Let's face it, raising support is uncharted ground for most of us. In the back of our minds, we fear that as missionaries who raise support we will be financially insecure and we'll put our families in jeopardy. The truth is that at times we will. Jesus spoke from his own experience when he cautioned a young aspiring missionary, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58).

Some people feel that raising support is tantamount to accepting Christian welfare. Yet the Bible strongly states that this is part of God's economy, His way of financing the spread of the gospel. Therefore, raising support isn't "un-Christian." Maybe the real problem we face is that raising support feels so "un- American."

As Americans, we are supposed to be "rugged individualists" who refuse handouts and stand on their own two feet. Financial independence is the goal. The real problem with raising support, then, is not that it's at odds with any practice in the Bible. Maybe your problem with raising support (and mine) has more to do with it being counter to the American way of life.