Ok, the title is a little dramatic. Our season of “furlough” is coming. Essentially that means going to the US for fundraising. While the typical furlough can be over a year long, we feel God leading us to attempt raising our funds within six weeks. Believe it or not, we have never taken a true furlough. While we love seeing partners, friends, and family, we have always felt drawn to shorter trips in order to maintain focus on ministry and consistency in the kid’s schooling.
Thank God, through your faithful support, we have been sustained for over 13 years, only taking short trips to raise funds and see family. In all transparency, Katy and I have postponed some much-needed personal fundraising in order to get Zoe Community up and running. Such is the entrepreneurial missionary life. We’ve invested our entire lives into the work to which God has called us.
During furlough, budgets are re-evaluated and always come with increases. These budgets cover one term (4 years) and are broken down into two categories.
Monthly budgets cover recurring expenses such as housing, utilities, insurance, income, etc.
Cash budgets cover ministry expenses, required AGWM events, travel expenses, etc.
We estimate needing to raise $3,000+ for our monthly budget and $40,000 for our cash budget. We are approved for a shortened itineration (6wks) in July to accomplish this task. To ensure an on-time return, we must raise 100% of our budget. To that end, we are beginning to raise those funds now.
Your faithfulness to give and pray (through God’s provision) is what’s taken us this far. Thank you! In the coming weeks I’ll share how you can help ensure the work continues in Ireland through Zoe Community.