This is our last prayer update that went to about 100 people via email:
Praise God for some new support in the last few months. Many thanks to our new and long-standing financial partners.
However, we are staring at a cliff. I’ve shared this year in earlier emails how we are using up the “reserve” fund while I work full-time, since [my wife] quit the newspaper. From the looks of it, we’ll have enough money for paychecks in August and September. After this, without a very significant increase in our support level, everything is up in the air.
It’s difficult to talk about and consider what could very well be the end of our service with Mission Data International. We envisioned our five year commitment to [the ministry] as a springboard into long-term, cross-cultural overseas service. The thought of having to quit, find other work and then come back to missions at a later date does not seem very feasible in our finite, human thinking.
At this point, my goal remains to serve with [the ministry] through the end of the year, if funding allows. We have begun work on a long-term mission website, and without our help it will be very difficult for it to launch in 2007 as planned. Better yet would be for us to be 85% funded by December, giving us at least an opportunity to consider continuing our service with [the ministry] into 2008.
Right now donations meet 60% of our support budget every month.
It is not our practice to ask for financial support in either our newsletters or these prayer notes, but present circumstances make it necessary. If God leads you in His way to give to our service with [the ministry], please do so this month. Our greatest need is for regular donations, be they monthly, quarterly or yearly. A monthly donation of $40 is equal to 1% of our budget.
We really are staring at a cliff. We still have peace about our circumstances. God has been faithful since we began this process almost five years ago. We have never lacked, though we have had to lean on patience from time to time.
A supporter we chatted with on our recent fundraising jaunt exhorted us to stick with it as long as possible. That we will, but truth be told we’re both worn out emotionally, and my wife’s health troubles don’t help our energy level. I was reminded as we traveled of how different the support-based lifestyle is, and how difficult it must be for people who haven’t experience the fundraising process. On the outside it’s easy to believe things are quite similar, especially for those serving in full-time ministry stateside. But behind the scenes the gearing is very different.
We’re now talking seriously about what we might do if, in the next two months or less, we don’t have the support we need. We know the God we serve is big enough for any task. But our minds are beginning to wonder if the door isn’t closing on our full-time service with this ministry. It’s difficult to concentrate on the continuing task of fundraising when thinking about new possibilities, when considering the possibility of needing to sell the house and move.
It’s also difficult to think of quitting the process. As the email cited above states, we have had new support come in. Our support level has always increased. It just hasn’t increased quickly enough. How long does a person persist? What does a slowly closing door look like? We’ve already done the part-time ministry/part-time work thing, and we don’t feel the need to go back to that model. It does not seem sustainable to us, and our missionary salary is barely enough for us to get by on as it is — especially when we’re concertedly spending the money necessary to get my wife healthy again.
Some changes are likely ahead, without a Divine and seemingly miraculous intervention.
