The Lord’s Provision

Good morning everyone!!!

So for this trip I needed to fundraise $16,900. When I first saw that number I had no idea how I was going to get enough people to support me to reach that goal. I committed to going on this trip at the beginning of my senior year, so I told myself that the first half of school would be focused on school, basketball, and working to make money for the trip. I told myself that if I was good with my money and saved up every penny, I might be able to scrape by. I knew people would support me and that I would fundraise some, but I was convinced that most of it would fall on me. It was about March or April where I started to actually fundraise. I worked on my support letter and rewrote it until I was sure that people understood my heart behind going, that I had done this type of thing before and could be trusted, and that I was worth investing in. At the beginning of this journey I was so worried and stressed out. I thought “why would people support me?” “How can I convince them that I’m worth it?” And it was questions like those that created doubt in my head. There was a time that I was so convinced that no one would care that I was preparing to work enough to pay for the whole thing myself. And in that God proved me wrong in the best way possible. I sent out my support letters to anyone and everyone I could think of. And yes, I did get financial support from those, but I also had people reach out to me and write back to me sharing how they had done similar things when they were younger. They had been to the places I’m going, they had watched me grow up and were so proud of me. I was so so blessed by other people’s stories and experiences while also getting the opportunity to bring them along on my journey. One of my favorite parts of fundraising was when I did a raffle to raise money. I had bought a traeger smoker and was excited to see how that would work out. My youth leader donated to me and I don’t think she realized I had entered her in the raffle. She ended up winning and I texted her the news and she sent me the most thankful and excited text. I got to talk to her and her husband and they had said that they wanted to save up for a smoker in the future, but they’re a fairly young couple and just had their first daughter. I was so blessed to be able to bless them and God revealed to me that fundraising wasn’t really about me getting money for my trip. It was a way that I got to connect with and bless the people around me and allow them to be part of God’s work. So, I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the support, all the prayers, all the stories, and all the relationships that have come from fundraising.

Thank you mucho,

Gianna Ramirez