"A Clear Picture" by Bob Lathrop

The Lord gave me a clear picture last year that I was not only going to go to Zambia, but I was to raise money to help with the construction.  GULP!!!   I don’t know how to raise money, at least not that type of money.  So we got together with some of the people who are going on the trip from Grace Chapel in Oceanside to brainstorm.  I was thinking ‘tens of thousands of dollars’ and car washes and bake sales just can’t raise that kind of money.

Through an amazing series of ‘God’ events, I got hooked up with a golf pro who has a company that helps non-profit organizations make money.  They use a ‘100 hole Golf Marathon’ format.  It sounded a little expensive, but if it brought in the type of funds, (averaging $95,000 per event) spending $15 - $20,000 seemed reasonable.  To be honest I was a little concerned when 5 of our 25 golfers cancelled, and with 2 weeks to go we seemed to be just over $25,000 in total pledges toward a goal of $100,000 … but through God’s help everyone kicked it in gear the last 2 weeks and we were able to receive over $77,000 in pledges and we have received almost $45,000 in donations less than 2 weeks after the event.  That’s not too bad for just 20 people asking for pledges.  I was shooting for 30 golfers, but these 20 did a great job!! Most of the donations were in the $100 range so it took a lot of asking (way out of most peoples comfort zone) and people were happy to give to such a great cause.

Would I do it again? I would.  But I think I would put the event on myself without the fees charged by the company that helped us.  More money would go to help ‘Breath of Heaven’.  In fact, I already have golfers lined up and eager people ready to donate again next year.  It is supposed to be much easier the second time around.  I thank the Lord for His faithfulness and introducing us to this tremendous format for raising ministry funds.
He is good all the time.

Bob is a member of Grace Chapel of the Coast in Oceanside, CA