When was the last time you were coaching someone and they just wanted to give up? What was the reason they gave you? If it was anything other than “I did my best and learned a lesson–and I will do better next time,” then they were letting limiting beliefs get in the way of achieving their goals. Limiting beliefs are often deeply ingrained into people–so much so that they are not even aware of them. As a coach, how can we help people to overcome their limiting beliefs? First we need to understand what limiting beliefs are. Simply, they are […]
Keep Reading →This is part one of a two part article series. This first article shares the support raisers experience. The second article shares a bigger vision and perspective from that of a coach and can be found here. As an immigrant woman on staff, there have been parts of my “staff life” that I have experienced, very differently than my majority culture peers, particularly when it comes to MPD. Most majority culture staff don’t have to think and worry about the same things I do. The pain I experience surfaces from the unique doubts, challenges, and struggles I face as an […]
Keep Reading →When I started support raising, I had no clue what I was doing. I knew that God was calling me into full-time ministry. I knew I would be serving with the same college ministry that had changed my life. I started reading The God Ask hoping for an instruction manual on how to raise my support. If someone had asked me, “Would you like to receive coaching for your MPD?” I wouldn’t have known what to say. I had an idea in my head of what I needed to do, but HOW I was going to do it was a […]
Keep Reading →Pits are known to be dangerous places. The utter darkness combined with the fear of the unknown of what’s down there can produce heart-pounding terror. Normally, it’s wise to steer clear of pits unless, of course, you are Benaiah. In between killing huge warriors from Moab and Egypt in 2 Samuel 23:21, the Scriptures matter-of-factly slip in a little-known feat. Benaiah “chases a lion down into a pit on a snowy day and killed him.” Now, for most of us, we don’t purposely jump into a pit, we accidentally fall into one! The lion in that pit with Benaiah could […]
Keep Reading →“Coaching makes all the difference.” “Accountability is the secret sauce to success.” “You definitely need a coach.” I knew those words. I TAUGHT those words. But when was the last time I put them into practice and had my own coach for partnership development? 7 years. Yup. In my defense there had been at least twice that I had sought out people and invited them to fill that role…but they weren’t a good fit or I didn’t properly set up expectations. I could tell myself “Callie, you TEACH people how to raise support, you probably are the exception to the […]
Keep Reading →“I loved the SRS Bootcamp and learned a lot. I read the book, studied the scripture, and invested financially into all of the expenses necessary for attendance. I did everything right. But I’ve plateaued on my support-raising journey, and I’m only at 40% of my fully-funded goal. Help!”. We occasionally receive variations of that statement, and it often leads to questions like these: Should I attend Bootcamp again? What else should I do to get unstuck from my support raising plateau? Ouch. From personal experience, I can relate to the frustration and anxiety that comes with needing fresh support […]
Keep Reading →Lysa, a young capable woman who loves Jesus and wants to serve Him overseas, joined our staff several years ago after college. She had never raised support, but was trained well. She plodded along among her college friends and home church with 3-5 appointments per week for several months, but was still only at about 10% of her goal. We had a deadline coming up in less than two weeks that required her to be at 80% of her actual (not pledged) support goal. If she did not make this, none of the rest of the team would launch and […]
Keep Reading →When starting a Q and A time with a group I always seem to say, “There are no bad questions, only bad answers.” But as it relates to our support appointments, I’m not so sure. I certainly want to give every person I meet with the chance to ask whatever they want to, but occasionally those questions can be quite gut-wrenching! Here’s a sampling of some of the real “doozies” you might be presented with on the support trail with a suggested script that might aid you as you prayerfully think of a good response. Here we go. Buckle up! […]
Keep Reading →How do I best follow-up with someone who has said they will give… but hasn’t started giving yet? My guess is you’ve probably faced this question more than once, seeing this is the dilemma I’m asked about most often as a coach. The 2nd question I get the most? “How do I keep follow-up from being awkward?” Follow-up can consist of reconnecting with those who are verbally committed, but who need time to pray/consider after an appointment, or for some reason haven’t started their giving yet. I agree, it can feel awkward to try to re-connect with them to get […]
Keep Reading →In my time as a support coach, I have yet to see a ministry worker not make it to the field because they were unable to raise their budget. I’ve seen people not go to the field because they got engaged, accepted a different job, or had medical issues—but it has yet to be money that has kept someone from going to the ministry they felt called to. That being said, I’ve seen numerous ministers scared that they were never going to get to the magical 100% mark. Some just freeze up, unable to move forward because of obstacles and fears. So let‘s talk about the obstacles and fears we face when […]
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