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Praying God's provision as of February 2010 Special Requests for this month:
As we begin this year, we find ourselves in the midst of what we call; "The Perfect Storm" financially speaking.
- In March, (in two weeks from today the 4th), our lease renewal fee and required fire insurance are due. Cost: $1200
- We have three impending expenses for which we are praying very hard for God's provision: Belinda broke one of her front teeth before we left for the US this year. Our stateside dentist said the tooth was lost and could not be saved. She would need an implant, it would cost about $3500 and it would take months to accomplish. We didn't have that kind of money nor could we stay in the U.S. for several months. We prayed hard and when we returned to Japan, she visited her dentist here. Good news: He is able to repair the tooth and and give it stability by placing two new crowns together. The whole procedure would cost $1800 and take only weeks. Someone in the church helped us cover the first half and her procedure is proving successful. We still need to pay the other half of the work.
- This month our bi-annual vehicle inspection and taxes are due. Cost: $1100
When we came to Japan, we were completely debt free. We carry no credit cards. We live by Faith month to month.
- These next two are big expenses and so are praying someone will feel that God is asking them to provide: Due to our lack of understanding of how to file taxes as overseas missionaries, we incurred a large amount of taxes and penalties during our first years here. At this time our support and taxes are being handled, with no administration fees, by GoMinistries out of Calvary Chapel Norco. Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara is still our supporting church and family. GoMinistries provides this financial administration as their ministry to many missionaries throughout the world. Thanks to the ministry of CC Norco, this tax burdent will be prevented from happening again in the future. Though our current year taxes are now under control, we are still under the burden of the taxes from the previous years. We have been making monthly IRS payments, but if this tax burden could be provided for in whole, we could add those payments back into our regular monthly support. Expense: About $5000
- Another essential for us is our computers: A great majority of all our computer work for the mission of the church and more, is done on our own personal computer. Between the school, Bible Study, Website ministries, video production for VBS (we translate ALL the audio and video into Japanese!), and many other projects throughout the year, supporting the multi-lingual environment in a practical way, and just simply staying in touch with everyone, our computers are really important to the ministry. Our laptops are getting pretty old (screen and keyboards are wearing out), and will in need to be upgraded. We use MACs because they work best for the kinds of work we do and are in the long run, maintainable in the country we live in. It's nearly impossible to speak the technical Japanese when needing support with a windows based system. This is an expense that only occurs about every 4 years. Cost: about $4000
We truly are thankful for all the support we receive. We know that your prayers make all the difference. We know that your ongoing prayers and support, no matter what the size, are the building blocks of our ministry here. We wish you could see first hand what God is doing.
It's really amazing how God touches lives here through your prayers and support. In general, we went out in faith that God would provide on somewhat less support then most missionaries raise. God has provided. But to be honest, it's really close every month. Living here is expensive and we feel we have been good stewards with what we have.
We are praying in faith that God would provide an additional monthly support of $500.00.
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