We have a regular post about ready to publish with details on how Joel’s recent trips have been as well as life on the home-front, but we’ve got to bring something more urgent to your attention today.
Long story short, we are facing a funding emergency. Here is where we’re at and how we need your prayers.*
Over the course of the last few years, when we look at the whole year, we can see that we received a livable amount of support. But that often happens because we receive generous and unpredictable one-time gifts. The nature of those gifts makes them challenging to budget for as we simply can’t build a budget based on the probability or not of receiving them.
The other challenge which is more pressing and emergent is that we’ve lost monthly individual supporters as well as one supporting church. Here’s where I make the story short: we’re not receiving anywhere near enough to meet our budget on a monthly basis. And, while we ask the Lord to “pause” the trials coming at us, that’s not happened. For several years in a row now, we’ve faced unexpected, un-budgetable expenses (health, taxes, home repairs, and vehicles) and we’re to the point where this month and likely, next month, we’re having to resort to using a credit card for monthly essentials.
Friends, we simply aren’t making ends meet in this way of life that being a self-supported missionary requires us live.* We don’t have the ability to work outside jobs when our ministry and family requires 100% of our time and energy. We tried it last year when Bethany took on 25+ hours a week of house-cleaning work and we believe that in part led to the extreme sickness she experienced as she was hospitalized with pneumonia.
So, we’re asking you to pray for two things and consider the third thing:
- PRAY! Plead with the Father on our behalf for us to be able to make ends meet, this month with it’s one week remaining and next month. We have never lived willfully on credit and we do not want to continue. Ask Him to provide for our needs and to steady our hearts as we don’t have the ability to see where that provision might come from.
- PRAY! Ask the Father to continue to show His presence to us and our family as we all face these challenges and all of us, at times, question “Why, Father? How is this trial working good for you?” Ask for the Holy Spirit to teach our hearts and to bring to remembrance what is true.
- CONSIDER! Has the Lord nudged you towards supporting our ministry? Especially when it comes to doing so as monthly supporter? OR is there some other way He has sparked in your heart to be a part of what we’re doing in reaching unreached people? OR, do you know someone or some group of people like your local church or a life/small group who might be moved to support the ministry we’re doing?
And if you have an idea about a group or other person who would be moved by what we’re a part of, send us an email as soon as you can! You can just reply to this email.
I’ll leave it with this. We need you to pray for us, to pray often, especially for our hearts with so easily grow weary in this “season.”