Each of us only have so much time and attention. For work, we get perhaps 8 hours or so a day – the free gift of God. We can’t do anything to earn the time we are given; we can only steward it.
Many use those hours, as they should, to work on income that provides for their families. Some – those in ministry to unreached peoples, for example – depend on the generosity of God’s people who share some of their income so we can focus on the unreached. I was so humbled in the past couple of days as a handful stepped in to fund my trip to the partnership consultation. I know God has everything required for anything coming up.
Unfortunately, our personal support — which governs how we can use our time — is running dangerously thin at this time.
It happens, more often than we would like. As you will recall, we had the same challenge in the fall of 2010. The cause of this situation has not changed. In brief: our agency helps us set our salary at an appropriate level based on what is needed for personal support (e.g. eating) and workfunds (e.g. for doing stuff). Passionate people give, which lets us do what God’s called us to do. But since our return from Southeast Asia, contribution levels have unfortunately declined and we have been undersupported by as much as $3,000/mo. Our supporters are passionate but small in number.
So how have we survived this long? Well, partly by tightening our belts and partly because of various one-time donations (like last year’s $100x100xDec31 campaign) that helped our Ministry Account, from which monthly support is taken. But when these donations taper off our Ministry Account is rapidly depleted. As it was in the fall of last year, the account is virtually empty now. Our family of six is… living in faith that God will provide.
(Maximum Clarity: We have come to the point where not enough came in last month. And now life is interesting. We have some reserves but not much. In the worst case scenario I will have to look for part-time or full-time work so we can meet our obligations next month.)
Based on cost-per-day and our “visible reserves” (what we see–not what God seens)
our work is “sponsored” through April 20, 2011.
So we come to the uncomfortable point–uncomfortable for me, at any rate–where I ask those of you who are not (1) our regular monthly partners and (2) have not recently given a one-time gift (e.g. toward a trip) to prayerfully consider making a special gift at this time, as many people did last year.
By sponsoring our time through supporting us personally, you enable us to focus solely on the unreached: time spent identifying opportunities and gaps and sharing them with confidential networks; time spent finding answers to thorny questions that missionaries and missionary leaders ask us; time spent writing articles read by thousands insisting that the unreached must be reached; time spent helping agencies develop and implement mobilization strategies; time spent recording and publishing training materials so that missionaries from Tulsa to Timbuktu to Tianjin can be better trained and more effective.
Give online via MUP, our agency
Or mail a gift to: MUP, PO 860548, Plano, TX 75086-0548
(you can include a copy of this letter so people know where to allocate it).
Any gift will be helpful and deeply appreciated.
If you would like to become a recurring partner, please see our recurring partner page.
Thank you in advance, for those of you who can make a much-needed donation.
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