Last night I was exhausted after being in the hot sun supervising the mounting of our large banner in the stadium and then visiting the person who is painting other signs for us to advertise the match to make sure everything is on schedule. But it was Saturday night and I knew it was a good time to reach many of our "married with kids" supporters who don't usually go out on Saturday nights as much as they used to.
I have to admit, I was not looking forward to making phone calls to tell people about our need of funds to cover the costs of advertising, sound systems and the training of ushers to help with our program in the stadium. But I prayed before I picked up my cell phone to make the first call (Land lines do not work here in Haiti), and as I made the calls, Carol was praying as well.
After getting answering machines a few times, I finally got through to one of our long-time supporters and after catching up with their family news and vis versa, I explained that in just 2 weeks an American soccer team is coming to visit Haiti and play 5 high-profile games in 10 days with the possibility of having over 30,000 people total in the stands and we still needed about $3,000 to cover these costs. It just so happened that the person I was speaking to was an advertising executive and could relate perfectly to the fact that I was having to spend a lot of money before the event to get the word out. It was clear from the conversation that God had prepared this person in advance to be willing to give, and all I had to do was make the phone call!
So when you're dreading picking up that phone, pray first and then make the call trusting that God is going to work through that conversation for his purposes!
Of course, we don't have the whole financial burden of the tour. The Haitian Soccer Federation is covering all other costs of the stadium, all ground transportation and security in Haiti through ticket sales. And the Cleveland City Stars team is covering their costs for airfare and lodging.
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