That Lump in My Throat is Gratitude

We didn't go "home" this summer, since our daughter lacks a valid VISA allowing her to come & go. I've missed the opportunities to see family & friends, but I've also been thankful for the opportunity to remain in Prague because it's meant we could stay in one place and not have to travel so much.

A major drawback to staying overseas for a summer means that we don't get to connect with our supporting churches & sponsors. It means that there are no large one-time donations, no "love offerings" taken after we speak. It means that our support can start to dwindle.

Sometimes I wonder if some of our sponsors have forgotten about us. I know it's not intentional - I really think it's more of an "out of sight, out of mind" type of thing. Goodness knows we all have tremendous demands on our attention. Some of it is perhaps our fault too, because we've had a terrible time keeping up with this blog, and with our newsletters. (Speaking of demands on attention, have you ever tried to blog with an 8-month-old on your lap?)

When I logged in to our mission account register last month, my heart sank, because we were $1000 short of our monthly goal. I found myself thinking that if we'd been stateside, if we'd made the appearances, if I'd been more faithful with newsletters, we wouldn't have fallen short. I told myself I'd get a newsletter out the very next week, but then we started Czech class...and had friends come to visit...and I had four applications to process...

Another few weeks went by, and I'd failed to let anyone hear from us. I hadn't communicated our financial needs. I logged in mid-month, and I was crushed. We were now over $2500 behind. Again, I vowed to get a newsletter out immediately. And then we needed to say farewell to some very dear colleagues...and we had a meeting with the school director...and we had three doctors' appointments...and we had another meeting with our VISA agent...

I really didn't want to check in at the end of the month, knowing that my lack of communication was going to be reflected in our account balance. However, when I opened our ledger this month, I was astounded to see that we were only $483 short of our month's goal. There were some large, one-time gifts that had been sent in.

Once again, God has shown me that His care for us is not dependent on my striving, my shortcoming, or even my best intentions. I'm so very, very thankful. 

A Normal Life

A dear friend of ours posted this Facebook status:

"What would it take for me to have a 'normal' life? Just curious."

and the answers she received were everything from the ubiquitous "normal is a dryer setting" to "we can't have normal lives."

The funny thing is, as a fellow missionary, her life seems perfectly normal to me. I get where she's coming from - it would be great to feel like you actually had a home in your "home country." It would be nice to be back home and not feel as though you need to constantly explain/describe/defend why you do what you do. The idea of a dependable salary seems oh-so-appealing when you've spent the majority of your home time on the road raising support, and you're still only at 42% of your goal.

My speculation is that her quest for a normal life really isn't about her wanting to trade in her calling for a desk job and a mortgage so much as it's a desire to be understood, to belong. Really, I think that's what every one of us longs for.

This is something I've been pondering a great deal as I've struggled to keep up with correspondence. "How can I compose a letter that accurately describes what we're dealing with here? How can I keep it under 5,000 words? How can I make people understand?" But I haven't really come up with an answer.

When God called us to serve overseas, it meant leaving behind what the majority of our friends & family considered to be a "normal" life, and embracing the uniqueness and the uncertainties of life in missions. While there *are* days I wish I could trade it in for a home in the suburbs and a 9-5 job which really ended at 5, most of the time I'm grateful for this tremendous opportunity to serve Him, wherever that may take us.

Counting the Cost, Part Two

Here's another set of Q&As about raising support. To read the first installment, click here. (Yes, these are all real questions which we've been asked as we've been traveling around the country.)

Q: You're spending so much time traveling - why is that necessary?

A: We wanted to connect with as many churches, small groups and individual sponsors as possible to share with them first-hand about the ministry to which we've been called. We've found the expression "out of sight, out of mind" can be all too true. It's important to remain in contact with everyone who is a part of our support network.

Q: Will you have to do this type of support raising every year?

A: Truthfully, we hope not. While we love having the opportunity to reconnect with family & friends, it is physically and mentally exhausting to keep up that sort of pace every summer. Plus, it takes us out of the very country we feel called to serve! This is one of the reasons that we have sought continued monthly support - you can read more about that here.

Q: Your budget is more than twice what it was when you lived in Moscow. How do you justify that?

A: To understand the difference in our support needs, you first need to recognize the change in our circumstances:

• When we lived in Moscow, we were both single. We shared flats with 2 or more people (Phil's place housed 5 during his last year), which meant that we weren't shouldering the full responsibilities of rent, furnishings, utilities, or bloc fees.  We're now married - all of these payments will come out of one support account.
• When we were both single, we gave very little thought to things such as life insurance or emergency funds. However, we're expecting a child - we have to consider the needs of a family.
• This budget is about the same amount of what we would need if we were going back to Moscow. The difference is, when we lived in Moscow, we received stipends from the school at which we taught. These stipends covered 30-40% of our total monthly costs, so we didn't have to raise the full cost of living. The school in Prague cannot afford to offer us ANY financial support at this time. We're now responsible for 100% of our funding.
• It's been almost two years since we last lived overseas. Our budget is larger because the general cost of living has increased.

Q: MY family lives on less than half of what you've set as a budget - why should you need more than the average family?

A: Please keep in mind that A) we must not only cover our basic costs of living, but all of our employment taxes, premiums and service fees, and B) we're moving to a metropolitan city, which costs more than if we were living in a rural town.
As for the total amount, our budget is based on recommendations from colleagues in Prague and our own research for international costs for a family of 3. These estimates include housing, food, clothing, visas, transportation, and the like. These are our best estimates, broken down by percentage:

• 28% has been budgeted for rent, utilities & bloc fees
• 34% will go toward food, clothing, bus fare, language study, tithes & everything else for a family of 3.
• 21% will go toward taxes & service fees
• 17% goes toward health & life insurance (NOTE: This does not include the $1000 annual deductible for which we are also responsible.)

Financial matters are a sensitive area for any family, and this is true for us as well. We are willing to share these details with you because we believe this is part of being accountable for the funds given to our ministry.

Why Monthly Matters

Yesterday we announced that we were nearly at 90% of our monthly support goal. After recalculating, it turns out that we're just above 85% in pledges. It's not a huge difference, but it is a difference. Our support account has a positive balance, but we are still in need of the last 15% of monthly support.

Why does it matter whether or not we have 100% of our support in regular pledges? Great question. Here are some answers:

• We are required to submit a total estimate of our financial needs, based on a monthly budget. This budget is then used to structure our "salary", which is paid to us at the end of each month. 
• Should our salary be more than the total amount of pledges received, this could eventually lead to a serious account deficit, which might require us to return to the US sooner than expected.
• If we receive a gift which has no commitment attached, we have to count it as a one time gift, because there is no indication that the contributor plans to support us in the future.
• Although we have been given some very generous one-time gifts, we cannot always count these as part of our total monthly support because inevitably this money will be used to cover donations which were forgotten to be sent, or regular commitments which were cancelled before the end of our term.

Another very positive thing about donations sent as regular pledges is that for that moment, we are very much in someone's thoughts, which frequently prompts them to pray for us. This prayer support is every bit as vital as the financial gift.

We're continuing to trust in God's timing and in His provision for all that we need to serve in Prague for these next 4 years.

Counting the Cost, Part One

"Why are you raising your support?"

"Why is your budget so large?"

"Where does all that support go?"

These are questions we're asked frequently as we're crisscrossing the country. There are no simple answers - each one could have a multi-layered response. Here, in a series we're titling "Counting the Cost", we'll do our best to help you understand why we must raise our support & where it all goes during the course of a year.

Q: Why are you raising your support?

A: We are called to serve in international Christian schools. Some schools pay a salary; some offer partial stipends and/or housing allowances; some provide nothing at all. When we were praying over where it was God might want us to serve, it was tempting to look only at the schools which paid full salaries. Sure, we could have picked a place which offered at least a housing allowance, but that wasn't where we were being called to go. The Lord didn't lead us to serve in a large school where all benefits were provided. He asked us to serve a small school in the Czech Republic, which can't afford to offer us any financial support at this time.

Q: With which organization are you going?

A: We serve through Resourcing Christian Education (RCE) International. This is the same organization which helped us to serve in Russia. RCE's sole purpose is to see teachers sent to international Christian schools as quickly & efficiently as possible. Please visit the RCE website to learn more about our sending organization.

Q: What is your support for?

A: EVERYTHING. Although our salary, insurance, and ministry expenses are managed by RCE, we must raise 100% of the funds which will cover these costs. It's similar to being self-employed - not only must we raise the actual amount of support for our monthly living expenses, we must also raise enough money to cover all of the taxes (both employee & employer portions), the insurance premiums, and the 8% service fee.

Q: What does RCE provide for you?

A: RCE processes all of our donations, keeps records of all of our donors, issues tax-deductible receipts for every gift, mails a newsletter with every receipt, sends out reminders to any donors who may have lapsed, and supervises every deposit & debit made to our ministry account. They also provide us with a W2 every year, which helps tremendously in filing income tax returns.
Through RCE, we are able to purchase our medical insurance, which offers excellent international coverage as well as emergency evacuation insurance.

Q: Why not go with (insert name of nationally-known mission organization here)? Then you wouldn't have to raise so much! 

A: That's both true and false. While there are some mission agencies that would not require us to raise our own support, they have high demands in other areas, and they would require us to spend more time in training for a ministry with which we are already very familiar. Yes, there are some agencies that do provide insurance or cover employer taxes, but they also have a much higher service fee (12-14%) and their minimum monthly support goals are often higher. One of the things we've experienced during our time overseas is that teachers fall outside of the traditional missionary paradigm. Perhaps we'll address that in a separate post.

Q: How do you know what sort of a budget to set?

A: Our budget was made based on the recommendations of others already serving in Prague, on estimates given to us by other families serving in Eastern Europe, and on statistics we researched online. While $5500 per month does seem to be very high compared to the cost of living in Niceville, FL or Jefferson City, MO, it's actually on the average to lower side for where we will eventually be. Less than two-thirds of this comes to us as a "personal" salary. We will live as conservatively as possible.

Raising financial support is a challenging part of accepting the call to serve overseas. Yes, there are days we wish we didn't have to ask so often for so much - it's humbling, to say the least. God has called us to serve internationally, and we're choosing to be obedient to the direction He's taking us, even when it's difficult and uncomfortable. We've seen Him provide in amazing ways in the past; we know He is able to do so again.

Worth the Wait

Visa Application Charges - $254
Translation Services - $320
Notary Fees - $30
Postage & Courier Fees - $120

Two 6-Month Visas to Czech Republic- PRICELESS