The post Erik Laursen, CEO of New Covenant Missions, on the Rapid Spread of the Gospel in Africa appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Kristen Welch is an author, speaker, and the founder of Mercy House Global, but her story is shaped less by achievement and more by surrender. Raised in a generous, Christian home, Kristen followed God’s lead into ministry, writing, and motherhood. Her love for writing led her into the early Christian mom-blogging world where she found community and influence, but it was a 2010 blogging trip to Kenya with Compassion International that unsettled her faith and reordered her calling. That encounter became the catalyst for Mercy House Global and for a lifelong journey of learning what it means to say yes to God with open hands.  

Through Mercy House, Kristen has spent the past fifteen years walking alongside vulnerable women and families through job creation, orphan prevention, and discipleship, both globally and locally. Along the way, she has learned that generosity and ministry busyness without intimacy with God can quietly hollow out the soul. Her story reflects the cost of faithful work, the danger of doing for God without being with Him, and the grace God offers through rest, repentance, and renewed friendship with Him.  

This conversation invites all of us to reflect on how God calls us to slow down, reorient our hearts, and rediscover satisfaction in His presence while living generously.  

Major Topics Include:

• Generosity in hospitality
• Obedience through small, faithful yeses
• Using influence for Kingdom purpose
• Serving without losing intimacy with God
• The danger of doing for God without being with God
• Identity rooted in sonship, not productivity
• Parenting through embodied generosity
• Slowing down to practice God’s presence

Quotes to Remember

• “Just do the next right thing.”
• “We were always looking for ways to use what we had for the gospel of hospitality.”
• “The opportunity to use the writing skill and the blog platform for God’s glory really became a sweet spot for me and it changed my life.”
• “I will spend the rest of my life answering the question, ‘what am I doing to help the vulnerable in our communities and in our world?’”
• “God used the poor to help me find Him in a new way.”
• “God doesn’t need us to do any of this, He invites us to do it.”
• “Being with God is the best use of our time.”
• “It is not a waste of time to spend time with God.”
• “When we live as generous people, our kids will too.”

Links from the Show

• Mercy House Global
• Kristen Welch’s Website
• Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch
• Raising World Changers in a Changing World by Kristen Welch
• Compassion International
• When Helping Hurts (see our interview with coauthor Brian Fikkert)
• Women Doing Well (see our interview with president Julie Wilson)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Revelation 3:20 | Christ’s Invitation to Intimacy  

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  

Hebrews 2:1 | Drifting from Jesus  

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  

1 Thessalonians 5:18 | Gratitude amid Hardship  

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  

Philippians 4:11–13 | Contentment in All Circumstances  

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Kristen Welch, Founder of Mercy House Global, on Intimacy with God Amidst Fruitful Ministry appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Raised on a central Missouri farm, Kristin Hammett grew up in a family that loved Jesus and lived out steady generosity, even amid the financial uncertainties of farming life. Watching her parents faithfully give a tithe planted early seeds, but it was during college that she made a deeper commitment to Christ, a decision that quietly set the trajectory for everything that followed.  

After college, she entered a sales role with a Fortune 50 company, surrounded by benefits and success, yet she began to sense that God might be inviting her into something more than selling consumer goods. After a season as a stay-at-home mom, she discovered a growing desire to see how her professional skills might serve Kingdom purposes. That curiosity led her to become the first part time development director at a local pregnancy center, where God reshaped her understanding of fundraising as ministry, connecting donors to the doers and inviting people to join Him where He is already working. That journey eventually opened the door to joining The Signatry, helping donors steward all God has entrusted to them for Kingdom impact.  

As Vice President of Family Generosity Services at The Signatry, Kristin has spent her career helping families move from reactive giving to intentional stewardship rooted in faith. Drawing from deep experience on both the nonprofit and givers sides, she now guides families towards alignment, trust, and faithfulness in how they move towards intentional generosity together.  

Major Topics Include:

• Generosity as discipline, then joyful invitation
• Stewarding all assets, not just cash
• Fundraising as ministry and relationship
• Connecting donors and doers in God’s work
• Evaluating impact above overhead in giving
• Understanding cause dynamics and realistic impact outcomes
• Trust and partnership between givers and ministries
• Thinking through non-cash gifts
• Alignment over agreement in family generosity

Quotes to Remember

• “God has all the resources that He needs to fund His work. My role is to connect the resources He’s entrusted to people with the work He’s already doing.”
• “Impact needs to come before overhead.”
• “If we’re only asking people to give from cash, we’re really not asking them to steward all that God has entrusted to them.”
• “Let’s begin to change the conversation, not just about cash, but about all of their assets, and help them understand how those are an opportunity for generosity.”
• “When you realize you’re connecting the donors and the doers, that’s a pretty incredible place to be.”
• “You’re not trying to get something from someone. You’re inviting them to join God where He’s already at work.”
• “In a family, alignment is much more important than agreement.”
• “If you want everyone to give to exactly what you want to give to, that’s a top-down approach, and it rarely creates enthusiasm.”
• “If you hold it open-handed and prioritize alignment over agreement, you’ll often find much more joy and engagement.”
• “Donors are operating in a currency of trust. That trusted partnership is absolutely critical.”
• “When there’s a trusted partnership between the giver and the organization, God does something formative in both.”
• “Fundraising is ministry. Anytime you’re engaging someone around their resources, their finances, and their heart, that’s ministry.”
• “We need to dissolve the barrier between where the ministry happens and where the money comes in, and realize it’s all ministry.”
• “God doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts. And that’s really, at the end of the day, the message of generosity.”
• “Generosity is not just for the ultra high net worth or those making a lot of money, it’s for everyone. God is not interested in the zeros. He’s interested in obedience.”
• “We’re stewarding our whole life, not just our financial resources, because He wants our heart.”

Links from the Show

• The Signatry (see our interviews with founder, Bill High, and CEO, Steve French here) 
• Mission Increase
• National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
• The Giver and the Gift by Peter Greer & David Weekley (see our interview with author Peter Greer here)
• Family Generosity Guides  
• Nonprofit blogs: 
  • Major Donor Insight: They are People, Too
  • Engage Donors by Engaging Their Families

• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Malachi 3:10 | Testing God in Giving  

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  

Matthew 6:21 | Treasure and the Heart  

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

Psalm 50:10 | God Owns Everything  

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  

Philippians 4:15–19 | Giving as Partnership

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Kristin Hammett, VP at the Signatry, on Family Alignment Over Agreement in Giving appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.