Farm Fun and Funding

Nancy, Anna and I were asked to visit Clarkston MI, where on Sunday night I gave a presentation about ourselves, India, and micro-banking to Oakland Woods Baptist Church. What fun to stand in front of people, and scary too. It was good of me to read 1 Corinthians 2:1 before going up, even Paul was not a polished speaker though many lives have changed from his actions and words and writing.

The next day Nancy and I did not want to go straight back to SouthBend, so we stopped in AnnArbor at Domino Farms. There is one picture here of Anna with a young donkey, but many more pictures were taken. See them at

picasaweb.google.com/ryan3120k Even a farm is training for India, I mean we are told that it will smell, and you will have to watch where you step, it will be noisy... kinda like a farm?

Speaking of India, how about a quick update: We are closer to going! We are getting more of the support we need. There are 7 self professed prayer warriors plus another 12 people that have said they will pray for us. (There may be more that we do not know about, if you are praying for us please let us know that way we can keep you up to date with specific prayer needs.) Second is funding. Praise God we have $19,739 pledged, checks for $12,500 are being held for us. and $400 a month is promised while we are there. That $12.5K will get us there and support us for about 3 months. And the $400 is about 1/3 of what is needed each month.

I need to make something clear, all the budget talk I give is estimates, they are based on a research and conversations with people living in Chennai India. I can make no promise that we will spend exactly 200 rupees ($4) a day on rickshaw travel for work but it give us an idea what to expect. The total cost for us will be $28,000 to $45,000, with much prayer we feel lead to plan on support of $30,000. But there are some special costs that will need to be covered. 6 months after we are in India we will need to leave for 2 weeks to renew our visas and return. We would fly to Thailand or Philippines to do that, estimated at $3000, then our flights home... another $3-4k at the end of our year. Plus at the beginning of our trip we may have to pay $5,000 for an apartment security deposit. We may need to travel to Pune, India or buy a computer or bike, as these needs are made known to us we will share with you.

Thank you if you have thought about supporting us, please do not be offended if we ask again for more money, we are trusting that we will be supported to the exact amount needed. That means some people will give a lot, and some none, as they feel lead. It is our hope that all will pray. We will go when we have about $25,000 pledged, trusting that the remaining $5-10k will be covered while we are in the field. As said before all funds are being sent to Interserve in Upper Darby, PA. If you are giving put our name or act #35100 in the memo line.

Thank You, and God bless you this holiday weekend, Nancy and I will be going to my parents cabin, it is our hope it will not be like last time when we got the flu, see the past posts on our website for more on that trip.

Ryan