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Here I am on the cusp of another Giving Tuesday preparing to ask the masses on the internet for money. It’s a strange life I have to live and breathe ministry and then sell myself as I ask people to pay me to continue in this amazing role. But what is it that I’m actually doing here, and why am I still on support if I work for a thriving church?

What isn’t obvious on the surface is that I only work part time for the church with seconded hours here as a youth pastor which are the bulk of my time and my primary assignment. However, I’m still a full time TeachBeyond member with roles on various teams advancing transformational education around the world. For the past year, I’ve been on the ground floor of the Third Culture Kid Care Team helping to create structures of support for TCKs who have parents serving within our organisation. Care I provide directly to my former students transitioning into young adulthood falls into this category of ‘work’ though we all know I’ve been doing it for free for years and far beyond the allocated five hours a week I’m currently expected to use for this specific role.

Moving into the East Asia/Oceania region also gifted me a temporary position as interim regional member care offering additional support primarily to single missionaries or those in isolated service locations. Recently, I was asked to join the Spiritual Formation team conversations and will be involved in member support through that avenue in the future as well. I do a little bit of everything, it seems, and sometimes it feels like such small offerings in each place that it could hardly make a difference. However, the past weeks have given me clarity that my presence on each team is valuable and has a positive impact.

There’s a lot of nuance to this invitation to join my support team. I have the joy of working in roles that use my God given talents and abilities in rich and beautiful ways, and it’s only made possible through the cheerful generosity of others working in roles that allow for financial freedom to give to me. I can’t tell you how humbling it is to have former students donate to me financially to keep me on the field doing what I do best. To be honest, that is my best endorsement if you’re wondering about my efficacy. I’m in the rare position of a missionary who isn’t desperate to find money. God has been generous and provided generous donors to support me over the past eleven years. I get to write this post as an invitation to more people to join because, of course, there is always more room on my team. My support account has remained steady this past year of settling into these new roles as my core team continued to give monthly or annually and a handful of extra generous donations came through – largely on Giving Tuesday or in the run up to Christmas.

If your in a financial position where you’re able to give, please consider scrolling to the top of the page and clicking that green “Donate” button to contribute $10 or $20 USD to my work – or if you’re looking for the tax write off, you can give $500 or $1,000. If you’re banking in other currencies, you can email donate.us@teachbeyond.org for help setting up a one time or recurring donation to my US based account. I really mean it when I say this is an invitation, and your generosity is not taken lightly.

I’m also incredibly thankful to the prayer team who read these updates regularly and lift up my needs and requests in prayer. I believe every prayer matters, and I am beyond blessed with such an awesome prayer team of people around the world caring about the work that I’m doing. You’re a part of something awesome.

I’m drafting this on an ordinary spring weekend in New Zealand, but my American heart was full of thanksgiving on Friday night as all my passport country was in a tryptophan coma from the massive Thursday meal. I may not get pictures of the action often, but I love seeing these seats filled with young people as they listen to how the Gospel can transform their lives. Jakob gets pretty excited about it too.