I Couldn’t Do This Without You

Who are your “I couldn’t do this without you” people? Who are the ones that show up for you? Who are the ones you lean on so you can do what you do?

Who has given you their air mattresses, guest beds, and couches? Who has housed you for longer than is socially acceptable?

Who has licked envelopes for you? Who has risen in the middle of the night to go to the airport for you? Who has hefted a 50 lb. bag for you?

Who has helped you with some piece of all the paperwork of passports and taxes and insurance and visas and reports of birth abroad? Who has slipped cash in your pocket? Who has made you meals and washed your sheets?

Who has paid the extra postage to send you those Christmas cards? Who has boarded a plane for you? Who has worked at their job so they can quietly, faithfully make their donation for you each month?

These are the unsung heroes of the faith.

Goers get the glory, but senders are the saints. Without them, kingdom work across the world would deflate. They are the helium in our balloons, the gas in our engines, the ___________ (insert your own “cheesy, but oh, so true” metaphor here). Goers know there would be no going without the sending.

So who are your people? Who are the ones that get your heartbeat, see your calling, and say, “Yes. I am here for you”? Chances are, you haven’t thanked them enough, not enough to reflect all that they mean to you, to your work.

Take a moment and pass them this post? Comment below to publicly recognize them and all the big and small ways they support you. It’s a simple way to say,

If you’re a sender reading this, and you’ve been part of the story of God’s generosity to Velvet Ashes, we want to thank you. Truly, we could not be if it weren’t for you.

That “you” right now is actually quite a small group, I don’t know if you know. Mostly the financial support for this ministry has come from women on the field pooling together our widow’s mites, so that we can have this lifeline community. A small group of you senders has caught the vision for this place and has lavishly given.

As we look at where God is calling this ministry, it becomes very clear that in order for that to happen, we need to grow this small group. We need the partnership of you saints who see it as your roll to support and fund kingdom work across the world. We need you, you who understand the need to be there for those living out God’s calling in the far corners of the globe.

We need you, because we want to continue offering a life-giving annual retreat experience for over 1,000 women in 91 countries. We need you because this retreat is worth hundreds of dollars, but we want to continue to provide it to our women at the cost of only $10-$15 dollars. We need you because 10% of our community can’t afford even that $10-$15 dollars, and we want to be able to gift it to them through scholarships.

At this year’s retreat, the phrase “The journey is too much for you” from I Kings 19 resonated with our participants.

Megan Moss writes:

“Sitting cross-legged with the VA retreat guide in my lap, I reflected on the ways God met Elijah… He seemed to be saying something similar to my own heart. The journey is too much for you. Yes, I couldn’t do this thing called furlough on my own, let alone the next three years on the field. He will meet my needs. The Lord wanted to provide for me both physically, as with the warm loaves and water, and spiritually by drawing me away with Him.

God used the VA retreat to meet me where I was and minister to me in tenderness and provision. His answer to my depletion wasn’t “do more” or “try harder.” His answer was Himself, the gentle whisper on the mountain.

I was so impacted by the VA retreat this year that I want to be a host for next year’s retreat so that my fellow workers in Tanzania can experience and draw away with the Lord, too.”

This is the heart of what we do here at Velvet Ashes. Like Elijah, the journey is too much for us alone. We need his provision, and we wonder if that provision will come in the form of you?

We especially need the commitment of monthly donations to fuel this ministry. If this is your role, to fund God’s kingdom work, and you haven’t already partnered with us, would you consider joining our year-end “Not Alone” campaign with a one-time donation or monthly commitment?

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And consider gifting a past Velvet Ashes Retreat to the one you support on the field? It would make a lovely Christmas gift, no post-office or overseas mailing required!

Check out the stories of how God is using Velvet Ashes to help women know they are not alone. Friends, add your own story, using #VelvetAshesNotAlone.

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Share in the comments below. Who are your “I couldn’t do this without you” people? How have they been there for you?