“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 6:2-4

I said in my post the other day that I wanted to brag on our supporters.  I fully believe what Christ said in the verses above, that giving is in secret-between the Lord and the giver, so except for our supporting churches, we don’t talk about who else supports us. It’s not our right to do so.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t talk about how great our supporters are without naming names, though. (:

We have an amazing group of people who have become our prayer and financial support teams.  Some of them are family or friends who we have known for a long time, others are people we didn’t know before this process and who have become our friends and “family.”  We would never seek personal gifts, but are so very thankful for our supporters who not only give to our ministry, but also have done things for our family personally.  We had a supporter buy a book for Samuel because it was an Asian version of a fairy tale and thought he’d like it.  One of supporters spent time looking for a homeschool book for me.  Another bought sandals for Samuel for him to grow into because they were a good deal and the supporter knew we’d use them.  We had several people send us gifts at Christmastime just because.  Like I said, we don’t seek these gifts, but they are so appreciated.

The one that really brought tears to my eyes was a gift we received this week.  A supporter sent me an email asking for our mailing address to send a note.  The next day I opened the mailbox and found an envelope from the supporter.  It wasn’t just a note, a check to us was included as well.  This month, of all months, those funds were very much appreciated.  It’s not like we were going to go hungry or not be able to pay rent or anything like that, but Toffer had done some extra work in April that we thought was going to be on his May paycheck and it got delayed to his June paycheck.  We had planned Benjamin’s birthday party, a wedding gift for Toffer’s brother, and a few other things based on that money coming in.  Usually Toffer only getting paid once a month isn’t a big deal, but this month not having those funds and having to wait a whole month to get them was going to make things a little tight by the end of the month.  And then we got that check.  It just screamed “Becky-I know what your needs are. I will provide. Stop worrying so much!!  Love-God.”  At a time when finances for our ministry are so crucial and we’re anxiously waiting for pledges to come, God provided in a totally unexpected way.  I know He provides.  We have some great stories of His provision throughout our marriage.  This is just one more.  We are so thankful for the people who are part of this journey and who love God and us so much to give generously and sacrificially to make our dream and call to Asia a reality.  And we’re excited to see how God is going to provide the rest of the funds for our ministry.