Fundraising Lessons from the Congo (Part One)
Q&A with Nathalie Sikou, Navigators Congo
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What is the feeling of gospel-workers in Congo when they first try fundraising?
At first, apprehension! Many feel:
“It is impossible!”
They are not confident…many fears, worries, shame.
“Will people accept my appeal? Are they going to give?”
Some try to do small business to avoid the challenge of fundraising.
They don't think about fundraising. They say, “It is not yet time.”
But in obedience to God, many launch out in fundraising anyway. By doing Bible study and encouraging each other, they find that the promises of God are helpful and that believing fundraising is biblical.
God smooths their way. Examples:
“Daisy” attended the Navigator BFR (biblical fundraising) school in DRC 2019. While discipling Noelie, a young fatherless lady whose mother had limited resources, Noelie was complaining about leg pain and was unable to walk properly. With the help of her mentor, Daisy organized a fundraising to pay hospital fees (consultation, surgery, hospitalization and post-operative care). Now Noelie walks normally.
My very own sister and her husband are donors to a missionary couple, “D” and his wife “M.” But my sister was going through difficult times. “M” went to encourage my sister who felt happy and said that was different from her previous experiences with mission-workers.
I helped “M” to care for a donor in a holistic way—to connect and care for a donor going through hard times.
Often, we communicate to donors only when we want something from them. So they feel that what we want for them is their money and we don't care about them as people.
1 Thessalonians 2:5 and 8 says, "I have you in my heart…" That was what “M” was doing. That reflects the attitude we must have in caring for giving partners.
What are Fundraising mistakes Congo Gospel-workers have made in the past?
We did not talk early in the training process about fundraising. It seems new. We thought that fundraising doesn't concern us. No need to raise funds.
And we did not understand the notion of partnership. Partnership with Navigators, with other ministries and with individuals.
Because we had only one example of a local Congo mission-worker, we had ignorance about it. We had more theory and less practice.
Early on, we asked one of our workers to try fundraising, and when he had a negative response, we felt discouraged and stopped.
Also, we observed a kind of indiscipline in the practice of fundraising.
We know that discipleship is the will of God. We create time, make ourself available and have specifics days of prayer, préparation and work.
We also know that MPD is the will of God, and have the promises of God, but we don't apply the same discipline. We should also have specifics days of prayer, making phone calls and follow up.
Must mission workers in Congo go to the West for Funding?
No, it is possible to raise funds from within Congo if we overcome fear and shame by having courage and a strategy. Going to the West for funding could come as a supplément.
Many scriptures are encouraging, such as Ezra 1:1-4 when individual Jewish workers attempted to rebuild the house of the Lord'. Verse 4 says, 'Let the men of that place support him with silver and gold....
That too was a desperate situation, but God provided. God works everywhere—even in desperate cultures.
Nathalie Sikou works as a Bancassurance Department Head at La Congolaise de Banque, LCB Bank in Brazzaville, Congo. She was raised in Brazzaville and received her education at Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville. She did her Humphrey year (Fulbright Exchange Program) in Boston, Massachusetts.
Nathalie coaches Navigator mission-workers in their fundraising and is deeply involved in advancing the Gospel in Congo. Her hobbies are reading, walking, swimming, and joining a Zumba class.