As you work through the training material, you'll build a strong foundation for why this is possible and why it is a legitimate way to operate in the Kingdom of God. This is where the training begings because it's so important to start in the right frame of mind and confident that God is able to provide and nourish you through this experience.

Following this, you'll learn how to get started, overcoming the initial barriers of embaressment and pride that often hold us back from asking for waht we need.

You'll then work through what you need to do for potential supporters to make it easy for you to communicate your needs and easy for them to understand your needs and get on baord. Making a support raising plan is unique to your situation and contacts, but there are also principles and practices that you can use to make it work

Following that, you'll learn when and how to keep communicating with your supporters and be able to access resources to help with this.

Although you have everything you need on line, there is no substitute for talking through the biblical foundations and learning with others, or for practicing your asks. If you get the chance, make sure you attend and NST team training or get a few hours with a team member to talk through it.

How to Work Through The Support Raising Training

The Support Raising Training has been divided in to fortnightly blocks for the first 2 months to help get you started step by step. You are then ready to start practicing and finally asking for support, fully prepared. Of course if you have the opportunity to ask people for support before then, grab it!

Week 1 & 2:

Read and pray through the Sections on Why SPEAK Staff Support Raise and the Biblical Foundations. Try to write up why you think support raising is important so that you gain confidence in explaining it to others. Once you've worked your way through the Biblical Foundations, write up what it means to you to take this leap of faith and committ it to God in prayer. You might want to do this with some close friends and family who you know will be supporting you in prayer. And if possible, meet with the NST to discuss and pray through any questions.

Week 3 & 4:

You're ready to get started now!Read through the Getting Started section and make sure you feel happy with what you're aiming for. Now you're ready to begin gathering supporters! Brainstorm your list in to the template supporter database and start listing people as to how much they know about what you're doing. Read through theGathering Supporters section to ensure you've gone through the right steps to gather all the details you need for potential supporters, and decide how and when you are going to contact them.

Week 5 & 6:

Once you have a plan, start creating the reosurces you need. There is advice for this in the Gathering Supporterssection under Making it Easy Check out the downloadable resources for templates and examples. Ask your manager to check over these and give you any input you need. You can get as many as you need printed in the SPEAK NST office

Week 7 & 8: 

Once you have your plan and resources complete, you're ready to start practicisng! This is a crucial step and it's important to practice your requests both for setting up a meeting about support raising with an individual, and the actual ask. You can do this with your friends that you prayed through the Biblical foundations with, or with someone on the Network Support Team who has experience of support raising. Go through the suggestions in the Making the Ask section of Gathering Supporters

Month 3 - 6:

It will take you a few months to work through your plan and to follow people up that you ask to support you. Don't be surprised if you feel like you're chasing people. It's a priority to you but not necessarily to many that you ask and you need to keep the initiative and ensure you make it as easy as possilbe for people to commit to supproting you.

Your manager in the NSt will support you through out this process and you can ask for prayer for anything you need, or any meetings you are having related to support.