Last year I was on my way to Thailand with my son and some of my very best friends. We were going to share life-giving words, and beautiful music, dance, and art to encourage 400 full-time missionaries stationed all over Southeast Asia. It had been almost 20 years since I had to raise money for one of these outreach trips. Last time, I was a single girl ministering and traveling full-time, with a church-family who was completely behind me and supportive. This time, I was a middle-aged mom traveling with her teen-aged son, well-supported by her husband.. Raising money felt a little more complicated. I didn't know how to raise the money the appropriate
way. While we live comfortably, we didn't have the needed extra chunk of money just lying around.
With trepidation, the old-school fundraising letter was sent.....
Report after report showed monies coming in. I was blown away by the love and support from friends ALL OVER this country; people I love and who love me. It was encouraging and humbling.
Since it was Christmas time, coming up on the New Year, and in order to help raise monies necessary for the trip, I decided to compile and sell some of my hymnal sketches in a calendar format. They were a hit! I became good friends with the girls at the print shop, as orders came in daily. And we fashioned our school-table into a temporary packing/shipping station, wrapping each calendar with care, sending them to even more people we love..
We didn't have a Thailand trip this last year, but I decided to make another calendar anyway. The packing/shipping station was reassembled and new calendars were sent. I daresay we've stumbled upon a new annual tradition!