The Life of William Carey | 3 Missionary Fundraising Lessons
Many don’t think of William Carey when they think of missionary fundraising.
Carey began adulthood at a young age as an apprentice cobbler, later on in his life he worked to take the Gospel to the country of India.
Today, William Carey is thought of to be ‘The Father of Modern Missions.’ There are so many lessons for us to learn from his life.
In this article, we are going to take a look at 3 missionary fundraising tips we can learn from the life of William Carey.
Here is the full list of missionary fundraising tips learned from Carey.
Now let’s get started with takeaway number 1.
1. William Carey had a Conviction for the Gospel to be Shared
As a young pastor, William Carey had the opportunity to speak at a meeting of the minister’s fraternal. Missions had always been a topic he found intriguing.
The more Carey read the Bible, the more he found that taking the Gospel to the world was a task that had been given to the church.
In the 1700s this was not a popular idea.
At that time, many believed that the task of sharing the Gospel had been given to the disciples. Once the disciples died, so did the task of sharing the Gospel.
Back then here were not many missionaries, missionary fundraising was not a thing, and there were no missions organizations.
When Carey began preaching this at the meeting, many of the older pastors were not fans of the message he was preaching.
They believed if Carey believed God commands we share the gospel, then he knows nothing about the will of God.
Taking his elder’s response into consideration, he began to study the scripture more and more.
In studying Carey found more confidence in the responsibility of the Church to send missionaries out to the world.
The local church would not fund sending missionaries to other countries, so Carey took missionary fundraising into his own hands.
Carey began organizing ‘The Baptist Missionary Society,” which worked similarly to the way a missions organization would work today.
Carey sought out like-minded pastors to create this missionary society and begin missionary fundraising with the goal of taking the gospel to the country of India.
2. William Carey Trusted in the Sovereignty of God
There were many things that could have permanently prevented Carey from pursuing the call to take the Gospel to the country of India.
Many other protestant pastors did not agree with anything he had planned to do, entry into India wasn’t always easy at that time, he was 33 with a family and little means for financial support
Multiple other issues had also come up along the way.
Carey trusted if God was calling him to do this, then he would provide a way for it to happen. The Lord was sovereign over the organization of the missionary society and the missionary fundraising process.
Ryan Robertson words it so well. When speaking of the life and ministry of William Carey, Robertson says,
“It’s true now as it was then:
misunderstanding God’s sovereignty discourages missionaries,
churches, and agencies who desire to enter a specific location
only for the authorities to close the door.
If Carey had been “called” to India, surely the Lord would open the door…….
Friends, if the Lord has work for us around the world,
then no earthly power can stop us.”
There are plenty of lessons to learn from Carey in regard to missionary fundraising, but the greatest thing we can remember is that God is sovereign over His calling for you and over your life.
3. William Carey was a Faithful Servant
As you can imagine, sickness in the 1700s carried a much heavier weight than today.
Carey and his family were not exempt from this type of suffering.
From loss of children in infancy, to his wife’s mental illness, and losing friends in the ministry to sickness, Carey experienced great suffering.
Missionary fundraising was, I’m sure, no less awkward then as it is now. All of this suffering could have easily convinced him to stop.
Carey’s perspective was such a powerful one. His missionary fundraising was not driven by personal desire, but out of conviction for sharing the Gospel.
Through all of the suffering Carey experienced, he remained faithful to the Lord’s call on his life.
An important lesson we learn from the life of William Carey is how he adapted to the time in which he lived in order to take the Gospel to the country of India. We see that in his missionary fundraising techniques.
One very specific way he did this was through the installation of the Missionary Society.
Here at the School of Mission, we are trying to do something similar to Carey in the realm of Missionary Fundraising. We desire to equip and teach missionaries how to raise their financial support in a digital age.
We have created a course called “Modern Fundraising for Missionaries” where we teach everything you need to know about fundraising in a digital age.
From video editing, to email marketing, lead generation, and more. We will teach you everything you need to know to help you get to 100% of your missionary fundraising support.
Additional Resources from the Life of William Carey:
