End of Year Giving

I don't often talk about finances. In fact I think this week is the first time I will have ever written anything about money in one of my blog postings. As you know, William and I are here in the USA over the holidays. During our time here we have had a lot of great conversations connecting with a lot of great people. During some of these conversations it's come to my attention that many people don't understand just how our ministry is funded. So I figured what better time than in the last few days of the year to explain?

Since we have been in the states we have been asked the question "What are your needs?" on a regular basis. And it is true that there are some items that we need to purchase while we are here in the states to take back with us to Kenya. But quite honestly our biggest physical need (we have no need as great as the one for prayer!) is financial support.

We work for a Christian non-government-mission organization. Now that's a mouthful! It's rather small with only a handful of Western missionaries on staff. Because it isn't a huge organization the ministry doesn't have a huge budget. Due to this fact William and I are required to raise both our salary and our ministry funds. I'm finding that many people are surprised by this. A lot of you probably knew that we had to raise our own salary but may be surprised to know that we have a financial responsibility in helping our ministry to happen as well.

In truth more than half of our monthly budget is used for ministry purposes that are not related to our daily living expenses. When we work with a family like Chelagat's we don't have an official fund to tap into. We simply take the funds out of our own account. The same goes for many purchases like new equipment, seeds for William's home-based-care patients etc.

Our current monthly giving is about 50% of our projected budget for 2009. So yes, one of our purposes for being here in the States right now is to try to bring that figure up closer to the projected budget. I don't want to make this a sappy message pleading for donations. But I do want to say that we would not be doing what we do in Africa without the support of financial partners around the world. The work we do happens because of people like you who help make it happen. One of our supporters recently said "I know I'm not the one physically delivering those babies, but when you deliver a baby I feel like I've been a part of it." And in a way it is true!

You should know that 100% of donations made to our account go into our account. If you have further questions please feel free to send me an e-mail here. I'd be happy to answer questions or even get together to chat while we are in CA.

So why get this information out today? Well because it seems like the end of the year is a good time to talk about tax-deductible-donations. If you would like to make an end-of-the-year gift it does need to be postmarked or electronically posted by December 31st. Every donation whether small or large helps. Some people choose to make one annual donation; others make monthly contributions. Some sign up for electronic monthly giving and others send donations at sporadic times throughout the year. We have had donations as big as $1,500 and as small as $10. Every little big makes a difference.

So how do you give? You can give electronically be following the links from the ELI Home Page or you can make a check payable to Empowering Lives Int'l. If you choose to write a check our name should not appear on the check. In the memo section you should write "Fund 323" which is our account number at the office. Checks can be mailed to:

Empowering Lives International
P.O. Box 67
Upland, CA 91785

Remember that for donations to count towards this years taxes they need to be postmarked or electronically posted by the 31st. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact William and I!