If you feel you’re being called to missions, the first thing to do, I suggest, would be to pray.
Ask God to provide for your trip.
As Daniel Bush said in one of our earlier posts, “Where God calls, He provides. He just asks us to follow. Provision will [come], and He is faithful to lead you.”
So far we’ve heard some amazing stories from those who have gone on mission trips. If you’ve ever felt like you wanted to go, but it’s been too expensive, or you’re not sure how you’d get all of the money to participate in the trip, we’ve got some fundraising ideas that are really helpful!
Host a yard sale
I know this year my family went through most of our house and found stuff we weren’t using, or that we haven’t touched in a while! Try doing this with your family and see what you come up with! We scheduled two different weekends to host our yard sales and we did pretty well!
If you personally don’t have anything you’d put in a yard sale, see if anyone would be willing to donate items to your yard sale!
We had a few families from our church donate larger furniture pieces that sold really well!
Sell t-shirts
These shirts were made by my good friend Kendra whose been to Nicaragua every year with my church’s team!
Babysit
See if anyone in your church is in need of a sitter!
Another idea is to team up with a few other people going on the trip and advertise a “Parents Night Out” to your church and offer childcare!
Dog/cat/house sit
Just like babysitting! See if anyone in your church is heading out of town and offer your services!
Clean houses
Offer to clean a member of your church’s house! That could include yard work, organization, painting, etc.
Host a car wash
Work along with your team and team leaders to see if they’d like to host a car wash!
Host a spaghetti dinner or a pancake breakfast
Work along with your team and presale tickets to members of your church! This year we advertised karaoke as entertainment along with the dinner!
Send out letters to your close friends and family
Write a letter letting them know that you’ve been called to the mission and ask them to pray for you and your team! Let them know that you’ll be accepting donations, and if they’d like to help you in fundraising for your trip they can!
Host a bake sale
Have a recipe you’ve been dying to try out? Bake it and ask your pastor if you can sell them at your church’s service(s) to fundraise for your trip! Have other members of your team help you and make an array of baked goods and split the proceeds between you all!
Offer your skills
Have a skill you think someone might pay for? Whether it’s teaching piano, gymnastics, or just tutoring in general, offer your services in return for a donation to go towards your trip!
