Our Wedding

Hello Dear Friends!  As many of you know, Luke & I are raising support to work with The Rock full-time.  Our journey has been long and hard, and it has just become increasingly desperate.

Matthew 21:22 says: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  We want to believe God for two specific miracles, but need your help!  Please, fervently pray with us RIGHT NOW for the following:

1) That we reach 80% of our recurring support goal by the end of March (explained below)
2) That we are done support raising by the end of May (also explained below)

As we said, it will take a miracle for these things to happen.  We know that our God is for us, and that He owns cattle on a thousand hills, but it feels like the enemy is trying to crush us!  We are clinging to God, and desperately want to trust Him.  Help us by praying!
 
Thank you, dear friends, for faithfully praying with us!  Please let us know if there is anything we can be prayer for you about!

If you want more explanation about who we are and our specific needs concerning the above requests, read below.  Otherwise, we are praying that the Lord blesses you!

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WHAT IS “SUPPORT RAISING”:
Support raising is done through a non-profit organization called Great Commission Ministries (GCM).  They’ve given us an account that we are responsible for, and for the past year, we’ve been meeting with people we know, asking them to support our work at Iowa State through The Rock.  

Because The Rock serves and ministers to college students, we don’t feel it right to force them to pay for their church (Friday nights) or for those who serve them (us).  That is why we rely on the financial giftings of others.  

We have a “recurring gift goal” that must be raised to 100% (it is about the amount of a starting teacher’s salary) before we can officially start our work with The Rock and ISU students.  A recurring gift is a financial gift given on a regular basis (like $15 per month).

PRAYER NEEDS IN DETAIL:

1) Luke and I need to be at 80% of our recurring gift goal by the end of this month, or we’ll be required to attend the April “Follow-Up Conference.”  We need 9% more recurring monthly support to make this happen.  That seems like a large amount.  If we don’t raise this soon, we’ll be required to spend a lot of time and money to drive to Michigan just a few short weeks before we get married.  We’ve been to two of these conferences already, and are asking God to spare us this expense!

2) Tim Borseth approached us a week ago and said he needs us to oversee the Rock this summer while he and Paul Johnson are out of town.  If we are not done support raising by June, however, we will not be able to do this.  We need 29% more recurring monthly support to make this happen.  There is no one else available full-time to coordinate and maintain the Rock.  This means that someone with a full-time job will need to take this burden on themselves.  That is a heavy burden to bear alone.

Hello, again, Dear Friends!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!  Luke and I would like to thank you for praying for us these past few weeks!  God has really answered, and we would like you to Praise God with us right now!  Here is what God has done since our last email:

1) Increased our monthly recurring support to 80% by the end of March
2) Taught us a lot about prayer, faith, and praise

Psalm 106 tells us to praise God because He is good.  This is something Luke and I have been focusing on.  Not just praising God when things SEEM good, but praising Him because He IS good.  Despite our circumstances, this is a universal truth: God deserves praise, and Luke and I hope you will join us in praising Him no matter what happens in life!

So now, Luke and I only have a small amount to raise to be done!  We need an additional 15% in recurring monthly giving to reach 100% of our goal.  Only then will we be released into full-time ministry with The Rock.  Here's the catch, we must do this by the start of June!  No worries, God did it before, and He can do it again!  Would you, please, take a moment right now to pray with us for the following miracles:

1) We'll reach 100% of our recurring gift goal by June (explained below)
2) We'll have successful support raising trips to Chicago and Iowa City (explained below)

Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for faithfully praying with us!  Please let us know if there is anything we can be praying for you!

Please show this post to as many people as you can!  If you or they want more explanation about who we are and our specific needs concerning the above requests, read below.  Otherwise, we are praying that the Lord blesses you!

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NEW PRAYER NEEDS IN DETAIL:

1) Tim Borseth would like Luke and I to oversee The Rock this summer while he and Paul Johnson are out of town.  If we are not done support raising by June, however, we will not be able to do this.  We need 15% more recurring monthly support to make this happen.  There is no one else available full-time to coordinate and maintain The Rock.  This means that someone with a full-time job will need to take this burden on themselves.  That is a heavy burden to bear alone.

2) Luke and I will be heading to a training conference in Ann Arbor, MI on the 10th of April.  Although we made it to 80%, we were still asked to come to the conference.  To make this trip as productive as possible, we will stop in Chicago on the way back (April 13-16) and then Iowa City after that (April 16-19).  Our goal is to visit current supporters, have support appointments, and encourage the saints.  Please pray with us that we will find places to stay, have safe travels, and communicate our needs in love!