January 2007
Dear Friends & Family,
This truly is an excited time for us in our life. We are not only getting ready to welcome our little girl into the world, in just a short few weeks but we are in a way birthing our ministry as well. We are in the final time of preparation for leaving for Thailand. In the same way that we see the due date of our little girl approach we can see our departure date in the distant future, January 2008.
We were so happy that many of you were able to join us at our presentation about our plans for work in Thailand this past November. It was such a special night to see you excited and interested to hear our heart and to be able to share it with you. So thank you. For those who couldn't make it we would love to send you a copy of the presentation packet and copied DVD if you would like it please just contact us.
This next phase of preparation we will focus on sending a series of letters devoted to how we can partner together to reach the lost in Thailand. This is unfortunately somewhat less exciting than getting to write to you about the real lives we are meeting and impacting everyday in Thailand, but before we can do that we must set a good foundation. The series The Need for Senders, will be 7 letters outlining different ways to serve. In addition we will include certain specific needs as they arise so that even now we can begin to see God's hand touching this process and answering these needs.
We love all of you very much and look forward to what this next year will bring!
Tim and Amy Hupe
714-318-8835
714-313-9100
19 Bryant St #2
Salem, Ma, 01970
The Need for Senders
“…and how shall they (go) preach except that they be sent?” Romans 10:15, here Paul establishes the vitality of cross-cultural-cultural ministry on two level of involvement those who go and those who send. The bible tells us that “The harvest is plentiful; the laborers are few.”(Matt. 9:37) We often think of the laborers as only those who are go out to reach the world. However, Paul's ministry makes clear that both are important. His letters, repeatedly thank the churches and individuals for support, thank them for their prayers, and ask for certain specific things. Paul closes most of his letters give thanks for specific people and how they have partnered with him in the work of God, in 1 Cor.16 Paul gives thanks for a specific couple who have 'refreshed his spirit'.*
Those who go and those who serve as senders merge their callings and talents and gifting to form the cross-cultural outreach team. All are equally important. All are vitally involved in the fulfillment of the work God has called them to do. All are dynamically integrated and moving towards the same goal.* We as a couple believe two things with all of our heart; that God has called us to working in Thailand for those who are desperately hurting and that many of you are part of that calling. We will have many different needs over the next year as we get ready to leave and over the years we spend in Thailand, the most important of these is relationship. We want to invite you to not only play role in our support but to be in relationship with us; to experience the joy of this service with us, to feel that you are part of this amazing ministry. Please let us know how we can serve you, how we can if we can make you feel more connected to us and the suffering that we are called to serve.
Over the next six months we will continue through this series, outlining the need for senders. Each month we will send a letter devoted to one of the six areas that senders can use their specific gifts, many of you will fit into more than one category. These six areas are; moral support, logistic support, financial support, prayer support, communication support, and re-entry support.
*borrowed from the book Serving As Senders by Neal Pirola
This is our updated budget that includes the cost of the Word Made Flesh retreat, every three years all staff members attend a retreat for a time of rest, community building and spiritual growth and renewal. We are fortunate to have this retreat fall this July while we are preparing to go, it will be a great time to meet those members of the community that have been serving in various countries and a time to become even more connected to the community as a whole.
Additionally as we said at our presentation, asking for support is always the hardest part for us as missionaries. We realized that America is an extremely expensive place to live and many of us just barely get by. So we ask first and foremost that you would pray for this financial burden. We know and believe that God is great and can and will provide all our needs, we also affirm that it is somehow in Gods design for people to partner with each other. It is at this point in the journey that our strongest felt need is financial support, we must raise the retreat costs by July, in addition we must raise in the next 12 months at least $750 dollars a month to reach out budget by the departure date of January 2008.
Budget
Pre-departure
3 months salary $1575.00
3 months insurance $1110.00
Roundtrip airfare $5,200.00
Total pre-departure needs $8,910.0
WMF Retreat $800.00
Monthly while living on field
$250 Living expenses
$200 Student Loan Gross salary needs 524.56/month
$40 administration
$45 staff retreat expense
$40 &n
bsp; personal development/spiritual enrichment
$370 health insurance
$430 air travel Admin/Field costs $925/month
total monthly needs with 13% WMF admin. costs $1638.50
Additional Financial Needs
$40,000.00 in outstanding student loans, I know this sounds crazy so just pray, in The Cross and the Switch Blade, the true story of the birth of the Teen Challenge Ministry, David Wilkerson saw through prayer $15,000.00 dollars, the second half of their ministry center mortgage given in one day. This was in the 50's so 15 thousand dollars was a much bigger sum, maybe comparable to my loans.