I don’t think we’ve done any real updating since we got home from Singapore almost a month ago. I can’t believe that it’s been that long.  Samuel had a really tough time readjusting, which led to about two weeks of very little sleep for all of us and just as we were all starting to get some sleep again, I got sick.  We did celebrate Samuel’s first birthday in the midst of all the sleeplessness.  All of his grandparents joined us for the celebration and we had fun reflecting on our little guy’s first year of life.  It went by so quickly. 

We are currently working on getting out a newsletter specifically about our trip to Singapore. If you have not received our newsletters in the past and would like to, just send a message through the “contact us” page with your address and we’ll add you to our list.  It was a little therapeutic for both Toffer and I to actually write out some of our experiences.  The trip ended up being nothing like we expected, certainly harder than we expected, but it was definitely worth it and we’re glad we went. 

At this point in the process we are focused on raising support for HCJB Global for our ministry with them.  We have about $65,000 in one-time outgoing expenses to raise and then we need pledges for $8834/month for long-term support.  I don’t think we’ve previously put a breakdown of those numbers, so here it is: 

Outgoing Expenses of $65,000:
19%–Training–any training we have already done or will do before we leave
9%–Communication/Support Raising
10%–Vision Journey–the trip we took to Singapore, which actually ended up being quite a bit less-Praise God for relatively inexpensive plane tickets and free housing
13%–Shipping–for the few things we’ll take with us when we move (most of what we own will be sold or given away)
8%–Departure Travel–an estimate of what it will cost for us to travel when we move
1%–Administrative–passports, visas, etc.
23%–First Month Salary & Household Set-up–we start getting paid when we begin the training we do just before we move and then we have an amount we get to buy furniture, dishes, basic household items when we get to Singapore
17%–Administrative Fee/Confidence Factor–the administrative fee goes to HCJB Global and the confidence factor is because several of our categories are just estimates

Month Support Needs of $8834:
26%–Personal–for our personal needs living in Singapore (food, clothing, transportation, etc)
26%–Housing and Utilities–both of which are quite expensive in Singapore
9%–Social Security
3%–Retirement
2%–HRA–health reimbursement account
10%–Medical Insurance
11%–Ministry Expenses/Emergencies
3%–Travel Reserve–essentially a reserve that builds up to pay for our tickets when we come back to the US every few years for Home Missionary Assignment (furlough)
8%–Administrative Fee

If you have questions about any of this or about anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us.