In the late 1980s, a millionaire visiting us from Los Angeles, and hearing what we had begun to do in the Philippines said to me: “Peter, many Christians send money to others, who then preach in overseas, countries, but you are doing it already.” He gave me $2,000 on the spot, which I’d not asked for, and sent another $16,000, (also unasked for) over the next two years. All of which I deposited in the church’s bank account to support our new mission outreach in the Philippines.
The lesson? Don’t wait till you’ve raised the money you’ll need, just get started. We did. We spent our first night in a Manila slum house, with giant rats clawing their way up the walls (one ran over a Barfoot bare foot). The next day, we moved to a remote village and slept soundly in a nipa palm hut, which sat high on bamboo poles, with dogs under it to keep away rats and other vermin. My point is that we started out by flying to the Philippines and beginning with what with what we had and from then on, the Lord provided.
The same goes for whatever project the Lord puts into your heart, whether it be overseas or in your local community. Faith is a noun: a “naming word”. Only when acted on does it become the verb “believe”, which is a “doing word”!
So, don’t worry about what name you should put over the door of the hall where you meet, just start by preaching on John 3:16-17 or a like verse and get some lost people saved. You can decide on the name later, when it matters or is determined by the developing theme of your work). Preach the saving message to the lost, and as you do the Lord will provide.
Lorraine and I spent our first night in a caravan in the backyard of a house outside a small town in Somerset, UK. Then on a dirty mattress in an unkempt house in Bournemouth. Later, on a foam mattress on a floor that flattened with our weight. (Just as similar mattresses had on bamboo floors during our visits to the Philippines.) Little did we know that we would graduate to soft mattresses in a 200-room historic Hall in North Wales! Our latest upgrade was from Economy to Business Class both ways on the top deck during a recent flight to the UK.
Has God given you a vision and you have little or no support in hand? Off you go! The support will follow…