As I scroll through my Facebook feed, I am amazed to see what kind of things "go viral"--church welcome signs with unfortunate misspellings, strange products for sale, cute kittens (or really ugly ones), videos of kids feeding parrots in Australia, memes about. . .well, anything and everything. A video of an NCA graduate went viral last year; it was a recording of her riding home after getting her wisdom teeth removed. I probably watched it 10 times. What is it that draws us to share, re-watch, and get so excited about certain words, images, videos?
As missionaries who live far away from our home country and depend on both electronic communication AND financial support, we rely, in part, on our pleas, photos, and stories "going viral." This allows our friends and family (and THEIR friends and family) to pray for us, know our ministry, walk with us, and share financially with us.
Ruth and I get a certain amount of pride (which we know is bad!) when one of our blog posts gets a high number of views. We really aren't in a competition, but it is nice to know people are "out there"--reading about you and caring about you because they choose to click on your link (or even more rare and impressive--share your link!) Some random posts get very high views. Others that we expect to make an impact--stories we are excited to share--are more or less ignored. We can't figure that one out (except for the fact that you all love catchy titles! Highly viewed posts on this blog have involved the word "pee" or sound really depressing.) That said, when a shared post, plea, or story gets a only a handful of random likes, we tend to twist the situation in our mind and feel the opposite--that no one really cares. We are alone. We are isolated and invisible (Not true! We know! But the feeling is hard to shake).
I am extremely thankful that we have not had to "fund raise" in the traditional sense of the word in order to serve in Nicaragua. We have not needed to rely on electronic pleas for money going viral! We've been able to avoid Go Fund Me, gimmicky sales and competitions, direct asks--and God has faithfully provided for us through you in such a way that we have always made our budget. That is a huge blessing. It reminds each month that we are loved and cared for and that our work here is valued.
We are, however, invested as well in the financial survival of the ministries in which we work. The ministry of Tesoros de Dios is growing, and we are attempting to figure out new connections and avenues to allow us to expand, serve more kids, and build--which all mean that we need to grow our budget. As a board member, I'm finding that I'm spending more and more of my time in communication with people with this in mind, always ending correspondence with "Oh--and if you are interested in sponsoring a child, please don't hesitate to email me back and ask for more information!" I probably have emailed a similar line to around 100 email addresses this month. Honestly, I haven't heard back from a single person wanting further information of how to support Tesoros de Dios. Sometimes I just pretend that there is a worldwide Internet error--a giant virtual black hole that is sucking up all of my emails, and it isn't that people aren't interested or responding--they just aren't getting my message. It makes me feel a bit better.
In an effort to raise funds creatively this past month, Tesoros de Dios partnered with Good Ink, a company in the US that helps groups raise money through t-shirt sales. After many emails amongst board members deciding about the details of the shirt design, the prices, and preparing the website, the campaign was launched! Wow! Amazing! It really looks sleek! It was shared on the wall of the Tesoros Facebook page with a goal to sell 200 products in April, and there was. . .well. . .nothing. No interest. After 5 days, we had sold 6 shirts. Viral did not happen.
Not a problem, I thought! I'm a creative visionary--let's make it into a contest! I came up with the idea to give away a few free shirts to folks that shared the campaign via Facebook. Share the post, tag a friend, and write a comment to be entered into the drawing--a ten-second task that could earn you a $20 product for free! Seriously--who WOULDN'T participate!? The contest was to last 24 hours. I emailed the board, preparing them to help me relaunch the shirt campaign with a vengeance! And then. . .nothing. When I checked the post later that evening, I was literally the only participant (I thought that somehow I could get that Facebook algorithm to work in my favor and show up on your newsfeeds!) There were 2 likes. One was my own. REALLY???
I was honestly a little angry last night. Maybe not angry--lonely? Embarrassed? I can't quite explain my emotions. It really wasn't about the lack of money pouring in for Tesoros de Dios, although trust me--they need your donations. I think I just felt alone. Or just annoyed with the weird priorities of the world. Why is everyone liking that cat picture but can't take the time to write a comment about Teoros de Dios or share something for a good cause? Why does Charlie Bit My Finger have 860 million views (I'm sure I have contributed a dozen of those) and I can't get a few for something that does more than just entertain?
Fundraising for ministry is hard. It feels a bit as though you are "cheapening" the ministry to get people to care--reducing God's work in His world into a tangable, marketable product. And then if people don't like your product--well, it feels as though somehow the ministry isn't valuable to others either. A lie, I know.
At the end of the 24-hour window, two shirts were given away to the only two people (besides me) that ended up sharing the post. 2! No "drawing" was even needed. Ouch.
I'm reminded again and again that provision--whether it is for our family or for an organization in which we are involved--is truly in God's hands. We have very little control. We can try to make ministry giving funny, sexy, dramatic, competitive--whatever it takes to go viral. We can send out refrigerator magnets with cute pictures of our own kids or children in wheelchairs, glossy annual reports, sleek videos, monthly newsletters in multiple formats. But the bottom line is that God is the provider and in Him I need to trust--not in T-shirt campaigns, dramatic stories, or clever gimmicks.
So yes, it'll be interesting to see if this blog post gets read. I'll be a little ironic if this post about social media droughts is visited more than the Good Ink website. I'll likely check the stats a few times. But I'll do my best to keep first things first and place my trust in our Jehovah Jireh. I know that I am not alone in Nicaragua, even when the "like count" is at zero.
