When new candidates enter MAF’s training program, one of the questions that always comes up is this: “How much support do we have to raise?”

It’s an important one for more reasons than you might think.

While MAF has a team dedicated to raising financial support for our operations, each individual missionary family is responsible for raising personal support. This covers their salary, as well as, other costs such as housing, medical expenses, travel, and the children’s education overseas.

However, raising support extends far beyond reaching some pre-determined dollar amount. It’s about inviting friends, families and other acquaintances to partner with us as we answer the call God has placed on our lives. It’s about raising up a team of prayer partners, accountability partners.

When my wife Tanya and I first entered MAF, we chose not to worry about the amount of money we had to raise and instead focused on building partners. We knew that the Lord had called us to serve with MAF—and we chose to view our personal support raising as an opportunity for others to encourage and affirm this new direction God had given us.

In heading to the mission field, we saw support raising as a chance to build a team. And after serving with MAF for more than 20 years—and still raising our own support— we’ve grown an incredible team of partners, people who believe in us and what God has called us to do. It’s that same team of people who keep us focused on the larger mission when the enemy tries to throw us off kilter.

Support raising is a remarkable exercise in faith for each new MAF missionary family. They begin by determining how to chip away at the financial goal, but they finish with incredible faith, overwhelmed by the love and support they’ve received and confident in the direction God has for their lives. Thank you to all those who stand alongside an MAF family.