
Trusting God to Provide
October 19, 2020 - January 1, 2030

Trusting God to Provide
In a mission field where you don’t have a regular pay check coming in, fundraising might be quite intimidating. However, as Christians, we’re called to trust in who God says He is. He is our Provider. I think of the verse, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
As YWAMers, we value living by faith, and practicing dependence on God to provide all the things we need to do His work.
If you were looking for a personal testimony on how to trust the Lord to provide finances, here is one from a former staff named Chelsea. Look no further to read first-hand experiences in this area!

Chelsea Logan
21, Australia
“Trusting God can be one of the hardest things to do in life, especially when He asks you to jump with no knowledge of how and when you will land on safe ground, but we do it, right? Time and time again because we know we can trust Him, right?
Well, since we know that, then why do we still look over into the darkness and say “Are you sure I can trust you Lord?” or “What if this doesn’t work?”. I was faced with the same challenge 3 months before leaving for Canada to do a secondary YWAM course. My challenge was to trust that God would provide enough sponsorship to get me there, feed me, keep an Aussie warm in the snow, do the course, and then have a ticket home. Every time I would look at my bank, I ended with an amount of money that did not leave me with trust in God. But if I could have talked to myself 3 months onward, I would have been filled with shock and amazement at how faithful and incredible our God is; in 3 months I would have all the funding I needed and more, but sadly, I couldn’t do that.
How did He do it you ask? Well when I started praying “Lord, give me money please, but just don’t make me work for it”, He made me work for it. One of my friends who had been with YWAM for a while would always amaze me at his ease to buy and do what ever he wanted without worrying about funds. One day when my stress got too much I finally asked him how he does it, he then shared with me a book called “Raise Your Support With Confidence” by Aden Ezra Wright.
When I received the book I was very disappointed as it told me on the first chapter I would still have to work for my support, but after reading a few chapters I felt God say that when I read this book and follow all the steps He will provide, but He wanted me to do the hard work.
From that point on I was continually filled with a knowing that the funding was coming. I found myself always thanking Him for it and never asking Him for it. It took me 2 months to read and follow all the steps, but finally I had done it; I had made a list of 150 potential sponsors, I had sent out all the emails, now all that was left was sitting back and letting God do His thing as really only He can speak to someone’s heart.
The next week after sending all the emails out, I was receiving emails back from people I never thought in a 100 years would reply back and they were all asking me the same thing “When can I start supporting you?” within 3 weeks I went from $150 monthly support to $1500 monthly support. It sounds impossible really! I’m not sure why God doesn’t just leave the money under your pillow or anonymously transfer it into your bank, but I know this grew me a whole lot more than just receiving money and not working for it. Ultimately, it glorified Him a whole lot more too!
God is faithful, He has always been, you just have to remind yourself of that sometimes.”


Conclusion
Although trusting the Lord takes some work, it’s also an invitation for others to join in the mission and partner with the call of the Great Commission Jesus has set for us. Seeking the Lord and knowing who God is, allows us to stand in confidence for Him to provide all He has called us into. When He calls, He equips!
Chelsea was apart of our Operations departments, check out this video on the heart behind what they do and how we see Jesus in it – The Craftsman
If you’re thinking about doing a DTS and not sure how much it’s going to cost you, check out our blog post on that exact question.


“Doing SPHC was an amazing experience. Not only was I given the opportunity to continue to grow spiritually, but I learned things that can be used in a very practical and much needed way. SPHC gave me the opportunity to show the Father’s heart to people in a very unique way and love on the person in front of me while helping them in such a simple way.”
Karunia Been, 20, Portugal

“Upon first coming to DTS, I had settled for a mundane and ordinary life. But over time, He has captured my heart and instilled in me a new passion for His purpose. This has given me confident hope that I am worthy of intentionally being part of the greater good.”
Taya Newton, 20, Alberta, Canada

“Being part of the Wild Heart stream helped me know my place in the kingdom as well as parts of my spiritual identity. It broke lies and empowered me to be who God called me to be!”
Nicole Tavares, 18, Brazil

“The Justice Movement Stream taught me to truly fall in love with and respect other cultures and people groups, and how to see them as God sees them.”
Kasandra Adler, 19, Missouri, USA

“Since being here at Marine Reach, my hunger for God has continued to grow more and more. In the Kingdom Come stream, our heart is to see the world changed by the message of His love and the demonstration of His power. It’s such a privilege to be apart of a group of people so on fire for Jesus!”
Joseph Pope, 25, Virginia, USA

“Reading the whole Bible was a real challenge for me, but it was so rewarding. My eyes were opened to the fact that Jesus had existed from the very beginning and that God’s gracious heart always was and is the same! I learned that the Bible isn’t just a story about God, but rather a story about imperfect, raw, real people. I know now that I am one of them, and that I can see God work in my life just like He did it with them!”
Jenny Fritz, 19, Germany

“In the worshipstream I learned why we worship God, because he loved us first and because he’s worthy to be praised!
Also I learned that If you lead worship you have to be filled first in order to lead others into worship because you lead others in the intimacy that you have for yourself.”
Jaspar Wandtke, 20, Germany

“The Pilgrimage DTS allowed me to take the time I needed to get to know God more and grow closer to Him while spending lots of time in His beautiful creation. God also used the hikes to challenge and encourage me to rely on Him more.”
Colin Berkley, 24. B.C. Canada

“Before I did the Go Pacific DTS, I was expecting the Lord to do a lot of amazing things through me; and He did. However, I never expected Him to do so much work in my own heart. I drew a lot closer to God, experienced freedom, and I learned to believe in the ‘Jonas’ that He says I am. My relationship with God has become deeper and more serious, but at the same time it has become more fun and casual.”
Jonas Sørensen, 21, Denmark

“Before coming to DTS I had a fixed view on what it meant to be a follower of God. Being on the Wild Heart Stream completely demolished every box I put God in and taught me to have reverence for the Lord. I learned that God doesn’t want a slave, he wants a best friend, a daughter and a relationship.”
Jessica Bryant, 19, England