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At 7:00 on a rainy Saturday morning the phone roused me from sleep. It was Dave.
“Scott, you awake,” Dave hollered into the phone.
“I’m here, Dave. You sure sound excited.”
“Yeah, we’re ready to take off for our Illinois ministry. The U-Haul is packed and idling in the driveway. Debbie’s got our hot coffee waiting on me.”
I imagined Debbie in the U-Haul tapping her foot “patiently.” Dave and Debbie were gifted disciplers, but as their sending supervisor I had forbidden them to leave for assignment until they had 100% of their support committed—not just loosely promised, but completed pledge cards or cash in hand. They didn’t take me seriously at first, but as they came to understand that poor funding adds ministry and family pressure, they aggressively set face-to-face funding appointments. They worked hard, the money came in, but they were now 60 days late.
“We’ve only got $75 per month left,” Dave pleaded, “and on the way out of town this morning we have an appointment for breakfast. We’re sure he’ll supply the last $75…can we now please go?” I smiled. “Sure,” I said, feeling like Pharaoh trying not to let the children of Illinois leave, “Take your wife, your coffee and your U-Haul and go. But let me know what the $75 guy said!”
Though they were 60 days late to their assignment, they were fully funded. As their supervisor I took heat from the Illinois ministry (and from Dave and Debbie too!) for holding them back. It’s not easy to hold back an excited missionary because it “fouls everything up” from language school to renting houses, but it’s worth it. It is easier to hold them back than to bring them back discouraged and defeated.
So, stand firm. By the way, the guy committed to the final $75 a month! | 
