Thoughts

So, I keep thinking how much easier it will be to blog when I'm actually in Cambodia, because I'll have a ready supply of cultural pictures and anecdotes to share. Right now I could tell you how I spent my day doing laundry, e-mailing people, and so on, but that's not quite an interesting as if I were telling you how I did laundry by hand in a Cambodian stream and hung it out to dry under my house on stilts to keep it out of the monsoon rains...you get the picture, things will be a little more interesting once I am overseas. So I apologize for the length of time that tends to pass between blogs for now--it's not because I don't want to be communicating, it's just that I have to rack my brain for an exciting topic to write about :)

I will say, though, that as you are probably aware, my life for now mostly consists of support raising. Like most people, I had a vague idea of what this entailed before I started doing it, but also like most people, I did not really have a clue what all it involved (and I am still learning about it, to some extent). The biggest surprise (and biggest challenge) of support raising so far is the sheer amount of communication it requires. Based on the personal experience of other support raisers, the most effective way to encourage people to be financially involved is through speaking with them face to face. Doesn't sound bad--but to make that happen requires a number of steps: meet and interact with an individual on some level so that there is at least a minor relationship already in place (whether this is an established friendship or a brief conversation at church or the post office), call the individual to ask them to meet with you, call a second time because they weren't home for the first call, meet with the individual and ask them to consider being a supporter, call and/or write to follow up for the meeting, call or write to remind individual to follow through with their new commitment by actually signing up as a supporter, write a thank you note after you receive their first gift, keep up the relationship through various means of contact....

...and now multiply the above by a hundred or so potential supporters. Also add in several speaking engagements, newsletters and blogs to write, and time to pray about all of it--lots of communication! So, lately I am busy communicating, or taking a break from communicating and psyching myself up for another round :) Just a little insight into the world of support raising...