I've received a whole raft of Giving Tuesday emails today encouraging me to give to all sorts of important things I care about. We here at JFA have no ill will towards the Giving Tuesday phenomenon, but for a variety of reasons we haven't made much of Giving Tuesday in recent years.
I did, however, just have a thought that I wanted to share with you. It's about your answer to the following questions:
Did you pray for one of our events this year?
Did you pray regularly for us?
Did you lead your church in praying?
Did you host a JFA staff member or volunteer in your home during an outreach trip?
Did you provide a meal for us?
Did you give to our Intern Scholarship Fund?
Did you give a monthly automatic gift to our Training Program Fund or to support the work of one of our missionaries?
Did you set up a speaking event for one of our staff in your community?
Did you make an appeal to a pastor to consider partnering with JFA?
Did you call or email a JFA staff member to encourage him or her?
Did you volunteer at a JFA event and create conversations with pro-choice advocates?
Did you use JFA's monthly Resource Bulletin or other materials to create conversations with people in your everyday life?
Did you speak up when someone in your everyday life brought up the topic of pregnancy, unborn children, women in distress, or abortion?
Often I worry that you, our friends, feel like you are not truly contributing to our work unless you give money. I worry that you may put any giving that is not financial in a sort of "second-class" category. Giving financially is certainly one important way to partner with JFA, but all of the activities I've listed above are essential, and I do mean essential, to our work of training Christians to create transformative conversations that can help save the smallest humans on earth (and their parents) from abortion.
It may be that we cannot do our work without financial support, but we trust God will provide the support we need. In the same way, we simply cannot do our work without these other gifts you have given this year. Without host homes, our team wouldn't be able to create conversations on campuses across the country. Similar things could be said about every item listed above. And we trust God to provide these needs, and he has provided for us mightily through you.
Consider this: none of our conversations will have any impact on anyone without God moving in each person's heart before, during, and after our interactions. When you pray along with us, you place your trust in God as the one who brings about change.
I just wanted to take this moment to say thank you for partnering with us so faithfully through these very real gifts I've listed above. The stories we've shared this year are very truly your stories. Thank you for your many sacrifices in so many different forms this year. We consider you to be such an important, "first-class" member of the JFA team. We thank God for you.
If you're so inclined, I'd love to hear your thoughts about JFA's work and ways you've been able to partner with us this year. You can click the link below at any time during the year to share your thoughts with us.
I mentioned our Resource Bulletin above. It's one of our best resources for making abortion unthinkable. Each month, we post specific, practical ways you can pray for conversations, prepare for conversations, and start conversations. Check it out!