My main blog has now moved to Bill Hutchison. Please visit that site for any new posts.
Are Outreach Fees more Spiritual than a Computer?
Ever since my computer died about a month ago I have been thinking a lot about how people perceive the "spiritual value" in what we do and the tools we use.It seems that in YWAM people are always trying to raise money for airfares or outreach fees (we just had an offering time for the Introduction to Primary Health Care School's Outreach fees last week). Since we are all volunteers it is a necessity to raise the money, but there seems to be a stronger emphasis put on things that are perceived to be more closely related to "reaching the lost", rather than the tools that are needed for the "background / administrative" work.
Appeals for outreach fees, airfares and school fees are regular occurrences at our YWAM base. I don't think that I can ever remember an offering taken up for tools like software, a camera, a computer, a drill or any other tool that is needed to communicate what we do or maintain the facilities and equipment needed to facilitate the training and outreach that occurs.
This is not only true for individuals, but can also be true for the way that funds are allocated and raised at a YWAM Centre. I've had the discussion with our base director about how it can be easier to raise and spend money on a new bus or van, but it can be much more of a challenge to raise the money for a new server or software package. Check out this discussion over at YWAM IT about an International YWAM Prayer Initiative for an ongoing discussion about raising funds for an IT related project.
Right now I am the computer guy without a computer. I am using a five year old laptop from work, which is great because it's better than nothing, but it certainly makes doing my job slower than if I had a newer computer.
At the same time we also have huge costs associated with our house repair and renovations, so I am trying to balance raising the money for a new computer and raising money for our house.
Technorati Tags: raising money, ywam
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I am a full time volunteer with Reef to Outback - Youth With A Mission (YWAM) where I work in Communications and Information Technology. I am married to a wonderful wife, we have a five year old son and a one year old daughter.
