Finances

This is an expansion to our newsletter on the topic of finances.

This is a topic I keep highly confidential and so you will not hear me speaking much on this matter prior to furlough.

First we want to give thanks to our very loyal and committed partners, you. In the time that we have been here, our monthly income has fluctuated, but only very rarely gone below what was committed to us nearly three years ago. Thank you!

Missionaries when they enter the field, expect to lose a certain amount of support each year. And here we are living through a very rough patch of economic woe in the U.S. and our support on this end has remained faithful.

Explaining the process:
Before we got to the field, we sat down repeatedly with finance counselors at they said "you need to get committed $XXX p/month to live in PNG with a family of four. Once you have that level of funds coming in, you can go to the field." Praise God you all met that challenge and we entered the field at 103% of the funding we needed pledged.

After 1 year we did lose a few supporters. But our only response was prayer. In that same first year God was very faithful to us financially, doing incredible things, and we gained more partners. It covered the lack and we remained at 100%.

We received one time gifts, and people gave above what they had committed at times, and each month, our checks kept coming in at 100%. We were amazed at what God was doing through you.

We had heard horror stories of people getting to the field and finding their funding estimates were FAR too low and so they hit the field in debt.

DEBT plays mean tricks on the mind. Missionaries begin to question their calling.

But you, our partners, the ones involved in what God is doing here financially, continued to be faithful. When the economic hard times hit, some of you even raised your support.

This fluctuation going up and down, however we constantly remained at that number $3700 p/month. If one month went below, the next month went above.

Then, a few weeks ago we did our annual survey with finance. Things have changed in this country. The U.S. dollar isn't as strong as it was when we arrived. The organization changed it's insurance rates to match the demand of the economic decline, giving over all is down.

After crunching all the numbers, skimping where we could, it turns out we needed to raise another $492 p/month to stay at the same level here. And if we were wise we would raise another $600 because the trend will increase during our next 3 year term.

Our reaction again was to go to God in prayer. Before we came here we had, what many call "a nest egg". It was almost exactly the amount of money it would cost us to leave the country. We have forever been holding that "egg" in hideaway.

During our time of prayer God said gently "you're using that egg as an escape plan... you're not relying totally on me."

And He was right. The truth of that permeated my soul, and so instead of bringing up the topic of finance to you all, we began to use our egg. Our "egg" will get us all the way to July of this year, if we cut corners and eat more rice, that sort of thing.

I think, that was the last obstacle for us feeling totally like missionaries. No more of that savings we had made from working in the public sector existed. We are completely and totally reliant on God through you, with no escape plan.

It sort of a scary thought. Depleting ones savings. But at the same time, because of your faithfulness we are still very confident God has called us here and why.

In fact I would say that now after 2.5 years, we're more resolved in what we're here to do than when we first stepped off the plane. God has confirmed it time and time again.

We have seen others waiver and leave. We have seen others question God's purpose for their live and change horses midstream. We have seen it, but we have not felt it ourselves.

We are completely and one hundred percent convinced that God brought us here. We are convinced we are needed, and deeply needed. In fact the burden of necessity is so great that we do sometimes get unbalanced and do too much.

Yes there are the homesick times. Yes there are the times we say "God let us spend time with our family, please."

And I think personally, if your giving and prayers and emails weren't so reliable, weren't so faithful, that there would be times when we would get run down.

You need to understand deeply, how important your support to us is. It is much more than the money we use to eat. It is the emotional and spiritual backbone of our work here. We serve each day knowing we have the confidence of people who are sacrificially giving back at home. Of people who are joined with us in spirit towards our goal of reaching unreached people for Christ.

We aren't a family of four here, we're a pointed sword. The four of us are the tip, but the strength of the thrust is coming from the forged backbone, the spine, the strength of a body of believers behind us giving us the encouragement and the funds, and the prayer, and the support we need.

You are our cheerleaders, and God has used you and will use you again during times when things get hard, to remind us that He has brought this thing to bear. He has brought us together for a cause. He has recruited you to join us and make these things happen.

Imagine if you were at your job, and doing some difficult task, and during a moment of weakness you said "I'm not enough to do it alone." and then suddenly twenty of your closest friends pop in and start chanting "you can do it!" Imagine the boost of energy you would get from that.

THIS is one of the many things you all do for us.

SO, if you are upset that we have not mentioned our need thus far, it is because we have become convinced that we can survive until July. Admittedly it also may have been due to some pride on my part that I believe God has been working out of me, slowly. For this I ask your forgiveness if it has led to you feeling as if you were robbed of a chance to help us. I partially feel as if you're this well that I do not want to go to, too often because I know how generous you all are and we do not wish to abuse that.

In July we will begin to visit you all and to give you reports and our thanks, to spend time with you.

In July we will also begin going to new churches, making new relationships and finding new partners. Our aim won't be to ask the current partners to give more, but to find more partners to join in this ministry.

So if you are wondering what you can do, and you do not feel that you can give financially, here are some things we will need come our furlough time:

-a place to stay
-a car to drive around the country in
-places we can speak at... (do you know a church, a small group, a sunday school, a prayer group, a bible study, who may be open to hearing our story?)
-continued financial support - it will cost more to live in the bay area for 6 months than it will be to live here for a year.

To give you an idea. In the bay area before we came here, we were living on double what, we are now living on.

Furlough, aka 'home assignment' will be a busy time for us, as we attempt to visit you who have been faithful to God and to us. As we attempt to speak and raise more support. As we attempt to rest and meet medical requirements, as we attempt to visit family. As we attempt to do all this on a slim budget.

We are so thankful that you have contacted us regarding our newsletter and financial situation. We are thankful that you care. We are blessed by your generosity. And hopeful that this posting reaches you in the right spirit in which it was intended... as a thank you.