How to Shepherd Church Members Raising Support

Support-raising can be one of the most difficult parts of the development process for missionary candidates. This resource equips church leaders to shepherd and support such candidates during this season, recognizing it as a deeply formative process rather than merely a financial task. It provides encouragement, postures, rhythms, questions, and recommended resources to utilize in shepherding well. Church leaders can use this tool to walk alongside support-raisers with prayer, accountability, and gospel-centered presence, helping them grow in dependence on God as they prepare for cross-cultural ministry.

Support raising is not merely a financial hurdle—it is a discipleship opportunity. Many missions agencies provide solid training and coaching, yet missionary candidates still need the shepherding presence of their church. This season will stretch them spiritually, emotionally, and practically. It surfaces fears, idols, lies, and perseverance struggles. As sending leaders, we have the privilege of walking with sent ones through a refining process that deepens humility, dependence, and confidence in God’s provision.

Support raising is hard—it’s time-consuming and emotionally exhausting. I’ve seen more tears in this season than in the first six months of life overseas! Missions leaders must be in their corner, reminding them that God has led them here and will sustain them. And here’s the encouragement: I’ve never had someone whom I believed was genuinely called to go overseas, who worked faithfully at support raising, and was ultimately unable to raise their funds.

Our pastoral responsibility, then, is to help these members remember their calling and stay faithful in this work. And when someone finally reaches their support goal, the joy is tangible. Their celebration becomes an “ebenezer” (1 Samuel 7:12)—a marker of God’s faithfulness they will return to again and again.

What Your Role Is (and Isn’t)

Your role as a sending church leader is not to replace God as the provider nor the missions organization as trainer. You don’t need to replicate technical instruction or systems for support raising (unless that isn’t provided, in which case see the later section on recommended resources). Instead, your role is distinctly pastoral, personal, and spiritual.

You are here to:

• Remind them of God’s care and commitment to provide

• Encourage faith and perseverance

• Speak gospel truth against lies and fear

• Pray with and for them

• Offer accountability with compassion

You are not responsible to:

• Design their fundraising plan

• Micromanage their tasks or metrics

• Guarantee their support timeline

• Become their only coach

Your goal is not to become a fundraising strategist—it is to be a shepherd.

Common Challenges Support-Raisers Face

Support raising can be one of the most harrowing experiences in the sending journey. In fact, it’s a common reason that Christians hesitate to pursue a sense of calling to cross-cultural missions at all. The Western cultural value of individualism contributes to this significantly as it urges people toward affluence and self-sufficiency. Even though it is biblical to depend on others to meet financial needs for ministry, doing so drives against the very heart of our modern worldview. 

This reality, combined with tendencies of human hearts in a fallen world, means that support raising often exposes a wide array of challenges. Some of these include:

• Fear of rejection

• Fear of failure

• Pride and the desire to impress others

• Shame about neediness or dependence

• Idolatry of productivity or control

• Weariness from emotional vulnerability

• Doubt about calling

Although these struggles when left unchecked can be crushing, with the proper encouragement many discover that support raising is one of the most sanctifying seasons of their lives. Your job is not to eliminate the pressure that can lead to growth. Rather, you have the privilege to walk with them through it, helping them meet God in it.

Key Shepherding Postures

Support raising is a spiritual journey as much as a practical one. As you walk with missionary candidates, the way you show up matters as much as the questions you ask. Consider some of the following postures to apply throughout the entire process.

Presence

Be with them—not just conceptually, but regularly and relationally. Check in before they hit desperation. Show up in moments of discouragement and celebration. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can communicate is, “You are not doing this alone.”

Prayerfulness

Don’t just say you'll pray—pray with them, right then. Bring their needs before the Lord together. Celebrate “small wins” as signs of God’s provision and movement. Prayer keeps the work grounded in God's strength, not human effort.

Patience

Support raising rarely moves in a straight, upward line. There will be weeks of momentum and weeks of silence. Resist impatience or pressure toward production. Remind them that God often uses long, slow stretches to form endurance, humility, and trust.

Gentle Accountability

Encourage faithfulness without shaming or scolding. Ask questions that surface heart issues, idols, fears, and habits (see the shepherding questions section below). Help them take next steps when they feel stuck. Accountability is not about policing their effort—it’s about shepherding their heart and helping them steward their calling.

Hope

Be a voice of hope when they're worn thin. Support raising can feel vulnerable and uncertain; speak God’s promises and faithfulness into their exhaustion. Help them see this season not as a barrier to ministry, but as part of the ministry itself—a testimony in the making.

Ultimately, they don’t need a cheerleader or a task-master—they need a shepherd who believes God is at work, even when they can’t yet see the fruit. You can be that to them!

Practical Rhythms and Checkpoints

A support-raising season can feel unstructured and overwhelming. Providing simple rhythms gives support raisers confidence, consistency, and a sense of spiritual family walking with them. Here are a few checkpoints you might build into your calendar to help you remember to follow up regularly.

Monthly Pastoral Meeting

This is a conversation over lunch or coffee focused on spiritual health, accountability, and encouragement. Use this time to pray, ask heart-level questions, and celebrate growth—not just numbers.

Weekly Check-In Text or Voice Note

A short, simple encouragement can go a long way. It can be something as simple as, “Praying for boldness and joy as you reach out this week. Grateful for you.” These touchpoints remind them they are not forgotten, and they don’t only hear from you when there’s a concern.

Quarterly Prayer Gathering

When you have multiple church members raising support at the same time, consider gathering them together occasionally. Let them share updates and pray for one another. If you have current or returning missionaries who have raised support in the past, consider inviting them to come and encourage.

“Commissioning” Prayer Before They Begin Full-Time Support Raising

Even though support raisers aren’t yet ready to be commissioned before the church, we can “commission” them into this season in an informal setting. This prayer of commitment can affirm calling, ask God for provision, and declare dependence on him from the start. It dignifies and spiritualizes the process rather than treating it like a fundraising campaign.

Celebrate Progress 

As support raisers hit certain key milestones along the way (such as a percentage raised, a particularly large donation, or a major personal struggle overcome), consider small ways to celebrate with them. This marks moments of God’s faithfulness and gives courage for the road ahead.

Shepherding Questions

The support-raising journey invites deep spiritual formation, and thoughtful questions help surface what God is doing beneath the surface. These prompts are not meant to interrogate or assess performance, but to shepherd the heart, strengthen gospel identity, and encourage ongoing obedience. Use them prayerfully and relationally—not as a checklist, but as a guide for meaningful conversation that helps support raisers walk in faith, honesty, and hope. Some questions focus on spiritual and emotional health; others help them navigate the practical realities of organization, effort, and communication. Together, they help us love and support missionaries well in this critical season of preparation.

Spiritual and Emotional Care Questions

• How do you feel encouraged right now? Discouraged?

• How is this experience impacting your relationship with God? With others?

• How do you sense God is inviting you to grow?

• What fears or lies are surfacing most often lately?

• How are you processing rejection or slow responses?

• When you face discouragement, how are you resting in the gospel?

• How is your sabbath and rest?

• How is this leading you to prayer (for yourself and for your supporters)?

Practical and Logistics Questions

• What rhythms or structure are helping you stay organized?

• How's it going with keeping track of your contacts and follow-ups? What systems have you found helpful? 

• How are people responding to texting, calling, and meeting in person? What feels hardest about each approach?

• Are there any ways you want to improve your presentation or requests?

• Are you experiencing any distractions or barriers in devoting time to this process?

• Where do you feel stuck, and how can we support you?

Finally, consider what questions you might revise or add to this list. And as good general practice, conclude your meetings with the question, “How can I pray for you?” Then take a moment to pray for the support raiser’s needs. 

Recommended Resources

As mentioned at the beginning, many mission organizations provide excellent support raising training and coaching. When that’s the case, the role of the church is not to replace that training but to come alongside it with pastoral presence, encouragement, and prayer. However, some missionary candidates may not yet be connected to a missions organization or to one that provides training. In either situation, pointing them toward trusted tools may be wise and necessary.

Every potential missionary looking to raise support should consider reading The God Ask: A Fresh, Biblical Approach to Personal Support Raising by Steve Shadrach. It remains one of the most helpful, biblical, and practical books on raising support. I’ve never had someone who was initially “excited” about raising support—but after reading this book, they consistently walked away feeling that the work was not only possible, but meaningful with good organization, hard work, and the Holy Spirit’s power. Even when an organization provides training, The God Ask is a valuable supplement to anchor support raising in both gospel hope and proven technique.

The Privilege of Shepherding

Support raising is far more than a financial task—it is a season of formation, dependence, and spiritual battle. Missionaries are not only preparing for the field; they are learning to trust God in deeper ways and invite others into his work. As a sending church, your role is to walk beside them with prayerful presence, gentle accountability, and unwavering hope in the God who provides. When we shepherd well in this season, we not only help such people reach their support—we help them become more rooted in Christ, more confident in their calling, and more prepared for a lifetime of faithful ministry.

Next Steps

The journey toward sending well happens one step at a time. Here are three ways you can continue moving upstream:

1. Ask the missions organizations that you partner with what they do to train and coach missionaries through support raising. Consider what you might need to do to shepherd missionary candidates through this important season.

2. Buy a copy of The God Ask: A Fresh Biblical Approach to Personal Support Raising by Steve Shadrach. Read it and consider buying a copy for every missionary candidate.

3. Consider who else in your church could contribute to the shepherding of support raisers—people with the gift of encouragement, nonprofit leaders familiar with support raising, business professionals with experience in sales presentations, prayer warriors, former missionaries who have experienced God’s faithful provision, etc. Talk with them to gauge their interest in helping you come alongside missionary candidates in this process.