Three traditional models have been successfully used for support raising in the modern missions era.

George Muller ran an orphanage in 19th century England that ministered to over 10,000 orphans. His policy was to ask only God for his financial needs, and say nothing to anyone else.

J. Hudson Taylor, 19th century British missionary to China and founder of China Inland Mission (today Overseas Missionary Fellowship), prayed to God regularly for his financial needs, but also made them known to potential supporters without asking for funds.

Dwight Moody, a 19th century pastor, evangelist, publisher and educator, prayed to God for his needs, and proactively asked for financial support from people.

God has used all three methods to supply for Christian workers. The most common approach used today would be that of Moody, involving proactively requesting support from churches and individuals. This involves developing a list of potential prayer and financial partners, asking for meetings, and clearly casting a vision for their involvement with you. The following are great resources for this process.

Resources

• Friend Raising - Betty Barnett
• People Raising - Bill Dillon
• Funding Your Ministry – Scott Morton
• Viewpoints: Fresh Perspectives on Personal Support Raising – Steve Shadrach
• Getting Sent - Pete Sommer

Here's some hints for mailing list development: think ----

• who do we send Christmas greeting to and from
• high school chums
• Facebook connections
• college/seminary chums
• pastors' fellowship connections
• neighbors & kids' sports teams or music lessons relationships
• hobby groups, homeschool groups, etc.
• church friends, your parents' church friends