Adventures in Support Raising
Posted in family news by Tim on June 11th, 2010 at 12:28 am.
As we have shared with individuals and churches about the work that we will be doing with MAF we have found that many have questions about the process of support raising with MAF as well as the work that they do. Often people know someone who has raised support for a short term missions trip or for long term missions and are interested in the way that MAF supports their missionaries through this process. I’d like to share with you a little about how this process works to give you a better idea of what our ministry looks like while we are still living in the U.S.
First of all you may have just noticed that I used the word ministry in reference to what we are doing in the U.S. This is very important to MAF. While the mission statement of MAF is focused on what we do overseas we also understand that the work there is not possible without prayer and financial support by Christians who are following the great commission and God’s calling just like MAF missionaries. It has been fun to meet new people and provide them with a vehicle through which they can be part of missions. As we build these new relationships we look forward to growing them through communication while overseas and deputation visits when we are back in the U.S.
Because MAF is a technical mission and uses small aircraft which can be dangerous, every policy takes the safety of their people into consideration. This is even the case when talking about support raising. In order to keep stress levels low and put families in a position to be successful overseas, MAF does not allow anyone to move overseas until they reach 100% of their monthly funding. Many of the pilots in our programs are already doing administrative duties as well as flying and it would be very difficult to add support raising to their list of tasks. It should be noted that over the many years of MAF’s work, they have a nearly 100% success rate for raising funds.
During the year (approximately) of support raising there are other trainings and steps that we take to get ready for working in another culture. In July we will be attending security training where we will learn how to be aware and safe in unfamiliar places. The next step is orientation, where we are commissioned as MAF missionaries and get ready to leave for language school. Since this is the last step, MAF requires that over half of our funding has begun coming in by 8 weeks before orientation. For us that cutoff is in August for the October orientation class. It is very important to us that we reach this goal because it would allow us to begin language school in January instead of waiting several months for the fall semester. To this end, we need your help.
There are many people who have expressed their interest in financial partnership but not yet made a pledge. In these economic times it is understanding that people have trouble pledging money for an unknown future. As with any major decision it requires prayer and God’s guidance. While we are anxious to get to the field our desire is that we would have a team of partners who have been led by God to be part of this ministry and have given with a joyful heart. We invite you to pray about being a part of this ministry. Contributions can be monthly, quarterly or yearly or any other schedule that works for you. We have had partners sign up for $100 per year ($8.33 per month), 100 per month and everything in between.
If you would like to partner with us but are unable to start right now, please send in your pledge and indicate when support will begin. This is an enourmous help to us as we grow closer to the August Deadline for orientation.
For more information about financial partnership, visit our “Partner with us” Page on this site. To contribute now online, visit www.maf.org/schandorff. Or, if you have received our prayer card in the mail, fill out the back and send it in. If you would like to pledge now and begin giving later, use the prayer card or call MAF’s Donor Services department at (208) 498-0800. We are blessed to have so many of our friends and family joining us in this process and look forward to building relationships with our support team for years to come.