October 18, 2007

prayer request and official letter

Filed under: Blog - Administrator @ 9:56 pm

I have been wanting to post this for quite some time, but have been waiting for a few final details to get cleared up, and for approval. so here is my “official” letter. give it a read, and then at the end i will add a few details for those of you who haven’t been in this loop very long.
AND AS ALWAYS THERE ARE MORE NEW PHOTOS AND VIDEOS VIA THE LINK JUST OVER TO THE RIGHT —–>

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It’s hard to believe it’s already been one year! On November 2nd I will celebrate the one year anniversary of my arrival to Monterrey. And I couldn’t have done it without you. I really can’t describe how greatly God has used each of you to further His kingdom here on Earth. I have truly had an amazing experience here in Monterrey, and God has done many amazing things – many of which I have shared with you through my monthly updates; but there are hundreds of stories that I will share with you when I arrive back in the States on December 15th. As I have previously mentioned, I am planning to stay an additional six weeks here in Monterrey. I have taken on many projects, small groups, etc; and it is best that finish out the school semester to bring better closure to it all. Two of my main focuses here are the high school youth group and the college group. In both of these groups I have leaders in training to accept the responsibility after I am gone. I am very confident in them. However, it would be very awkward to leave in the middle of the school year for these two groups. After much prayer, consultations, looking at dates/schedules, number crunching, etc, etc; I feel it is best if I stay until December 15th. For me, that was the easy part – I am confident this is what God wants me to do. But it doesn’t end there. It gets a little more complicated. As I only had a one year contract with my sending agency (GCM) I will be remaining here on my own. After November 2nd I will no longer be on staff with GCM. This may raise a few questions in your mind. And rightly so. Questions like why do you need to stay six more weeks? How will you get paid? Will you still be at the same church? Etc, etc… All very good questions, and I will attempt to briefly explain that now, but as always – feel free to email me any thoughts, comments, concerns, advice and I will happily respond.
Nothing on the Mexican side of the border is changing. Not my attitude, job description, living arraignments, or anything of that nature. Everything in regards to my ministry will remain the same. The only difference is for the final six weeks I am trusting in God to provide financial support from those of you who feel lead to continue supporting me. There will be one major difference on the American side of the border. If you are considering continuing to support me I will no longer be receiving support via GCM. So all you need to do is change who you write the checks to, and where you send them. All support for the final six weeks will have to be given to me directly. My mom is going to be handling the depositing process. It’s actually going to be very easy. I have easy atm access to my checking account back in Palos Heights (it only costs me 75cents per withdrawal, regardless of the amount). So my mom is willing to make a weekly run to the bank and deposit any checks/cash donation she receives for me. [THANKS MOM!] The only down side I can’t find an answer to is the fact that this is not tax deductible. But again, this is only a six week deal. I plan on sticking to the same budget I have been living on here for over a year, which means I will only need around $1,500 (including money for airfare to return home) to eat, sleep, and live here in Monterrey for an additional six weeks.
I know this sounds really complicated, but it is not a big deal. We serve an amazing God and I’m confident He has planned this all out in advance. I can’t thank you enough, and everyone here in Monterrey thanks you too!
I will continue to be in touch with you throughout the next several weeks, and look forward to seeing you all after I return to the Chicago area soon. Please let me know if this is at all unclear, or if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

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ok, to clear a few things up: GCM is my sending agency, I had a one year deal with them - that year ends on November 2. I want to stay with this church to finish the school semester with my high school and college groups that i am involved in. GCM and I could not come to an agreement on how much money was necessary for this six week extension. Not a big deal, we still love each other :) They are a great organization with a great vision. a vision that I love and hope God continues to bless them imensly. all this really means is that after Nov2 I am a “free agent” and they aren’t responsible for anything that happens to me.
anyways God always provides, as I will share in my next post ;) .
email me at: HavingaE (at) yahoo (dot) com if you want more info. or for whatever.

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