Blog
DevotionalsThis is the day that the Lord has made.
Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 21, 2021
"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24" Do you remember the old chorus "This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made"? I remember singing it as a child as the overhead projector showed the words on the wall. "I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it". ( you are welcome for now having it stuck in your head :) ) It has been a tumultuous 2020, so many challenges and obstacles that we have not had to experience before. And if I am honest I don't remember waking up any day in 2020 thinking "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it", because I was too focused on everything else around me. Focused on Covid19, focused on wearing masks, focused on quarentine, focused on politics, focused on trying to decipher truth in everthing that was happening in our country. I forgot to focus on the truth written in the Word of God. Truths that say: Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid? Over and over again stories about how much God loves His people and will not forsake them. Truths that say this world will be hard, but we have nothing to fear. I realized I needed to make a decision. Do I trust God or do I not? That is the bottom line. Do I believe God has a plan and that He is good? Even when good things may not be what my eyes are seeing. Its easy to praise when life is comfortable. Will we choose to folllow and praise when life is uncertain and painful? Join with us in waking up everyday with Psalms 118:24 on your lips. "This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
GiveSendGo NewsSo-called Christian website
Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 14, 2021
What makes a business Christian? We have been accused for months now of being a "so-called Christian website". That got us thinking. What should a Christian website look like? Is it possible for a website to be Christian? Interesting questions. What makes Chick-fil-a a Christian company? Is it that they only serve chicken to Christians? What defines a business Christian or non Christian? Is every business either a Christian business or non Christian and what is that dependent on, is it who they do business with, or who the owners are? We came to the conclusion that no business can be Christian. A Christian is someONE who has chosen to accept the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and walk in relationship with Him. Businesses can't do that. So where does that leave Christians who own businesses? We know thousands of business owners that love Jesus and follow Him. Some who do and some who do not have the word Christian in their business name. We know Christian owners that clean chimneys for people , never once asking whether someone deserved to have their chimney cleaned based on how they spent their weekend. We know Christians who are accountants that reconcile the books for people that have had an arrest record. We know Christian doctors who would rush to the bedside of someone who was an instigator in a bar fight. Just to name a few. Each person has a real living relationship with the Lord and each helping people who you might claim "do not deserve it." But as it says in Romans 2 ... "You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things." Romans 2:1 NLT GiveSendGo is not a called Christian website because we only allow Christians on our site. GiveSendGo is just a platform, created by Christians who want to use their business to share the Hope we personally have found in Jesus. We know there are many people who come on our site that are raising money that have never have experienced the Love of Jesus. So we are going to use our little bits of php and HTML, sitting on vast servers known as the internet to serve people. To serve those who have lost someone close and are going through a hard time. Maybe it's someone who has had a horrible diagnoses that has rocked their world both physically and financially. Serving families that have started the adeventure of adopting. Or starting a Church. To serve those who have made bad decisions and now have to live up to the consequences of those decisions in a court of law. At GiveSendGo we won't ask you if you deserve to start a campaign or if you have the right beliefs or the strongest ones. We won't condemn you for the mistakes you have made no matter how big. We have made them too. We instead will introduce you to the one who says He loves you, and who desires a relationship with you , no matter who you are or what you have done. Because we are thankful that once upon a time someone shared that same Good News with us. So that we now can call ourselves Christians .
GiveSendGo NewsPlease pray with us
Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 7, 2021
Hello GiveSendGo Family, As we witnessed the civil unrest in Washington DC yesterday, our hearts are saddened by the direction we see our country heading. Instead of "One Nation Under God," we see a divided nation under the gods of our own making. Please join us as we say a prayer for our nation. Dear Jesus, We come before you now with repentant hearts. We often fall short of a life that reflects you. Still, you welcome us. Today, we lift up the United States of America. Give our leaders wisdom as they work to bring this country together. Lord, we trust you with our country, our leaders, and our future. We know you can heal our divided land, but more than that, Jesus, heal our divided hearts. So often, we are distracted by what we see, that we forget you are ultimately in control. As it written in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Let our focus be on you this New Year, willing to be used by you, to share hope with a broken and fallen world. Replace the fear and discouragement in our hearts with boldness and confidence as your representatives at "such a time as this". Use us, Lord Jesus, to be your hands and feet. In Jesus' Name. Amen
GiveSendGo NewsGone Crazy
Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 3, 2021
Have you seen the popular t-shirt or bumper sticker that says Gone Fishin'? I feel like we need to make one for this past decade that says "Gone Crazy". People fighting and disowning each other over political posts, shootings, rioting and looting, protests, claims of fraud on every election, killing babies is called normal and people are shamed if they believe it is wrong, social platforms and credit cards silencing any voice they don't agree with. If you had given me a magic ball I would not have believed this would be the culture we find ourselves living in the 2021 United States of America. Freedom that was bought a high price both spiritually and physically, is being thrown away for greed and convienence. GiveSendGo has found itself in a precarious position, as the country takes sides. We know that the battle is not against flesh and blood so we are not out to take a stand with either Democrats or Republicans. Our stand is HOPE. We are going to use our platform to share the Hope of Jesus. When someone comes to GSG and wants to make a campaign for some left leaning campaign, we will allow it as we pray and reach out and share love and hope with each campaign owner and giver. When a right leaning campaign owner makes a campaign we don't 100% agree with, again we just commit to pray for, and share grace and hope with each person who comes to the campaign. That doesn't always make us a lot of friends. We get a lot of hate mail, threats and people demanding "take that down" or "how dare you call yourself a Christian". We understand that people are invested in their "side" and what they feel is the right way to do things and they can be really passionate expressing it. We are also passionate. We are passionate about helping people. We are passionate about sharing Hope with often times hopeless people. We are passionate about giving YOU a voice. Giving you a way to take a stand for what you feel passionate about. But most importantly, we are passionate about Jesus. We are passionate about getting a chance to introduce Him to people who come to our platform. We don't care what election sign is in your yard, or who you follow on twitter, those are all temporary. We want to focus on the eternal. Our focus is simple: Letting you know that Jesus loves you more than you ever can imagine. So much that He took the punishment for the sin that separates you from God and made a way for you to have a relationship with Him. He doesn't just want you to just say a one time prayer. He wants your whole self, freely choosing to love Him in response to His love for you. Nothing gets better than that. Simple but yet Mindblowing. Don't go crazy, Go share Hope along with us. It's still available for all! GiveSendGo- Crowdfunding for all #FundHope
Questions to ask when picking a crowdfunding platform...
Posted by GiveSendGo on Aug 8, 2019
A few questions to ask when choosing a crowdfunding platform Why am I raising money? Have a clear understanding of what you are raising for and why you believe your friends and family will want to support your cause. A successful campaign has a clear defined purpose and call to action. It will also always start with support from the people closest to you. What are the fees associated? Just because a platform advertises it is free to start a campaign does not mean the platform does not take any money. Make sure to dig in to the fees associated with having a campaign. Every platform will have a processors fee, if they are processing credit cards online. Remember you will want to look into if there are additional monthly fees, or often a % of donations go to platform fees and are deducted from each donation. It may be free to start a campaign, but when donations start coming in you don't want to suddenly realize 10%+ is going to the platform and processors. Is it a KIA or AoN platform? Does this look like secret code to you? Well let us explain. KIA means Keep it all and it is how GiveSendGo.com runs their platform. The money you raise, you keep. You don't have to raise a certain goal or achieve a % to be able to transfer your donations to your bank. The money given, is yours. AoN is an All or Nothing platform which means what it says. You either raise all the money you set in your goal or it all donations get sent back to your donors.- On GiveSendGo.com you do have the ability to wait to transfer your donations to your account so if you need to refund a donation it is easy. How are funds disbursed? Again, many different platforms have many ways of handling your donations. At GiveSendGo the money is donated to YOU so it goes directly into your payment processor account and you have full control over your donations and how, when and where they are paid out to you. Hope this helped give you some direction as you investigate. Make sure to continue to check out GiveSendGo.com for all your crowdfunding needs!
GiveSendGo NewsGiveSendGo Acquires FaithLauncher
Posted by GiveSendGo on Feb 20, 2019
Boston, MA. February 20, 2019 --GiveSendGo, the world's largest Christian fundraising platform, announced they have moved forward in acquiring personal fundraising site FaithLauncher. This will create even more opportunities for sharing Hope in our world. The two companies are excited about how this merger will create a centralized place for Christians to create campaigns and support each other both financially and prayerfully. "GiveSendGo and FaithLauncher have shared a common mission of not just fundraising to raise money, but raising funds to share the Hope of Jesus in the world. With this acquisition, we will be able to unite the body of Christ, allowing Christians world over to make an impact far greater than they can on their own," said Jacob Wells, CFO of GiveSendGo. "We welcome the FaithLauncher family to GiveSendGo's global community, and are excited to see where this acquisition will lead us." FaithLauncher's users will be added to the GiveSendGo family and will be able to utilize GiveSendGo's top of the line customer service team, as well as all the unique and easy to use features available on their platform. "I am very excited that FaithLauncher will be joining GiveSendGo as we both share an unwavering belief in collaboration," said FaithLauncher Founder Fernando Chavez. "FaithLauncher's early vision was to create an online community where Christians could work as one to support their causes, and there is no better home for FaithLauncher to continue rapidly growing and expanding that vision than with GiveSendGo." GiveSendGo and FaithLauncher finalized the acquisition February 2019. About GiveSendGo Launched in 2015, GiveSendGo is the world's largest free Christian fundraising platform available in over 26 countries. Millions of dollars have been raised, but more importantly, millions of lives changed by the Hope that has been shared. GiveSendGo is changing the "why" behind crowdfunding. Crowdfunding- no longer just about raising money. Contact: Heather Wilson Press@GiveSendGo.com GiveSendGo.com
DevotionalsWill you say yes?
Posted by GiveSendGo on Nov 29, 2018
We got an email today from one of our campaign owners. She was responding to our email that goes out that asks if they have anything we could be praying for. She was asking for help sharing her campaign. I went to her campaign and saw a story of depression. desperation and self harm. GiveSendGo was built as a platform to help people raise money, but it is in the core of who we are, that we are more than just a fundraising platform. We want to be a light to people going through dark times in their lives. We want to be able to offer Hope to the hopeless, and not just because that sounds like a great Christian phrase, but because we believe there is Hope. We responded to her email with this message: "Hi xxxxxxx , Thanks for contacting us. As I read through your campaign I hear the desperation in your plea and will be praying for you. sounds like you need more help than just people giving you money. I would recommend getting some emotional help where you live. Are there any centers that help people who are depressed / self-harming and homeless? Do you have a church that you would feel comfortable going to and talking with the pastors etc ? If you would like us to research some places for you to connect around you, we will be happy to do so and send you some contacts to reach out to. believe Jesus loves you more than anything and that he provides hope even in the most hopeless situation, which is what your campaign sounds like you are in. Please let us know if you would like us to send resource connections for you to reach out to around where you live. " I started thinking , "What if this girl writes back? I guess I will get on the phone and start finding resources in and around her area. I wondered if any Churches in her area would be receptive to helping her if I call? That stopped me in my tracks. What?? I was wondering if the local body of Christ would stop their leadership training classes and sermon prep, their Sunday School or small group times to help someone who was definitely in the "least of these" category. Wow, that made me sick to my stomach. Made me think of the different churches I have been apart of. Would they open their doors and resources to help someone, a person who was not a member, a person who had made some bad decisions in their lives, a person who was hurting, mistrusting, and felt unlovable? I came to the unfortunate conclusion that most likely they would not. I am not talking about throwing some money at an unknown situation. I mean embracing the very, very uncomfortable, the unknown, and rolling our sleeves up and deciding to "shine brightly". Will we choose to give with out needing something in return, to show love to someone who might not even seem to want or deserve it. I know we all would want to say YES, yes we would stop what we are doing and start share Hope with this person. But do we? There are hurting people all around us that might not ever want to step into our church building, people that are living their life feeling hopeless. People that might take all you give to them and then fall back into their destructive way of live. Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the heartache and frustration? I think if we were to ask the one who chose to give up everything to rescue us- the one that shows love to us when we fall back into our destructive way of life, He would say Yes. It is worth the risk . Love with no strings attached. That is what is means to be a Christ follower. That is how we will see the world change. That is how we will change. Love. If you, your church or ministry are interested in being on our Hand on the ground team, please send us your name address and contact information. If a need or someone in your area ever contacts us and needs to be loved on from someone locally, we would put you in touch. Just through email. We would send an email to you with the persons emails and a little of their story we know , and we would send them your email and phone number to help make a connection with resources in your areas.
GiveSendGo for Churches, Ministries, and You.
Posted by GiveSendGo on Aug 11, 2018
What can you use GiveSendGo.com for? FOR THE CHURCH GiveSendGo is a tool for the Church to help people in need of financial support, prayer, and Hope. Whether family in the community that just lost a house in a fire, or raising money for your youth group to go to camp, GiveSendGo gives Christians a resource to bless others in a very real and hands on way. It's changing the whole concept of passing the offering plate and making it reach far beyond the walls of the church and involving the entire community. FOR MINISTRIES Whether it's helping build houses with Habitat, working along side crisis pregnancy centers, college ministries, or missionary organizations, GiveSendGo is here to make it easy to raise the money needed. With easy set up for Organizations, automated reciepts and customizable thank you emails, GiveSendGo helps provide a place for Christian ministries and parachurch organizations to raise the money for all the people, projects, and programs that need funding. GiveSendGo is a tool to help ministries easily and effectively raise money for causes that matter. FOR INDIVIDUALS You don't need to be a church or ministry to use GiveSendGo. Whether you have a co-worker with medical bills they need help with, or you are preparing to step into the adoption, GiveSendGo is a tool you can use to impact the world around you for Jesus. FOR ANY NEED! GiveSendGo wants to help you fundraise to spread the Hope of Jesus in the world. God so loved the world that He gave His son... (John 3:16) When we give, we are reflecting the very heart and nature of God. GIve is the first word in our name. Give-Send-Go . We give because Jesus gave. We give to share hope with the world. We give because together we can make a difference in our world.
DevotionalsWhat can happen on your way to church?
Posted by Heather Wilson on Aug 4, 2018
I was reading in Acts, one of my favorite books of the Bible and read this: Acts 3 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service. Pretty neat. Two of the disciples were headed to Church because there was a prayer service going on and they wanted to worship. They set time aside, because it was important. There was a lame man at the gate that sat there every day knowing that the religious would usually toss some money to him, because after all you look really spiritual when you give to the poor in front of everyone on the way into church. So, here come Peter and John on their way to the daily church prayer time. They see the lame man. They were headed in to worship God, but they decided to risk being late to the service by engaging with this person right in front of them. "Look at us" Peter orders the beggar. I can just imagine the beggar probably kept his eyes down most of the time, as it must be embarrassing asking people for money every day. The beggar looked up expectantly at Peter's words and thought he was getting another handout. He holds out his jar... as the words come, "We don't have any money to give you..." Eyes drop down again at the awful trick. No money? "...but what we have we will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk". Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. Whoa! Crazy! Peter and John were on their way to church. They were headed in to do a good thing, attend a prayer service. But they did not let that stop them from doing God's will outside the church building. So often today, the American church is so concentrated on how to get people to find their way into the building that they have built, they miss the people God puts in their path every day. Peter and John didn't say "why don't we help you into our church, so you can see how awesome our music, pastor, and children's ministry are." No, they chose RIGHT THERE AND THEN to show how Awesome Jesus is. They offered HOPE to someone that needed the healing touch of Jesus. And when he was healed, what resulted? The man worshiped Jesus! His Life was changed. He went running into the church dancing, jumping and worshiping! Crowds of people saw the power of the living God. The reason the American church is dying is that we have come to a place where we have been told that in order to "witness" or share our faith with someone, we have to invite them to Church and let the programs, and preaching do the rest. It has given us an easy way out. A way to feel like we are doing something for Jesus, while never having to talk about Jesus. If I were to ask the average Christian in America, if their neighbors know that they are Christians, I believe most of us would say "Yes, they know I go to church." That is not a satisfactory answer. Your neighbors knowing you go to church does not bring life change. What if I changed the questions. Do your neighbors know why you believe in Jesus? What He has done for you? How your life has changed? Another popular idea the church has embraced is, "share Jesus with someone and if necessary use words." You can never share your faith and the "why" behind the Hope you have, if you do not use words. Never. Nope. It is impossible. Go to any courtroom. There is no such thing as a silent witness on the stands. We have gotten things wrong. We have made our religion "Church". We worship "Church". We invite people to "Church", we make sure our Sunday morning "Church" is attractive and engaging." "It's all about the weekend stupid" came out of the mouth of a prominent pastor a few years ago that encouraged Churches and church staff to understand we don't need to spend our time on anything that doesn't help our church flourish during the weekend services. That is not how it was meant to be. That is not why Jesus came. Instead our religion should be a relationship with Jesus. We should worship Jesus. We need to invite people to Jesus, we should make sure every day our lives are so full of Jesus that people can't help but to notice and want to connect with us as we have something attractive and engaging. Listen to what happened when Peter and John decided to stop on their way to church, see a need, open their mouths and speak about the Hope they have in Jesus and offer that hope to a lame hopeless man... All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon's Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. Peter stopped for the 1 person God put in front of him, and in turn God brought him a crowd that he was able to share with. I believe that is going to be what we start seeing. Not people flocking to huge auditoriums, and church light shows, but communities flocking to Christians that are offering a real relationship with Jesus. Real hope. Real Love. The question is, will we be that Christian? Go ahead and read the rest of Acts 3-4. They were arrested. Then let go. It's a great story, and hard to imagine it happening to us. It's not hard to imagine that God can do miracles. BUT... Hard to imagine because we would need to change what it looks like for us on way "to Church".
Guest BloggerLove Is...
Posted by Heather Wilson Co-Founder GiveSendGo on May 15, 2018
-Love is tying a shoe for the 30th time -Love is making dinner, just sitting down and needing to get up to get someone seconds. -Love is listening to screams that they hate you, but not giving in because you know they need boundaries. -Love is mountains of clothes to wash, that are literally never ending. -Love is sacrificing your Saturday to go watch a baseball game. -Love is giving hugs and kisses to kids lined up in a row needing a little affection they were never shown. -Love is endless hours of doctor, dentist, and counseling appts. -Love is learning to discern the lie and sticking to the consequences. -Love is hours of washing hair, braiding, brushing out the snarls. -Love is knowing you are being manipulated and still being kind. -Love is ignoring the looks and whispers at the grocery store as your family does not look "normal". -Love is hours of homework, tears, letters to teachers to get back on track. -Love is a bed time story, with an anticipated kiss and hug. -Love is being woken up way before your alarm clock every day because they don't want to sleep in. Most of all what I have learned in this new foster season we are in ... Love is Action. It is not how I feel. It is not what I say. It is all the things I do that don't always seem to matter. Love is Action.
