36. (Mini Series EP 3) Chay'vion Carter

Join Heather and co-host Jenn as they continue their mini-series on fundraising in ethnically diverse communities with special guest Chay'vion Carter. Chay'vion, who has been working with Campus Outreach at the University of North Texas since 2021, shares his unique journey of raising support from a Black church context. From the initial challenges of fear and doubt to the practical steps that led to his success, Chay'vion offers invaluable insights and encouragement for anyone navigating the complexities of support-based ministry.

Chevion opens up about the importance of preparation, the role of community, and the power of relational wisdom in fundraising. He also discusses how his personal experiences, including his upbringing and family dynamics, have shaped his approach to ministry.

Funding Tribe
Campus Outreach

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Transcript

>> Heather: 0:04

Welcome to it's not about the money, a podcast in search of grounded fundraising. I'm Heather, and together with my co host, Andy, we look beyond the quick tips and formulas. Join us as we explore the nuance and complexity of ministry fundraising. If you want to thrive in partner development, not just survive it, this is the place for you. Welcome back to the show, everyone. As you know, we are in the middle of a mini series focused on fundraising in ethnically diverse populations. And we think this is a really important topic to engage, because while there are universal truths to the fundraising process, we know that that can look very different depending on your experiences and the community that you find yourself in. So, today we are honored to be joined by Chevion Carter. He's coming to us from Texas, from the UNT University of North Texas campus, specifically, and from his home church, the village church in Denton. Chevion has been working on the UNT campus since 2021 with campus outreach and loves to invest his time into discipleship and mentorship of students. Cheveon, what have I missed?>> <name> Heather: Heather that is I am, an avid reader. I love reading. I would say that I love having the opportunity to grow not just in the work that I'm doing, but also in marriage. I feel like the lord uses marriage as a way to, like, shape and prune us, and so that's been awesome. I always tell Peyton that if we weren't married, I think I'd be, like, two times less whoever I am now. I'm half of that without, like, just the shaping that happens in a marriage. And then, I just have the pride and joy of raising my daughter, Naima. She's seven weeks old. Yeah, that's been awesome. So I love to read. I also like sports. I'm a big sports fan. Ohio state Buckeyes is my favorite team. I'm actually from Canton, Ohio. I went to Penn State. I'm sorry.>> <name> Heather: Heather Ohio. That's where most of my family is from. And so you hadn't missed too much. Just that I love to read, and I like sports, and I'm a family guy. Yeah, well, and you said your daughter is seven weeks old, so. Man, thank you for being here. And I tell you what, you got a big smile on your face, which is great for those early days, of parenting. Yeah. You're very alert and ready, and I love your intro, because I feel like most people, like, that was so unique I love that. Thanks for leading with. I love to read and all these other things that our listeners would be like. Yes, I connect with that. Thank you. Yeah. Any favorites?>> <name> Heather: Heather favorite books, I cannot. Two series I can't get over, and I know, like, it's so cliche. Who cares? I love, love, love, love the Harry Potter series. It's just the world building that JK Rollins is able to like. The world she puts you in is just like, wow, the books are a million times better than the movies. The movies are just snapshots of the book, honestly. But, I love them both, you know? But really a big Harry Potter, fan. also a really big fan of the series that, cs Lewis did. Oh, the space trilogy?>> <name> Heather: Heather Chronicles of Narnia. Ah, yes.>> <name> Heather: Heather listened to it, and sometimes I have trouble listening to stuff for, like, a long time, but I had no problem listening through that entire series. It was awesome. Yeah, those are two of my favorite series. Yes, very cool. Both series that do a lot of imagery with the kingdom and God's work and that kind of. Yeah, if you can see that. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Very cool. I love it. All right, well, let's dive in. Chevy on. Thank you for that intro. so as Heather mentioned, and as you told us, you've been working in a ministry raising support since 2021, and you said May, right of that year.>> <name> Heather: Heather raising support since that up, since that January. Yep, yep, yep. So paint us that picture. So when you started that initial fundraising season, what was it like, and how did you feel about it?>> <name> Heather: Heather on staff with campus outreach in August. you know, that was the year of the pandemic, 2020 and the Lord, really. I did, like, some pruning and shaping in me, and it just became clear that he was calling me to go on staff with CL, and so I was excited to get into the fundraising process a little bit. However, once I did enter it, I realized how hard it was. I was a part of a cohort with funding tribe. Oh, great.>> <name> Heather: Heather Dentman. And that was awesome. But Tony Dentman is, not. I wouldn't say a tough critic. I would just say, like, he's very honest and real with you. And I remember my first time doing, like, my support pitch and it was not up to par. And so I just say that, to say the process of just getting into support raising was hard. And I didn't realize how much preliminary work needed to be done in order to begin reaching out to people. I mean, you gotta gather up your contacts. You probably need to create some sort of website or something so where people can see what you're doing. You need to have opportunities, for people to connect with you. You need to be like easily accessible. The importance of, I think the importance of being in community, like having a local church, people that you can like, acts to support you, that you already know are committed to the work of the gospel going forth. All of those things like are important. And so as I think about that season, I'm just really mindful of the work that had to be put in just to begin. So it sounds like you had some curriculum. So I'm not familiar with this Tony guy. Tony Dentman with funding tribe no, I'm not familiar. So maybe some of our listeners also aren't familiar. So can you tell us what that process was? What kind of support you received in going into support, raising, fundraising?>> <name> Heather: Heather director at the time, the director, Stuart childress, he placed us all in like Tony Dentman's program. And I'm sure, I'm pretty sure it costs something. I didn't know about it, obviously, but I don't know what it cost, but I know like we were a part of the program and essentially what it required was faithfulness in the sense of whenever you're a part of the program, every Sunday at

08: 6:31

00 you'll be a part of this cohort. You'll be responsible for making x amount of calls, for reaching out to x amount of people. And all of like what you're supposed to be doing is on an excel sheet. And on this Excel sheet you have like steps to raising support. And then after steps to raising support, the amount that you're raising, how much you would need to raise over the course of the next three months. Okay, you need to reach, you need to raise dollar 600 a week in monthly support. Okay, this is how you count somebody who's supporting you. If somebody gives a one time donation of dollar 1200, it wouldn't be the wisest thing to count that towards your yearly support because you don't know if they'll support again next year. And so somebody gives a one time donation, you calculate that like they're given one time over the course of four years, just different helpful things that help people reach their support in a sustainable way. Another big thing was gathering a list. Like you made us gather a list of 500 people. It's like, wow. And so we're scrolling through our context. I remember getting on LinkedIn and following lots and lots and lots of people and having to be bold enough to like reach out to them. I'm going to coffee shops, I'm talking to people there. Whatever opportunities I have to network with people, I'm having to use those opportunities, you know. And so I think he did a really good job of laying a good foundation for it in like a structured way. That excel sheet that had everything I needed as far as support raising was super helpful as I, as I was seeking to raise, a significant amount of money.

>> Heather: 8:03

Yeah, so it sounds like it was high structure, which was really helpful in kind of giving some clear boundaries to things. I'm curious whether in that training, did you have an element of training that looked at biblical foundations or kind of God's provision through his word, for his people over time? Or was it more just kind of the nuts and bolts of the structure and finding context and things like that?>> <name> Heather: Heather had for going on staff with whatever ministry we were part of was rooted in solid theology, you know what I'm saying? Solid understanding of the scriptures. But as far as support raising throughout the scriptures, I will say those are things that I had to learn over time. I'm sure we highlighted them, but as I think about it now, I have learned those things over time and they've been encouraging for me. I think about how in Hebrews, the author, who, we don't know who he is or who she is, it's like the author was. The author talks about there being a cloud of witnesses, right? And how in a lot of ways we're standing on the shoulders of people who were faithful before us. And as I think about support raising man, we're standing on the shoulders of Jesus and the disciples who had people who were helping them. We're standing on the shoulders of the apostles who were going out and proclaiming the gospel. And how did that happen? Well, the church, God's people, were sharing their resources and and through their resources it created opportunities for the gospel to go forth to different places. And I'm thinking about how in many of Paul's letters to the churches, he's asking some of them for financial support in order to do the work that God has called them to. He gives examples like, man, you don't muzzle an ox. And it's just clear as I look, at the arc of scripture, even if you go to the Old Testament, you think about how priests were able to live. The gospel has always gone forth. The good news of God's kingdom has always gone forth through, support of the people. and so that has really strengthened me and encouraged me as I think about writing support. But I will say I learned a lot of those things. And maybe he did say, maybe it was emphasized, but I learned a lot of those things later, on which I think support raising will bring you to support brazen will bring you to the point where, like, lord, I need you. Oh, yeah, there's a whole pruning process. There's a whole. Did I even know what I was doing before? Yeah. Really?>> <name> Heather: Heather So, yes, 100%. so going back, you said you're really excited, and then you got really anxious as you got into it because there's so much work involved. What would you say were some of your obstacles? Cause you mentioned, like, his process was get, you know, garner 500, people on your list. And so that was, like, one thing. But what would you say were some of your biggest obstacles in that initial season?>> <name> Heather: Heather m wasn't any lack of clarity on what I was supposed to be doing. But as I think about obstacles, the two biggest ones, I kept going to, because I did a little bit of thinking about this. I think it was fear and doubt. It was internal, for sure. Like, it was the fear of being rejected. It was the fear of telling somebody something I was doing and them, like, not understanding at all. And then I think it was doubt in the sense of if I, like, literally, when I was having back to back support meetings, I could have a support meeting with somebody, and they might be, like, a Christian, and they might totally understand what I'm doing. And so I'm kind of feeling confident because they sort of, you know, there's a way in which, like, if you've ever been to counseling, there's almost an invitation into opening up and sharing what you do. But that's not every support meeting. I would go into another support meeting, and the person, I would get the sense, and I could have been wrong, for sure, but I was getting the sense, like, oh, this person is skeptical. This person, like, this conversation doesn't feel, like, inviting. It feels like I'm pulling teeth a little bit. And that caused doubt in me, like, man, is what I'm doing actually good. I had people say things like, why would you get paid for that? Like, why would, like, why would somebody pay you to do that? One person was like, I do that at my church and I don't get paid. And I don't get paid at all. You know what I'm saying? I'm just like, man, I'm pretty sure you don't do it full time, but, you know, it's just the difficulties for me were just fear and doubt, a lot of internal battles. And that has something to do with just the way, like, I'm wired. Raising support revealed my desire to be approved. You know what I mean? Yeah.>> <name> Heather: Heather it was seeds of doubt that could have been easily sewn by the enemy. And so I'm grateful to be, to have been a part of a cohort, and I'm grateful that God sustained, me and gave me courage whenever I needed, whenever I needed it to keep going. But, fear and doubt were the two biggest obstacles. Yeah, yeah. Totally makes sense. I think those are very common, which doesn't make them any easier to navigate. But I'm glad that you had a cohort that could speak truth back to you, that you could all together kind of say, yeah, this is how we're feeling about this. It's really helpful.>> <name> Heather: Heather as we talk about the cohort, I also had the advantage of having somebody else who was going on staff with my exact same ministry, at the exact same campus, who was also becoming one of my best friends, like, who was doing it with me. And so, and he was a football guy, so he's really competitive. And so I would see him raising support, and part of me was like, okay, I gotta raise my support, you know? And so that's good accountability, that is. So I'm curious, were you, so, I know you said your wife's name is Peyton. Obviously, you didn't have your daughter at this time, but were you and Peyton married yet, or were you single as you were raising support?>> <name> Heather: Heather and Peyton were dating. Okay, so you were raising support as a single. How did that look as you transitioned to becoming married and even now having a family, how has that looked different than the initial fundraising season?>> <name> Heather: Heather is giving, like, his personal but wise opinion on, like, it's easier to run whenever you're. It's easier to run whenever you're single. You know, now that I'm married, there's a lot more communication in the things that I do. You know, it's like, hey, babe, on Wednesdays I need to go to Frisco, or I need to go to Dallas for this meeting, or I need to go here for. For that. Whereas before, it's just like, all right, I'm going here, I'm going there. So I think there's a communication aspect to it. I also think that there's, an added level of pressure because it's not just me raising support for myself, it's me raising support for myself and for my baby, who's seven weeks, and for my other baby, who I'm married to. So, you got those two aspects. So I feel like it adds a little bit of pressure in a sense of, like, feeling the need to provide. That's why I love the psalms, though, because I see where, like, God provides. That's why I love, the Lord's prayer, where it talks about us having our daily bread, and it's, like, trusting that the Lord is going to, provide for me and my family. The Bible has been so helpful for me in m believing that. But, yeah, I think there's pressure added, and then I also think there's not as much freedom to roam or not that there's not, but there has to be a lot of communication in order to do certain things. And then also, you got to. I got, like, I'm raising support right now. I got a seven week year old daughter. There's a balance between, like, going to raise support, but then also being helpful from my bride, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So now you're with your family, you're married, obviously your father, you're almost three years in. You're entering into your third year full time ministry. How is it looking now with all of these factors in the mix compared to, like, when you're single, compared to when you were initially raising? Like, does it look different? Does it look different? Even meeting with your supporters, you said you're currently funded. Like, how is it looking now? How do you feel?>> <name> Heather: Heather good thing about actually doing ministry and then support raising is that you have a way better idea of what you're inviting them into. Whereas before, like, I was telling them what I was thinking I was kind of gonna do. You know what I mean? Not that there was a lack of clarity from, like, the organization. It's just, you don't know what you don't know. And so I was doing ministry already as a student, but it didn't look anything like being on the campus and going through the sadness of somebody walking, seemingly walking away from the lord. But I get to tell those stories, and so I feel like my ability to explain what I'm doing got a lot easier. Also, though, like, the time I'm being pulled, like, in my time, because, like, there's five guys I'm disciplining, there's about seven guys I'm disciplining now. Between the seven, between the seven of us, we're probably connected to like, 40 other students. And so you think about, like, that ministry pool. And so you have this and you have that, and you need to get lunch with this guy. But then you're also raising support, and then you're also raising a family. So, time management becomes very, very important, as you transition from a season of being single and not really knowing what you're doing, but at least having the freedom to go and do something, whereas here it's like you're balancing out, doing the work that you're already doing, raising support, sometimes a significant amount if you get a raise or you have a child, or depending on what ministry you're in. and then also the added factor of, like, family, it becomes a whole different ballgame. Time management is very important. And then learning how to work smarter and not harder, trying to hit two birds with 1 st, like, those type of things become really important.>> <name> Heather: Heather Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I know you said that when you initially started raising support, you had some voices that were speaking kind of like, why are you being paid for that? Or why would you do that? And, maybe even voices saying, like, well, are you going to get a real job? There's all kinds of things that we can encounter in this. I'm curious what kind of support you received from your family or even from. I know that the village church has view for outreach and missions. I'm curious whether your church, prior to that, did and kind of what that support looked like for you.>> <name> Heather: Heather up, in a black context. Like, me and my family, we moved like 17 different times growing up. I'm the second oldest of six. I didn't, like, count it until like a year or two ago. And I was shocked, like, goodness gracious, that was a lot. We moved like 17 different times growing up mostly within the same city. And so it's just like we would live in a house or an apartment. And then we moved the next year, and then we moved the next year. But growing up second oldest of six, my grandmother was always stable. My mom had me whenever, she, was 18, and she had my older brother whenever she was 14. And she always worked and she did the best that she could, but money was tight a lot. And so, in my support raising season, I really wasn't expecting a lot from my family, I will say they did support me, though, like, from my grandmother. She was a member at Westside Baptist church, which might be one the largest black churches, north of Dallas. so she was at Westside Baptist church. She supported me and connected me to a couple other people. Most of those connections didn't work out because of the second part of your question, which is, like, how were they viewing missions? Like, how were they viewing evangelism on campus? Like, did they have mission for that? The answer is no. and then also with, the church that my family grew up going to, and then more street Baptist church, that's where I was a leader in that ministry. My junior year, it kind of phased out my senior year because the pandemic, you know, a lot of churches didn't have the infrastructure to do a lot the things that they were doing before. and so there at Moore street, as I was. So in my family, yes, they supported the best they could. They didn't have a lot to support, though, if I'm being honest. but I'm grateful for their support. Their support was the most encouraging, you know? Yeah, it sounds like they kind of, like, holistically, thumbs up, we support you. In terms of their affirmation.>> <name> Heather: Heather very supportive of what I was doing. Of course, there were questions like, oh, like, what is this? Or you are getting the college degree, or, you sure this is what you want to do? Like, even now, whenever we go to my. Whenever I go to my grandmother's house, I love her. They're kind of like, wait, what do you do again? So they don't 100% understand, like, to be clear, you know? But, they were supportive as far as the churches I grew up going to, though, unfortunately, it was not the same part of those hard conversations that I had where I'm telling you, like, hey, why? Like, somebody flat out asked me, why, would we pay you to do that? M. Why doesn't your church pay you? Why didn't the church that you're at, like, pay you? You know what I'm saying? Or another thing they would ask is, well, how is this organization helping you? Like, so this place wants to hire you, but they don't want to m. They're not going to. It's just like those conversations oftentimes came from the black church that I was a part of. Now, that's not everybody's experience. There's a young man who I was talking to maybe two months ago, and he came from a black church, and they were all in. I think they, like, basically supported most. Like, most of his support was raised there. But for me, for various reasons, right. I. It was not as successful. I had meetings with a church and the deacons there, ah, at Westside, and it wasn't successful. I had meetings with the pastor at, Morse Street. I talked to different members, and oftentimes it wasn't successful. And the saddest part for me was, I don't think they didn't support because they couldn't afford to support. I think they didn't support because they didn't have vision for what I was doing, which is just like, which speaks into, like, how churches see missions. I think, in black communities, oftentimes the church is when the church thinks of mission, and this isn't a bad thing. This is just, like, it's a unique thing. So for black people throughout american history, the church was like the institution. This was the institution where, oh, food services, education, spiritual needs, all of those things were happening within, like the. Yeah. All the help that black people were going to get, we're going to most. It's. It was in the. It was in the black church for a very long time. Yeah.>> <name> Heather: Heather churches see missions is serving in, in their communities. You know what I mean? Right.>> <name> Heather: Heather hey, I want you to support me financially so I can help people meet their greatest need, which is knowing Jesus over here. It's just like, well, we got, like, it's things to do, like, right here, you know? Yeah.>> <name> Heather: Heather then some churches, they was like, how does that help us? You know what I mean? Like, like, just flat out, like, I. Like, some people didn't support me. A lot of people of color didn't support me because they said, this isn't going to. This basically isn't going to, Like, I was talking to a young man a couple of weeks ago, and he basically was like, I just want to support where I'm being fed. And I'm just like, did I not do a good job of sharing with you that these students don't really live in Denton, that they're moving to different places across the DFW, that they're going, God willing, by the spirit of God, they'll be local. They'll be members of local churches one day, and it's at the largest university in north Texas. I'm like, am I not explaining vision? But I don't think it's that. I think it's just not a paradigm, for sure. It's like, yeah, it's not a paradigm for doing what I'm doing. For a lot of people, they had never even heard. They never really heard of what I was doing or if they did hear what I was doing, it was like, yeah, missionaries are people who go overseas. Yeah. Right, right, right.>> <name> Heather: Heather here, you know? Right, right. I'm so curious about the differences. Cause you said you had your friend who also grew up in a black church, and they were all in. Did you notice any differences between, like, your churches versus his church and, like, why they were so good gung ho about it? Did you ever think through that or have that conversation with him?>> <name> Heather: Heather But I wonder if part of it has to do with, like, his father's position, like, in the church. Like, if I was black, middle class, I'm low, low, black, middle class. My grandmother, she was stable. She stayed in the suburbs, and so, like, we always had a place to go to. So I was never, like, really in jeopardy of not having a place to stay. Right.>> <name> Heather: Heather That probably would have been true had it not been for my grandmother, you know? Whereas this young man who, he grew up in a two parent household, a black mom, black father, and they lived in a neighborhood for a number of years. I wonder if my mom had been married and we were living in Louisville by west side, and my dad was a deacon, if people would have thought differently about whether and how to support me, because I know support raising is also based on, like, relationships and networking. And so even though my grandmother was a member there for 20 years and, like, her, one of her really good friends is, like, one of the head deacons at the church they still didn't support. So I wonder if some of it has to do with, like, his relationship, like, how deep his relationship was, like, with that church, because his father had been a member there for so long, you know? And so maybe that could have been a different. And I'm also curious, like between all the black churches that you've mentioned, your friends, the ones that you grew up with and reached out to, like, what is the general, like, age makeup? Would you say it's like your grandmother's age? Would you say it's like your mother's age, some of your age? Is it diverse or is it like the older generation?>> <name> Heather: Heather from my wife's church that she grew up going to, she grew up going to ame church, African Methodist episcopal, which was the first black church in America. And the church that Peyton grew up going to was older and exceedingly older. And unless God's spirit breathes on that church, it looked like that church is a dying church. You know, honestly, that denomination is a dying denomination, it seems. And I would say the same thing with, more street, the church that I grew up going to, it's like, it seemed to be older. And I talked to Mark, who is the head deacon at westside a couple weeks ago, and I was asking like, man, what's the general age of the church? And he was like, man, honestly, like 50 plus. And I'm And so I think that's common now. There are some dynamic, like speakers in different, like black churches. Like you'll find that they speak in such a winsome way that they can navigate. Like they're like the younger people to come, come in. But I think that that is only, like their talent, their gift is only, it slows down the thing, but it won't solve the issue. There needs to be discipleship happening within the context of these churches. Like if discipleship isn't happening, teaching only holds for so long because all it takes is a teacher, the next teacher who comes after that one, if he's not as good, that church will shrink. The way to have a sustainable, healthy church is going to be discipleship. And it seems like the common denominator between a lot of those churches is the way in which they view discipleship. Discipleship is like an in house, like, come to Sunday school, come to this Bible study type of thing, but with the way that our culture is going. Like, most of the kids in college, they didn't go to church. Their grandparents went to church, so they went to church with their grandparents on Easter, they went to church with their grandparents for Christmas. It wasn't, you know, I'm saying it's not like they were going to church consistently and the church has to go out to people. We gotta be willing to, engage people. I just, I don't think a lot of black churches are equipped to go out, or the black churches I encounter were not equipped to, go out and bring people in. They were so used to people coming to them, which was so true for so long. And so I think they're adjusting to that. And I bring that up because we've had this conversation now with a handful of guests, including myself. I was a guest on the this series as well. And it's just interesting to find these threads that are being woven in multiple, ethnic communities, from myself, being in the asian community, we just heard from a hispanic guest, and we're finding these same patterns of older churches, the generational being, not serving the church, and they were used to receiving from the church. So how can you think about missions? How can you think about going outwardly? Right. So it's just really interesting to hear that your experience has been very similar, coming from the black community and now. So my next question is, so then, how did you pivot, right. If your communities weren't as supportive, seemingly your family was very much so. How did you pivot? And what were some tools that did work, or how did you network outside?>> <name> Heather: Heather 400 people I didn't know between, like, LinkedIn and, Instagram. And that helped me a little bit. Pivoting for me looked like getting uncomfortable and talking to people in church that I was kind of newly attending, you know? Right.>> <name> Heather: Heather and then some of the people who were supporting me in that season, they were connecting me to other people. That was always a part of my ask. There was never an ask that I had that didn't include, hey, would you consider being a tribe donor and a tribe donor and funding tribe is like, when somebody supports you x amount, but then they help you raise a 1000 or they help you raise 500 in monthly support. And so I think being connected to some people here at this church who were supporting me, and then honestly, like, the Lord gave me a spirit of boldness to just talk to anybody I knew about potentially supporting. And so I was at coffee shops in Dallas, I was at a Bible study. I'm telling everybody I met about, like, potentially supporting me, you know? Well, Tavion, and I've not had very long to get to know you, but from this very short time, some of the conclusions I've reached is, wow, he is a really passionate communicator, and casts vision very well. So I can see. I'm just excited for what the Lord might use that for, even within your in the black church community, and casting vision for raising up disciples that then come back to the church. I can also tell that you have overcome a lot. You know, just in growing up in a home without two parents and being one of six children. And I think that your resilience is admirable in the way you carry that.>> <name> Heather: Heather I'm always appreciative of compliments like that. It's just interesting because being who I am, it's like I never, I can never think like that. And so it's helpful whenever people, whenever people encourage me in those ways, because, you know, just like most people in the world, it's just like just living life, you know, just trying to be faithful to what you're called to do. So I really do appreciate that encouragement. Can you share with us some stories of how God did provide in these seasons of fundraising, even in ministry?>> <name> Heather: Heather other one comes. the first one is, I was doing FCA at the high school that I used to go to, Denton High School, and I had just got done talking about. I can't remember what I was talking about. Regardless, I was introduced by my former coach to a guy named Scott Henderson. And me and Scott ended up talking, and we ended up grabbing barbecue, which is our thing now. We grab barbecue at least once a month. We'll go to Rudy's. Good for you.>> <name> Heather: Heather ended up being, like, my largest supporter. Like, we met and he chose to come on my support team for like $400 a month. And I'm just like, nobody has done that up to this point. This was in just the odds that I met him. I just happened to be doing the FCA that week. It's not like I did FCA every week or anything like that. And so being connected to Scott was definitely a story where God provided, and then the Lord used him to connect me to some other people who, at least considered supporting. And so that's an example of God providing. I'll also say the season of supporting was just a picture of God providing, because I started raising support my senior year of college, right? So I was in college, I was working 25 hours a week. So in college full time, working 25 hours a week. Wow.>> <name> Heather: Heather and dating Payton and so between all of that, it's like I'm from February, started raising support. Honestly, in February, my support was raised by May 28. Somehow between, like those four months. And honestly, I think it was like being a part of Tony Dentman's program. One requirement really was faithfulness. And so I'm reaching out to a ton of people, whether I know them or not, each week. I think that whole season was just, a picture of God's faithfulness, because as I look back on it, I didn't really have the connections. Like, sometimes I kick myself, I'm like, man, why? Like, lord, why didn't you tell me I was going to be a missionary when I was in 8th grade? I would have started back.>> <name> Heather: Heather like, I would have, I would have. But I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't thinking like that until the Lord had put it on my heart. My senior year of college, during the pandemic where you're like sort of isolated, there's not even like relationships, like, relationships are put on hold in those seasons, you know what I mean? And so, that's incredible. I think that you said February to May, you raise support and you raise it.>> <name> Heather: Heather That's incredible. That's incredible. Even that, that's the story of how he provided, and that's a testament to your faithfulness, to what God was doing. I just feel like with all that was on your plate and all that you were going through, like, how amazing. Kudos to you.>> <name> Heather: Heather his thing. Yeah, he does well. And it's interesting, you know, you opened this podcast just sharing with us that you really feel like marriage is a place of formation. It like, forms you, it makes you a different person. And I really think that the support raising season and just the reality of support based ministry is also formational. Right. It's forming us to, to look to the Lord as our provider and to, to walk in obedience. And so it sounds like it's been a really powerful formative experience for you.>> <name> Heather: Heather uses, how God can use any circumstance to conform us into the image of his son. there's one thing, there's one thing to read the scripture, like Luke 923 25, where it talks about picking up your cross and dying daily. But whenever you're married and you have to continually choose somebody else over yourself, like now you're practicing what you believe in a way that's just unique whenever you're single. And also in a season of support raising. It's one thing to look at the psalmist like weeping, because he's asking for the Lord to free him from the bondage of his enemies, because he has the betrayal of a friend. And the only thing he has is Christ as his rock, Christ as his refuge. And it's another thing to read those scriptures while being in a season in which you cannot move in somebody's heart to force them to support you. You're just incapable of it. You don't know what's in the mind of a man. You don't know what somebody's thinking whenever you're meeting with them. And that season of support raising even now is just, it's super humbling because you recognize, God, unless you go before me, I go in vain. Psalm 127. God, unless you build this house, I build in vain. In vain. I labor working to provide because you're not before me. And so I think, like the psalmist, have really, the psalters, as some would say, have really blessed me in terms of, being encouraged. And I don't think I would have eyes to see that if it wasn't for a season of support raising and truly learning to be humble and dependent on the Lord. It takes a lot of humility to ask somebody to join you in what the Lord is doing, especially when you don't know if they have any vision for it. And so. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, man. For those listening who are from a different background, what do you wish they understood about fundraising in your context?>> <name> Heather: Heather contexts understood about raising support in this context is that it's hard, but the application to it being hard, I would want to be like, man, pray that God would raise up missionaries that are of color.>> <name> Heather: Heather african american. I, think what I want them to understand is that it's hard. And in them understanding that it's hard, like pray. And as you have brothers and sisters who are on your staff team who are of color, pray with them. Ask them how you could pray for them as their rating support. Raising support is always difficult, but for some people, they do have the connections to help, people who are raising support. And so maybe giving somebody who, like, is coming from like, a certain background and they have the ability to help others raise support, do that. That's one way you can, help the gospel go forth, not just by proclaiming it yourself, but raising up helping raise up others who will proclaim it as well by supporting them and connecting them to people who will support them. And so I'd say I'd want people to understand that it's hard, and I hope that would lead them to prayer and then also thankfulness. Even as Paul says, in our prayers, we ought to be thankful. I think that's like Colossians four one. He talks about, like, give thanksgiving in your, in your supplication, you know, and so be thankful that the support that God has provided your support, because there's always somebody who's, who's going through a rough time in their support. And so there's opportunity for thankfulness as well. Yeah. And then for those listening that are in a similar background as your context, as your, or even black, how would you encourage them? You've offered a lot of nuggets of little encouragement throughout, but what would you say to them?>> <name> Heather: Heather you. You got to prepare hard and you have to be willing to go the extra mile. You're going to need to get uncomfortable. I would also say what I've noticed in my support meetings with people who look like me, especially older people who look like me, share the vision for what you're doing more so than you share the vision for what your ministry is doing. From what I've noticed, they're not as compelled by me saying, so. Co is committed to this and co is committed to that. Of course, I'm a part of CEO, but there's like, a relational wisdom that you have to have whenever you're engaging certain people, and so being able to tailor what you're going to say, in light of what, you know, they care about. And so, like, language that I, that I typically use is I'm raising support in, like, african american spaces is, hey, here's an opportunity, for young men and women to know Jesus. I don't just say college students, cause they think college and they think, oh, that's far off. But if I say young men and women, they might think about their kids. If I say young men and women, they might think about somebody that's like, at their church. And so some of the language that I use is a little bit different. And so I would definitely say for people who are in my space, like, share vision for why you're doing what you're doing, you know, get them excited about why you're doing what you're doing. I had a support meeting with a, ah, man a couple months ago. He owns a barbecue spot. He actually owns one of the only, like, black owned barbecue spots in Frisco. And so whenever me and him, he was like, man, I really like what you're doing, but next time we meet, this I'm learning, too. He said, next time we meet, or next time, when you meet somebody, man, tell them what you doing. It's like, tell them what you excited about. And it's like, that was, that was. That was helpful for me. And so I would give that same sort of advice to somebody else. And then, another piece of advice I would give to somebody is, as you raise support, always have something to leave with people. It's not as prevalent amongst, like, younger people. Like, I can just give you my QR code, or I can get your number and just shoot you a text. But I think leaving older people with something is very, very important. Like, leave them with the car so they could think about it. Or if you don't. If you don't want to do that, like, immediately text people after you meet them, you know? And whenever you're raising support, call. Don't just leave it to a text, call people. And then be persistent. Whenever you're persistent, people know that you mean it. People know that you're serious. And so even as we get off the phone today, I'm going to call each person who I'm asking, like, to support me. I used to not call. I'm not gonna lie. Cause I was so. I was kind of scared, you know? Yeah. but now it's like recognizing, no, you're not inviting them into something that you're doing. You're inviting them into something that God is doing. And if you're depending on God, and so you can ask them. And so I would say calling, people is very important. I would say tailoring what you're saying to them is important. I think that's it. I think preparation is really important, though. Yeah, prepare and be ready to reach out to a lot of people. Love it. Very practical. Yes. And I think very helpful, because I really do think, you know, as we, as we are kind of getting into the weeds on just different cultures represented, different backgrounds represented really, like, understanding what people value and how to connect what you're doing to what they value in a very real way is so helpful. So I think that that was super practical. Very helpful. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any other resources, just to our listeners, that you would recommend?>> <name> Heather: Heather A what?>> <name> Heather: Heather phone now, you could do it with the iPhones now as well. But anytime I'm at, like, a networking event, I get. I could connect with people in like 2 seconds. Is that your QR code?>> <name> Heather: Heather their phone with it. And whenever I. Nice.>> <name> Heather: Heather me save their. Gives them my information and they. Can we exchange information in a much quicker way. Yeah. Without having it to be like, give it to me number by number.>> <name> Heather: Heather Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's really cool. How do you spell popple?>> <name> Heather: Heather Love it.>> <name> Heather: Heather something. so I think. I think that right there is helpful. I would also say, like, what makes support raising hard for me, like, in this season is we have, like, seven people on staff, like, at Cl. You know what I mean? Like, here at ah unt. And so a lot of our church members are already supporting people. And so another helpful tip is to find, like, maybe local Bible studies in your area and attend those and build relationships. I've garnered, support, and, like, I went to. I go to Bible study every Wednesday morning. We needed. We have a OTG this weekend, which is an off the grid retreat. We, have our OTG retreat this weekend, and I was able to raise some money this morning, just because I built relationships by attending this Bible study over the course of the last three, four months. So I come in there, I'm like, hey, guys, we need this for OTG. And they're like, oh, here. Like, just, you know. So, yeah, Bible studies can be helpful. Yeah. Very cool.>> <name> Heather: Heather Yep. Yes, networking. Thanks. Awesome. Okay, well, we have a question that we ask all of our guests. So it's our final question for this conversation. Thank you again so much for your time. Okay, so you have$10,000 that you have to give away today. You have 5 seconds to decide who or what do you give it to and why.>> <name> Heather: Heather No, you can be creative. You can be creative. Yeah.>> <name> Heather: Heather give $5,000 to David Balagoon, who's raising support to go on staff with Cl. Cool.>> <name> Heather: Heather staff. And so I'm gonna put $5,000 there. The next $5,000, I'm going to put it in an account that creates interest for my younger brother, Braylon. So that way, whenever he graduates, he'll have a little bit of money as he's going off to college or, as he, like, wants to buy a car or something like that. Awesome. Very cool. I love that. All right, Chevy on. Thank you so much for your time.>> <name> Heather: Heather easy to talk to. Like, I just love what you guys are doing with this podcast. And, yeah, hopefully everybody who's listening enjoyed it. And I hope y'all know how wonderful Jen and Heather are and just how genuine they are as people. And so y'all keep on checking out, not about the money and coming back, because it is awesome. And I really appreciate the work that you guys are doing. Thank you.>> <name> Heather: Heather seek to provide that. Yes. And blessings to you as you continue your ministry. Blessings as you go into these early months of fatherhood. We pray for, strength and peace and lots of sleep for you and Peyton. For you and Peyton. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for your time.>> <name> Heather: Heather Yeah. All right. Thank you so much. It's not about the money is presented by provisio fundraising solutions, provisio equips, support.>> <name> Heather: Heather resources. And one on one coaching. Find out more@provisiofundraising.com.