As we've traveled in the past year doing fund raising in churches, some have done special things. They ALL have honored us by even letting us in the door to share, but without naming names I wanted to let people who don't live that life know of things that are nice.
Nearly all the churches have paid for the night in the hotel if we have had to travel far. Imagine how much that has saved our account in a year! Probably 45 nights of hotel have been covered this year. Some churches have a hospitality room built in and let us stay there. One place let us stay an entire month!!
Four times this year the church has given us a goodie basket or maybe the women's ministries team has done it, but it's a nice touch. Usually travel foods or treats. Sometimes a church's mug too. A couple families helped us get groceries when we arrived, and later in the year a Sunday School class gave us some grocery gift cards.
Nearly always the pastor or someone in the church buys us lunch after church. We love visiting with people in the relaxed moment after a service.
One small group gave me a $25 gift card for sharing with them. One lady organized a home group evening in her home simply to introduce us to people who love missions -- and she used REAL dishes for 30 people. That's a lot of extra effort.
A family on the east coast let us borrow a car for THREE weeks. The man giving up the car had to ride the bus or his bike. Very humbling and beautiful.
One family puts labels and stamps on our newsletter cards. (Pray for Sandy she is in the hospital recovering from a stroke.)
A group of individuals, not a church, has organized a storage area where people can donate new items and they find missionaries who can use the items. They run a thrift shop to pay the postage. They send treats at Christmas, Valentines and Easter if you are on their list.
One church organizes Christmas present packages every year so people will get to know us from our requests. So fun and personal!
Several churches have sent us their own music CDs or some from the mass market.
A few churches try to connect with us personally through a note or email a couple times a year or on birthdays, anniversary or Christmas.
It is nice to be remembered by these gestures of kindness and of course to be helped by them. It's not so much about the finances as the effort and thoughts behind it. A HUGE THANK YOU has to go out to those who quietly, faithfully send funds each month in small and large quantities that make up the money needed for us to be missionaries.
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