Newsletters

March 1999

Life on the Support Trail

Some of you may wonder what life has been like for us as we raise our support. Where do we live? Do we have other jobs? How do we support ourselves? Is it hard asking people for money? We would like to tell you a little about what it is like being a Campus Crusade missionary raising support.

I have known for years that I wanted to work with Campus Crusade for Christ, and I eagerly anticipated the time that I could devote all of my working hours to reaching college students for Christ. But always in the back of my mind was this lingering fear of the time that I would have to hit the support-raising trail. When those fears arose I would just try to forget about them and this worked all the way up until the time that we left training this summer and were officially raising support. 

There have been some aspects of this process that have been difficult. We have never been in a situation like this, where we had to trust God fully to provide for us. It has not always been easy to trust Him. It has also not been easy to remember that when people give to us they are also giving to the Lord. When we do remember this it helps us maintain proper perspective when asking others for support.

However, when we step back and look at what God has done, we are grateful for how He has provided for us. Before we began this process we did not know where we would live or how we would afford living there. My parents and Shelly's parents have been gracious in allowing us to stay with them while we raise support, and so we have not had to worry about paying rent. 

Nate's parents' house this past January after the big snow storm

Shelly has been able to work in occupational therapy on an "as needed" basis with a local hospital. Also, both of us have worked occasionally for my parents' flower shop. These jobs have given us a little extra income to help us through this time. But we would not be able to devote the time needed to raise our support if we did not have your help. Your gifts to our ministry have allowed us to devote the majority of our time to raising the funds needed to begin our work at Michigan. We thank God for your partnership in our ministry! 

A "Tail" of Two Kitties

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . especially when you are a cat who is used to being in charge. That describes both cats that now reside in my parents' house. The first cat here was my parents' fourteen year-old cat Snuggles, and she had the whole place to herself. Then along came our four year-old cat, Shady. Needless to say, they have had their run-ins, and we now must keep them separated. But both cats now seem to like their situation quite well. Shady has more windows to look out of from our upstairs "apartment" than she did in Dallas, and Snuggles has more laps to lay on than she did before we moved in. And we like our living situation pretty well also. We have a bedroom, bathroom, office (sewing room - he keeps forgetting that!), and guest room all to ourselves. Still, we all look forward to having our own place again. 

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