Items for the Fund Raising category
There is a harvest
Posted by Travis in Fund Raising, Poland, Travis' Thoughts on September 18, 2011
There are three “mile stones” for us to pass before we leave the USA for Poland. The first is to grow our family, we hope to have one more child before leaving, if we end up being fully fund-raised and w/o another child, then we’ll probably move to Poland and grow our family in the field. The second mile stone is getting enough monthly donors to commit to 120% of our living and ministry budgets, currently we need an average of $30/month from 187 more donors. Lastly is having our deployment fund raised, which includes emergency money, three months of reserves, first month of living/ministry costs, moving costs, etc.
But those are all details that don’t really matter without a heart and vision for the harvest. There is a harvest of souls, a population of people who are at the best unsure of their faith, and at the worst completely fed up with the “system”. Yes, the same is true here in America, but what’s not true in Poland is that there are not churches in every town and neighborhood, the opportunity for someone to even hear or know of someone filled with God’s saving grace can be summed up in this bit of trivia…
In Krakow, the first city we plan on living in, there is a population of more than 2 million (similar in size to Portland, OR) – there are about 12 churches, and a dozen or so other para-church (protestant) organizations doing works in the city. Of those groups, it’s estimated there are about 1,000 to 2,000 believers in the entire metro area of Krakow. In Portland, OR (a city known to be “un-churched”) there are over 20 churches of 1,000 or more people in attendance each week.
There is a harvest. Hear us LORD, send us.
Leaving the fog
Posted by Travis in Family News, Fund Raising, Poland on April 12, 2011
We have not been good at updating people in the past six months in regards to our plans with Poland. This has been somewhat intentional, and somewhat because we’re not really sure how to address everything. In short, we are still 100% on board for becoming full time missionaries to Poland. Our vision and goals remain, REACH.
The time frame of course has changed a bit, and we have slowed down to take care of ourselves here. The last year was full of warfare and it seemed, for a while, that we were in a fog. Thankfully, we have held on strong to God’s call, and with the support of our church, family, and most of all, our friends, we have been moving forward.
Currently we have raised about 30% of our monthly budget – this is fantastic news, as we haven’t really “began” fundraising. As we gear up for the “real fundraising” we are excited to see how God provides.
We have found a lot of rest in these past six months, and we know the next will be filled with a lot of activity, so we thank God for what he has given us. For Alexis the fundraising activity means a lot of follow up, and communication with many people. Since Travis works full-time, this essentially becomes a full time job for Alexis – it takes a lot to invite multiple couples over every weekend to hear about the vision.
Thanks again for sticking with us – and as we ramp up again, we promise to keep communications more open!
A not so anonymous thanks!
Posted by Travis in Fund Raising, News on March 26, 2011
Since January we have had an anonymous donor giving on a regular basis, and we want to express our huge appreciation and gratitude for this! Whoever you are we want you to know it has not gone unnoticed and we are incredibly blessed by your generosity and obedience to God’s kingdom.
Thanks again and as we continue to have people join our support team we look forward to the amazing plans God has for us in Poland.
Language and funds
Posted by Travis in Family News, Fund Raising, Mobile post, News, Poland on November 10, 2010
Well the holidays are not the best time to start raising support, but hey what is God’s timing is His timing right? We will be going to Los Angeles next week for a support raising seminar that Foursquare Missions International (our sending agency) is putting on. It is three 8 hour days of focus on raising support for the mission field. We’re excited, even though fund raising is not a fun thing at all for us; we’re hoping this seminar changes that for us! We’ve figured that if 200 of our donors averaged $35 a month, starting now, we would have 100% of our deployment funds by next fall, and at that same giving rate, have our full field budget as well! See support details here.
The other area we are focusing on is language acquisition, knowing Polish well enough to have a conversation (even if it means some clarification is needed) is our goal. We try to use Polish as much as possible in our home and with Emma. In January we hope to begin lessons with a friend in Poland using skype!
That’s all for now folks, keep us in your prayers and always feel free to ask questions, it’s not easy to cover everything in tweets, Facebook, blogs, etc. We’d love to have dinner, desserts, or coffee with any of you too!
Shipping out?
Posted by Travis in Family News, Fund Raising, Poland on August 22, 2010
Some of you might be wondering what our departure status is, and right now the best we can say is that we are in a holding pattern. We’re feeling lead by God to take care of some things on the home front here prior to leaving. There is a lot to address before we depart, everything from fund raising, storage, medical things, employment, visas, language learning (hard to do in the midsts of everyday life), and many other fine details.
We are prayerfully looking at each step, and will keep on knocking, we know God’s promise of REACHing Poland is true, and we look forward to the day we land and start the next book of our lives.
Fund Raiser update!
Posted by The Mielonens in Family News, Fund Raising, News on July 16, 2010
Today! Sunday 7/18 – We still have lots of items to give away with your donation! Come by and give a donation to receive a gift in that category! Our house is full of items that we need to get rid of, so please come by and see what you might get! - All gifts are tax deductible and go towards our deployment fund. Thanks!
Our house address is: 2546, NW 3rd Terrace, Gresham, OR97030
Items for a suggested donation of $3
Items for a suggested donation of $5
Items for a suggested donation of $10
Items for a suggested donation of $15
Items for a suggested donation of $20
Items for a suggested donation of $50
Items for a suggested donation of $75
Items for a suggested donation of $100
Items for a suggested donation of $150
Items for a suggested donation of $300
Items for a suggested donation of $500
Ready to bid?
Posted by The Mielonens in Fund Raising, Poland on July 8, 2010
See what you can get for your donation!
Below we have linked to some online albums of the items we will have available as your gift for differing suggested donations. To make a “bid” on an item pictured in one of the albums/catalogs below, simply leave a comment (you’ll need a Google account, sorry) with your donation amount, and as long as no one else has offered something higher, by 6pm on the 18th of July, that item will be your free gift for donating! * All donations are fully tax deductible and a receipt will be provided for all donations.
How are we going to do this? Read here!
Not everything is pictured, our home will be open on July 17th and 18th from 10am to 5pm, and refreshments will be served, with many more items (kitchen items, toys, other small furnishings, etc). We will keep each item’s “bids” up to date as time progresses. If you do not want to create a Google account, you may email us your bid and we will make note of it. Be sure to check back regularly to see the status of your items, and we might just add more!
Items for a suggested donation of $3
Items for a suggested donation of $5
Items for a suggested donation of $10
Items for a suggested donation of $15
Items for a suggested donation of $20
Items for a suggested donation of $50
Items for a suggested donation of $75
Items for a suggested donation of $100
Items for a suggested donation of $150
Items for a suggested donation of $300
Items for a suggested donation of $500
The auction is being held at our house and online (sorta, just comment on the pics above, and we’ll count your pledge!):
Get it now!
It’s time! We’re moving away
Posted by The Mielonens in Family News, Fund Raising on June 22, 2010
Friends! Pass this along….
We’re auctioning off (almost) everything!
Save the dates! We will be auctioning nearly everything in our home on Sat/Sun July 17/18 and 24/25! All proceeds will go towards our deployment costs. Our goal is to raise three months worth of our living and ministry budgets – $17,000, our emergency reserves. All winnings/gifts are tax deductible. Pass it on, let others know!
Details can be found on the events page.
We’re leaving Portland, for a little while
On July 31st we will start off on a three month journey, to do an intensive internship with C.A.R.E. in Baldwin, Michigan. C.A.R.E. is a ministry for survivors of traumatic abuse, usually resulting in memory loss from early childhood trauma. God has lead us this direction to equip us with the tools to address survivors in Poland and to equip ministers throughout Poland in addressing the needs of traumatic abuse victims and survivors. Through intensive prayer therapy and unconditionally loving survivors through the memories of their trauma C.A.R.E. directs God’s truth and love to the deepest wounds imaginable.
Have our plans changed?
Nope! We still plan on leaving for Poland (pending all our deployment funds are raised!) sometime in November, we will return to Portland in November, and if our deployment funds are good to go, we’ll be leaving on a jet plain, not knowing when we’ll be back again. If fund raising still needs to happen, we’ll remain in Portland to continue fund raising. We see this internship with C.A.R.E. as the icing on the cake in our training and equipping.
From our two year associate degrees from the Oregon College of Ministry, our years of serving and leading the young adults group at East Hill Church and cultivating our home group, we feel God’s hand in each part. It’s been many years, much learning, a lot of heart ache, always an amazing encounter with God and although unplanned, we know C.A.R.E. will be a cornerstone in building the DNA we wish to impart to Polish leaders and new church families across Poland.
Let us tell you why in under 3 min!
Watch this quick clip and let us explain our heart for Poland. More to come soon, this is just the beginning! See it here.
House for sale
Our land lord is selling this wonderful house we have called home for nearly 4 years. He hopes to have it sold by the time we vacate. Click here for more info and pictures of items going on auction!
Fund raising ideas
Posted by Travis in Fund Raising on May 6, 2010
Fund raising is not a of strong points for us, while we have incredible supporters, we just don’t have the time to put everything into all the details to kick off large fund raising events. So, we’ve been creating some “grass roots” stir amongst friends, doing some “green light” thinking, and looking at a number of ideas for creating some excitement around the big move. Alexis loves to creative things, and make things – so we’ve got some ideas floating around those crafts. Travis is doing a lot of website work to make this site and facebook more of a platform to inform people what we’re doing and what’s going on in Poland. We’ll see what God has planned! In the mean time, any ideas?
Fund Raising: IT Tech work for Poland.
Posted by Travis in Fund Raising, Poland, Travis' Thoughts on March 21, 2010
I (Travis) use to do all kinds of tech work on the side, random things from fixing people’s internet connection issues, removing mal-ware, and simply helping people get more from their computer to putting together small and medium sized business networks and helping them plan for their technology needs. I stopped doing those things when Alexis and I started doing volunteer ministry, and when my full time job made it possible that I didn’t need to do side jobs anymore.
Well, we’re entering another season where the time will be allowing me to to these kinds of side jobs again – but this time not for our own income, rather every penny will go towards the ministry in Poland. So if you know anyone, individuals, businesses, churches, etc that could use some help with technology, networking, server software/hardware, maintenance, let us know. I am a professional, and have references on hand if you need. All we ask is that you pray about how much you want to give, and give it directly to the Poland Long Term missions fund.
Thanks!
Make a pledge!
Posted by The Mielonens in Fund Raising, News on March 14, 2010
Hey everyone,
Been a while since we wrote about our fundraising progress. So, here we go…. We need your help! We know this is a rough time for many people, including ourselves, so much up in the air, a lot of financial unknowns, etc. So we ask anyone thinking of supporting us to please consider the following…
- Please do not “tithe” to us – we believe the tithe is an act of worship, to be given to your local community of believers, the place you call home, the place where you receive support from a loving Christ centered group of people.
- Please pray before giving, this might seem like a “duh”, but we just want to make it clear, giving to a ministry is a sacrificial act, something which is akin to the offerings of the old testament.
- Please stay connected, follow our progress, and pray for the work God is doing in Poland. The number one best thing anyone can do for us is be in continued prayer, the battle at the front lines begin with your prayers.
With all of that said… would you (or maybe you know someone who would) consider pledging to support us on a monthly basis? Maybe you can’t start right now, but you know you can at some point in the future? Visit our donation page and sign up! This will help us to track our monthly budget needs, and help us see our fund raising progress. When we reach 120% of our budget in pledges, then we’ll be released!
Thank you and God bless!
The next trip!
Posted by Travis in Family News, Fund Raising, News, Poland, Trip updates on November 9, 2009
We have been fairly low key about some plans which have been brewing for a little while… a trip to Poland in January! It will be from January 11th to the 28th, God has provided essentially all of the funds already, so no fund-raising! We are excited and at the same time in a lot of prayer, we will be meeting with friends and leaders learning about many of the details it will take for us to make the big move. We ask for you to intercede with us now, as we know there will be many details and more obstacles which can seem overwhelming.
The goal of this trip is two fold. First, take as much opportunity to observe ministry, with our friends in Kraków and in Wrocław (we’ll be there too, more on that in a minute). We’ll be attending every event we can, having coffee with every person we can, and praying a lot. We need to begin making these appointments now – which can be difficult, so please be praying that people’s schedules allow us to be used by God.
Second, we will be meeting with other Foursquare friends, leaders, and missionaries in Wrocław (about 3 hours west of Kraków). They are the leaders of The Rock church and we are excited to share with them what God has laid on our hearts, to learn from them, and simply fellowship and glean what God is doing through them.
We covet your prayers and look forward to what God is doing! If you’re Polish and reading this, let’s schedule some time for coffee! :)
Video Recorded!
Posted by Alexis in Alexis' Thoughts, Family News, Fund Raising, Personal accounts, Poland on October 10, 2009
So last night we were able to do the video. Lets just say that Travis was made for this and me…not so much. I think I prefer the stage. One good thing is that there will be bloopers at the end of the video so make sure to wait for it. It will be 95% me and the rest maybe Emma. (Yes, she is on the video and did fabulous. Here are some pictures of our adventure last night. Enjoy.
We’re Stars!
Posted by Alexis in Alexis' Thoughts, Fund Raising, Personal accounts, Poland on October 6, 2009
Well, not really. But we are making a fundraising video featuring our vision for Poland and our hopes for the future. Tonight is the night we are filmed. I’m sure we’ll have the video for you to see on here or another simple avenue. This will be Emma’s chance to show the world what kind of actress she is. Just kidding, but she does have a bit of drama in her… 
I think we’ll have her sitting on our laps or something. Enjoy your Tuesday!
An update! Finally!
Posted by The Mielonens in Family News, Fund Raising, News on July 18, 2009
The radio silience of this blog has certainly been an indicator of our real life, but finally we have taken the time to make a newsletter. Check it out. Hopefully some more action will take place around here.
Paper-cuts are on their way
Posted by The Mielonens in Fund Raising, News on January 10, 2009
This past week has been a lot of prepping for paper-cuts. Next week we will be printing and stuffing over a hundred envelopes full of the plans for our future. This is a very important first step into our official fund-raising phase, getting the word out. Our goal is to have at least 100 monthly donations of $30. There is a lot out there “fighting” for people’s money, so we are spending a lot on presenting ourselves in a serious and professional way that communicates what God has put in our hearts for not just the “people” in Kraków, but our friends.
Keep us in our prayers, for the paper-cuts to be minimal, that printers print what we need w/o wasting envelopes (which we have had custom made), and that God leads us to send these “kits” to the right people. We are also raising funds for our last short-term trip this coming July – which is a separate beast in and of itself, the team is looking to be a great and amazing team – which we are all very excited about – and that’s another prayer point as well.
REACH Polska…. The next mission…
Posted by bkraft in Fund Raising, News, Poland, Trip updates on January 8, 2009
It has been a few months since we returned from our last mission in Poland in October, 2008. It was a learning experience that we will never forget. From the exhausting flights and layovers to sickness and injury then to miraculous healing and building of new relationships we gained a new desire for the Nation of Poland. Our resolve has never been stronger to see our friends there receive healing in the area of relationships and freedom from bondage and strengthening in their relationship with God.
We learned that there are communications barriers that we need to overcome and while this is true here in the states as well as in other parts of Europe, Poland is where our heart is. The uniqueness of Poland is the population of Bible believing Christians is less than one percent. While the country is 99.99% Catholic, there is still need for truth and healing.
We are looking to head back in late July. Outreach is on our list of things to do, as well as create a video of interviews from the Christian Polish community to find out what it is that they want for their people. What is it that we can bring to them that is tangible that they can take to their families and friends in order to release healing and start a move of Christ that will encompass the city of Krakow.
We have a support and newsletter that will be coming out soon to ask for your support for this next trip. The trip will be 2 weeks in length. We will need prayer and financial support.
You can donate by following the Paypal Link on this page!
A big year ahead…
Posted by The Mielonens in Fund Raising, News, Poland on January 1, 2009
This new year marks the beginning of a very important phase in our ministry. Beginning this month we begin our long-term mission campaign! Our church council and missions team have cleared the way to send us as long term missionaries to Kraków, Poland. From this point forward we’ll be seeking at least 100 donors to donate $30.15 on a monthly basis from now until August 2010 – this will help put $61,155.00 into our reserve account for us to start out (includes funds for living, ministry, and travel).
We’ll be getting the word out very soon to our current donor network. We have a lot of logistics to get through and we’re feeling the stress, not in a bad way, but in a very “this is fo real” kind of way. Please keep us in your prayers, consider being a monthly contributor, and each of us who personally know God are in the ministry as well, so we wish to hear from you, so we can pray and support what God is asking you to do and doing through you in your lives as well,
Details details
Posted by The Mielonens in Fund Raising on November 17, 2008
Sometime we wish we could hire (or better yet, find a very nice person to donate some time) to take care of the details of fund raising, reconciling accounts, and communicating with our support network. We have a lot of details to get through, and sometimes the job is smaller than we imagine, it just takes us blocking some intentional time out to get it done. Since it’s been nearly a month since we returned from our trip – it’s time to start the big project of saying thanks – thankfully Donor Tools will make that A LOT EASIER!
There are no words
Posted by Travis in Fund Raising on October 1, 2008
There are no words for me to describe what happened today, our God is so loving. Even though we walk through valleys, even though our closest friends face surmountable challenges, His faith in us does not waver. The favor He has shown us, our work in Poland, and us as a couple, keeps us humbled.
Tonight, for the 2nd day in a row we received $1,000, so over the last 24 hours we have seen Him bring in $1,950 in all our years of fundraising, this is the 11th hour year.
Thank you Jesus, we take this to the people of Poland and humbly serve you.
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The Mielonens
The Mielonens' Adventure
- Misja Polska, Mission Poland -
Releasing, Equipping, Affecting, Connecting, and Helping REACH poland with Jesus' personal work.
Foursquare Missionaries to Poland
Our sending Church is East Hill Church in Gresham, OregonDonate
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East Hill Church
Attn: Accounting
Memo: Poland Long Term
PO Box 650
Gresham, OR 97030Subscribe
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