2020 Progress Update

February 12, 2020

In our last update in December, we shared that we were 67% supported.

As of today, we are 79% supported!

Woohoo!!!

Things are looking good for us to be able to leave in July!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have prayed for us and partnered financially with us to get to this point. We appreciate you, and more importantly God is pleased. This past Sunday as we were presenting at a church, one of the pastors praised God that the gifts from his church were going to be responsible for adding a new language sung around the throne. Wow. How exciting is that?

Below are a few questions we get asked frequently -

What do your days look like?

Thankfully, right after Erin was born this past February, Nate’s brother was able to get him a part-time job at his landscapers' supply company. Recently, Nate’s also been doing freelance web development work for some extra money. We fit in our meetings and conversations with people and logistical paperwork for Papua New Guinea throughout the week.

I’m just living that stay at home mom life while Nate works and does much of the getting in touch with pastors and churches. Then we switch off Erin and I work on support raising by coordinating get-togethers with people and working on our presentations that we tag-team at churches and meetings.

How much more money do you need to be at 100%?

We hear this question a lot and it can be confusing for people. Raising funds to be a career missionary is very different from raising funds to go on a short term missions trip. There’s not a lump sum amount that we need. Instead, we need people who will commit to giving monthly or annually. Only amounts of money that are recurring and consistent count toward our support level.

To get to 100% we need $1,515 more a month.

Let me clarify though that we are NOT saying we don’t need one-time donations. We certainly do! One time donations have enabled us to get our passports, visas, vaccinations (do you know how much the Japanese encephalitis series costs?) and soon our plane tickets and luggage. We also will need several thousand dollars to buy solar panels when we get to our tribe and several more thousand to build our house as there’s no such thing as taking out a mortgage in the jungle.

If you’re only able to give a one-time gift, that helps and has helped tremendously. I can’t wait to write all of your names on the wall of our tribal house and be reminded of all the people we love dearly who made this happen.

All that to say, the only way to get our support level to move up from 79% is by committing to a monthly gift or an annual gift.

If you’re interested in becoming a monthly or annual supporter or in giving a one-time gift, visit the Support page on our website to see the different ways you can give.

Our current support team consists of 66 individuals and families and three churches. (You’ll recognize them if you’re familiar with the Winston Salem area.) -

Grace Bible Church - Our home/sending church
Center Grove Church
Collide Church

Do you guys need anything?

You! We say it all the time, but we really need you to be an advocate for us.

  1. Please talk to your pastor for us or missions leader, especially if you’re in North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. Tell them what we’re doing and ask if they’d be willing to get together with us and hear about unreached people groups in Papua New Guinea.
  2. Think about the believers you know. Do you have a relative, friend or coworker who might be interested in personally supporting a missionary? We’ve done emails, phone conversations or video chats with people who are far away or we’ve done in-person get-togethers with those close by. And even if someone can’t support us financially but just wants to hear more about the unreached people groups still left in the world, we love to share about that too. There aren’t any strings attached to speaking with people.
  3. Tell your small group leader or Sunday school teacher about us and ask if they’d be willing to let us come share. We’ve had several supporters join our team from Sunday School classes and small groups.

Thank you guys for your part in getting the gospel to the ends of the earth. The Lamb that was slain deserves his reward. Let us press on to give it to him.

Laura