I know… the title of today’s blog post is a little bit cryptic at first glance, but it’ll make sense less than 400 words from now.

15 weeks

It was roughly fifteen weeks ago that we held our first service, in McAdam NB, promoting, and seeking support for, our AIM term in France. Since then we’ve been in eleven churches throughout New Brunswick and Quebec, with both old friends and new, discussing what the LORD has put on our hearts for the next two years. Time has flown, our car has racked up a lot of kilometers and our kids have gotten a lot of experience doing homeschool in the car!

Although not all of our support has come in during those 15 weeks (some came before), a majority of it has. Here’s where we stand to date:

• We are currently sitting at roughly 38% of our budget either given or committed to*.
• 52% is from monthly partners.
• 48% is from one-time donations.
• The amount committed to-date is already the equivalent of 37 monthly $50-partners.

(The 38% assumes that current partners maintain their PIM commitment during our entire stay in France. It also includes a few individuals who have let us know that they will be partnering, but have not yet begun.)

Still… how does 32=38 ?

So in terms of my cryptic title… you’ve probably figured out that the 38 refers to the percentage of support that has already been committed… so what’s the 32 represent?  “32” is the number of churches and individuals which, combined, have committed to 38% of our funding.

• 15 churches or individuals have committed to and/or
  have already begun to give roughly $23,500 in monthly pledges and
• 17 churches or individuals have committed to and/or
  have already given roughly $21,600 in one-time donations.

Now you have it… 32 really does equal 38. It is not some kind of “new math”, rather it’s just a way of expressing how God is working through incredible men, women and churches to support very normal people who desire to do something for the Lord and ultimately for the people of France.

There are many families who are able to step out of their comfort zone and, by faith, involve themselves in another corner of God’s kingdom here in North America. In our case, God has equipped us both linguistically and culturally, and has been preparing us, in such a way that going to France presents relatively few obstacles. Not everyone can say that. We are simply taking what the Lord has done in us and giving it back to Him.

Looking Ahead

In order to ensure that we leave with the promise of full support, we still need the equivalent of 65 more $50/month partners willing to support us for the entire duration of our appointment. Of course some of that number will be off-set by other churches or individuals who will (a) give more than $50/month and (b) prefer to give one-time offerings; as can be seen by the 48% above, one-time donations make a huge difference and we are grateful for both.

This Weekend

As you read this post, we are preparing to minister in three Prince Edward Island churches tomorrow. We look forward to discovering this part of the Atlantic District, with Pastors Donald Hood (Charlottetown) and Troy Wickett (Summerside / Alberton). We’re thankful for the opportunity to be there and will tell you more about it in next Wednesday’s post.

Until then… God bless you today!
Thank you for your interest… let this info feed your prayers for us!