“I believe all our ‘programs’ should have their genesis in true relationship. At our house, we tutor — but we did not start by deciding to do a tutoring program. We simply fell in love with kids who needed help with their homework. We feed people — but we did not begin with a decision to start a feeding program. We simply fell in love with our neighbors, and they were hungry” (Shane Claiborne, from an article titled “Downward Mobility in an Upscale World,” http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org).
Dear Friends and Family,
I woke up this morning (November 14) wondering where the first half of November has gone. Hosting a visitor for 5 days and then spending the following 5 days in bed with a head spinning with fever has not left much time for reflection on the quickly passing days. We are now two months into the fall school semester, and all of the new children we accepted into our day center program are doing well. This last week, I took an even bigger step out of my involvement in the program as a part of my transition out of my role in Romania and into my new role as field director in Moldova. I no longer have any official responsibilities with the children here but am instead filling in and helping out where I can and as there is need. This is allowing the other staff to adjust to my coming absence (as well as the absence of other staff going to Moldova) and allowing me to spend more time working on the administrative and community care aspects of our new Moldova field. Just this week we had our first training session for our Romanian staff going to Moldova, in which we talked about approaching cultural differences and about the emotional ups and downs of a cross-cultural worker’s first two years abroad.
We have set the move date to Moldova for January 15, 2010. As the date draws closer, I continually receive more and more questions about what we will do once we get to Moldova. What kind of a program will we have? Will we have a day center for children like the one in Galati? Will we do something different? It has been hard for me to respond “I don’t know” to many of these questions, especially as I struggle with knowing how to write a field budget for 2010 and how to communicate our plans to potential partner organizations.
This week, however, I was encouraged by several visitors from England who have supported the work of WMF in Romania for many years. One day, I was sharing my vision for Moldova with several of these ladies. I told them that our ministry must be birthed out of community, out of real relationship with real people in Moldova. If we come into the country with our pre-established program but without connection to the Moldovan people, our ministry is doomed to fail, I said. But if we come with a desire to be open to the people, to live among them and to know them deeply, we can respond to need in a very real and practical way. The women from England were quite delighted by this approach (“Lovely!” they said), and then prayed for me and our dreams for Moldova in a way that reassured me that God is so near to us.
In a similar spirit, I have kept the above Shane Claiborne quote at the top of my to-do list for Moldova over the past year, always reminding me that community must be our starting point regardless of the temptation to begin with a program. And it is with this thought in mind that we have slowly and prayerfully chosen four organizations with whom to collaborate during our first months in Moldova. One of these organizations has a transitional living facility for girls who have just finished 9th grade at a state-run boarding school and have nowhere to go. The others are children’s homes for those who have been abandoned or orphaned. We will begin by volunteering at these organizations, visiting state-run boarding schools and orphanages, getting involved in local churches and building relationships with our neighbors and with those we meet on the street. We hope that after six months to one year of this intense relationship-building to have a very clear direction in ministry.
As we look at the 2010 year, I’d like to be as open as possible about both my personal budget as well as our field budget. You will notice below that my personal salary is somewhat larger than it has been in the past. This is because I have never had to pay rent while living in Romania and might have to begin doing so in Moldova. I am hoping, however, to live in the same place that we use for our office/meeting space and will thus not have to pay rent out of my salary (it would come out of our field budget). So, I am hoping to be able to lower the following projected budget depending on where I live.
|
2010 Personal Budget |
||
|
Salary (day-to-day living expenses and U.S. income tax) |
|
$6,696 |
|
Work Visa and Taxes for Moldova (estimated) |
|
$500 |
|
U.S. Staff Gathering (remaining sum due in July) |
|
$536 |
|
Travel Expenses (includes airfare, field visits and staff conferences) |
|
$2,500 |
|
Health Insurance |
|
$1,644 |
|
Administrative Expenses (postage, printing, etc.) |
|
$700 |
|
Staff Development (includes language lessons, books, resources and spiritual direction) |
|
$700 |
|
Medical (the equivalent of my insurance policy’s deductible) |
|
$1,000 |
|
Administrative and Processing Fees (allowing the U.S. office to continue supporting staff members all over the world) |
|
$1,856 |
|
Total Annual Need |
|
$16,132 |
Our field budget is quite straightforward at this point in time, and much of it is subject to change as we seek more specific direction in ministry. Our two biggest expenses are rent for an office/meeting space and a stipend for a volunteer who will become full-time staff once we are an officially registered organization in Moldova.
|
2010 Field Budget |
||
|
Administrative (office supplies, telephone/internet, staff salaries, staff development) |
|
$6,480 |
|
Facilities Expenses (rent, utilities) |
|
$4,860 |
|
Start-up Expenses (lawyer and accountant consult fees) |
|
$450 |
|
Administrative and Processing Fees (allowing the U.S. office to continue supporting staff members all over the world) |
|
$1,533 |
|
Total Annual Need |
|
$13,323 |
Currently, my personal support account has 44% of what I’ll need for 2010, while the Moldova field account has approximately 11% of our projected need. If you desire to participate financially in this new ministry, you can direct your gift either to my personal support account (from which it can be used for personal needs or can be directed to the Moldova field account) or directly to the Moldova field account (just write “Moldova” under “Ministry Support”). Also, I have included an automatic deduction form if you would like to join us on a monthly basis. Currently, I have over 250 people (not counting couples or families) on this mailing list. A commitment of just $5 per month ($60 per year) from each person/couple/family would add up to $15,000 and would far exceed our projected field needs for 2010. If you have yet to join us on a monthly basis, please consider making a commitment of at least $5 per month for the year of 2010.
In his wonderful booklet The Spirituality of Fund-raising, Henri Nouwen writes, “Fund-raising is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission” (p. 3). And it is with this spirit that I want to invite you into this new way of thinking about fund-raising and giving. We are living in times that are very difficult for many, times in which many non-profits are closing their doors because the funding just isn’t there. But at Word Made Flesh we continue to press on, fervently believing in the vision to which God has called us. It is for Jesus’ sake and for his gospel that we press on in our communities around the globe, seeking to proclaim a kingdom of love and of justice in a world in which we are taught to achieve, to attain and to wrestle our way to the top. I have dreamed about planting such a community in Moldova for over two years and am as confident as ever that it is to the same vision that God continues to call us.
Thank you for your incredible faithfulness and generosity in accompanying me on this journey so far. I am continually grateful for your participation in this ministry and am amazed by the creative ways in which many of you are choosing to get involved. As an example, I was blown away when two of my good friends decided to make a donation to the Moldova field account in lieu of giving favors at their wedding this summer! I was deeply humbled as they passed out information about WMF Moldova to every single guest at their wedding.
And so it is with bold joy and faith that we ask you to consider involvement in this proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. Please pray with us as we enter into relationship with the most vulnerable of the poor in Moldova, seeking to expose the presence and love of Jesus. Join with us in giving to this movement of God in the world, daring to believe with us in the real presence of a good God who is calling us to live as people of hope.
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else” (2 Corinthians 9:12-13, TNIV).
Grace and peace,
John
PRAYER REQUESTS
1) Continue to pray for the children who come to the Valley House here in Romania as they finish up their fall school semester. Pray for grace over their lives as they continue learning and growing as part of the community here.
2) Pray for our Christmas festivities that will begin a few days before Christmas. We will have at least three evenings of caroling around the city with the children and will finish our celebrating on the evening of Christmas day with feasting, gift-giving, story-telling, singing, games and movies.
3) Pray for our staff who are in the process of preparing for the move to Moldova in January: Rachel, Magda, Annie and Iosif. All of our staff raise 100% of their salary and ministry needs, so pray that God would provide for each of them and that they would grow closer to him during this time.
4) Pray for all of the preparation that we will be doing over the next two months for the move to Moldova. From cross-cultural trainings and team discussions to all sorts of logistical issues about the move, pray that God’s grace, peace and assurance would be poured over us in abundance. Pray for the children and others with whom we will enter into community during our first months in Moldova. Ask God to make the nearness of his presence real to them.