially in popularity.

Crowdfunding!

I considered starting a campaign on the most popular of the sites that allows fundraising for any reason at all from: “My favorite Charity”, to “My sister has cancer”; “My neighbor needs a car”; or even “My dog needs surgery”. All very good causes indeed! Then, there was the 5% fee that would be charged for the service. (It’s not that it wasn’t a good business idea as I’m all for free enterprise!). Still, something I couldn’t explain kept me for going forward with it.

Then it hit me!

What if there was a crowdfunding site that was specifically designed for missions? Not only that, but how about it be a site that doesn’t just support or help missions, but actually gives back to missions?

Drum roll please! 

Help Fund My Mission has just moved from being a vision to reality!

Help Fund My Mission is a new tool to assist in, and give an avenue for awareness, support and funding of missions. Help Fund My Mission is basically ministry-focused, and was birthed out of a heart to go into all the world to preach the gospel, to help others do the same, and to give back through financial support to other missions that are doing just that.

I have also created a Facebook Page where posts and updates will be made regularly.  You can check it out here.

This is just Phase One, and as this site grows and improves, it will give more options and more money back into missions and approved nonprofits.

I would like to invite you to take some time and look over the website to see if this is something you can use or get behind. And, if you are anything like me you will see that:

• Online fundraising is the fastest growing segment of personal giving and Help Fund My Mission can help you tap into this rapidly growing market in unique, value-added ways. Our goal is (1) to give you an extremely easy, customizable platform to create compelling fundraising campaigns that raise new money for your Organization, (2) to provide a turn-key solution for empowering your base of donors, supporters, and volunteers to raise money for your missions, and (3) to help you tap into the younger demographic by making it fun and attractive to give back.

• If you are a 501(c)3, I think you will find that Crowdfunding through Help Fund My Mission is the most innovative, and effective way for your Non-Profit Organization to turn your supporters into passionate fundraisers and to create peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.

• If you are an individual looking to raise funds and support for your mission, then I think you too will find this site to be the most reasonable and worthy of all sites to start your campaign.

Then, if you be willing, you can partner with me by helping to offset the startup costs of launching this new site by donating to this sites first campaign. (The only drawback here is that we are yet to become a nonprofit, and therefore your generous giving in this case would not be tax deductible!)

And, by all means, start your own campaign today to get your mission funded!

No comments: