Q&A on the Top 25 Worksheet

Today I received a question from a missionary originally from Venezuela ministering in Mexico. He asks a practical question. How would you answer him?

Q:  Can you explain please how do you use the Top 25 Worksheet for potential giving candidates. Step by step please!

A:  It is not a mystery.

I simply get out my mailing list and review the names prayerfully one by one. As I am praying I ask the question: “Do [Joe and Sally] need to hear my ministry story?” If yes, I put a check by their name. I go through my entire mailing list this way giving a check mark to those I subjectively feel I should appeal too.

If your mailing list is small, then go through everyone in your cell phone directory. Be sure to add most of the names in your cell phone or FB to your mailing list!

Then I go through the list a second time prayerfully waiting on God to prompt me asking a similar question: “Is there any reason this person should not hear my vision for ministry and be invited to join me as a giving partner?”

Don’t try to anticipate their answer. And don’t discount them just because you can’t imagine them saying yes. Your job is simply to invite them—God will lead them about what to do after they hear your story.

The praying and selecting your Top 25 is done at the same time. But pray always—before, during and after! (1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing!”)

After I have gone through my mailing list twice I have more than 25 names so I ask the Lord: “Father in Heaven, of these precious people who happen to be in ‘my world,’ which ones shall I invite first to join me in ministry?”

It sometimes helps to put them on a map so you can plan your travels.

How does this sound? What would you say?