Galations 6:6

I'm working as a missionary.

The hardest part about this, literally, is asking people for money. It is so hard, that I haven't even really done it yet.

The fundraising book I was given says that one of the mistakes missionaries on "domestic assignments" make is having a target-only mentality, promoted by Galations 6:6: "And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches."

I do not have this mentality. The people I'm serving, I serve because they have needs. Their cupboards are more empty than mine. Yet I am consistently being offered things by these people: fruit, pizza, pop, water, money for something I want to buy at the store. Sometimes my biggest struggle is to accept the gifts they offer.

Just yesterday I was sitting in my friend Sarah's living room, and she asked me what my job is. I told her that being there, helping her with her son and teaching English is my job. She asked how I get money, and I told her that I ask people for it. She asked if I got money from the government. No, I said. Sometimes I will ask churches, though. She understood that and was fairly satisfied. But then she said, "I use you too much. What if you need money for gas, or food?" And I said she fed me lunch yesterday and I was currently eating her watermelon. She shook her head, mystified as to how I was surviving.

I used to say the kids I played with after school were "my kids." Obviously that isn't really true, I have very little ownership of them. However, now I can say they are my kids. Their families are my families. Their people are my people. Not because I claim them, but because they claim me.