We begin this adventure of ours on faith. It is impossible for us to complete this assignment on our own. Faith does not always come easy and this seemingly insurmountable task has already brought forth tears on a couple of occasions. The idea of raising $15,000 is one that brings forth so many worries and concerns. However, our verse of the month (or months until we go) is this:
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:33-34
Pray for us that we will continue to grow in our faith and that we will release our cares unto God. If this year of service is God's will for our lives, and we believe it is, he can, and will provide for our every need.
We have made some good progress on the fund raising, although not in the traditional sense of the word. While the total expense for our trip was around $15,000, the field sent us an email a couple weeks ago letting us know that they were able to reduce our monthly living expenses from $650 per month to $480 per month. This alone "raised" $1700 toward our trip by reducing the over all cost.
In addition to 2 heartfelt donations on our website, we will soon be getting a tax refund totally around $3500.
Finally, we decided that if we move into Amy's parents house, that would be a huge fund raiser in itself. On March 6, we will be making the move from our apartment into their basement to spend our remaining 5 months saving money. We felt really bad for our landlord that we gave such a short notice and were moving out during one of the worst months for finding tenants. However, God not only provides for us, but for our landlord. The day after she ran the ad in the paper she received 4 phone calls of potential tenants and was amazed at how fast she was able to find someone.
Please pray for us in this move that we will be able to cope with living under someone else's roof and that these next 5 months will be a time to grow closer with her family instead of bickering about who's dirty clothes are on the floor. By saving money on rent, cable, internet, and electricity, this one move will "raise" approximately $4300 for our trip.
When we combine them all, our grand total "raised" so far comes to $9500, without touching the money we have in savings. God really does provide and if we have that much money raised in just one month, $15,000 does not seem that far away.
Praise God.
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