Admin Fee: 10%
Tithe: 10%
Rent: $230
Electric/Water: $150
Transportation/Ice and Drinking Water: $170
Khmer Lessons: $32
Uin: $50
Groceries: Remaining money divided by four
Admin Fee: This is the money that our organization takes out of our donations to cover their costs. They are the ones who deposit our money into our account each month, and make sure our tax forms are ready each year.
Tithe: This is given to our home church here in Phnom Penh--International Christian Fellowship--where I lead worship each Sunday. Kelsi and I believe that it is a commandment from God to tithe, and so even though we do not receive a pay check, we still feel like we should tithe off of what God has given us (even the Levites were told to tithe off of the gifts that were given to them). We usually tithe off of what we actually receive in our bank account (after the admin fee has been taken out)
Transportaion: The cost of tuk tuks varies each month, but we have found that on average, we spend about $150 on tuk tuks. We have to buy water jugs for drinking water, and also ice, but the cost is minimal and $20 usually covers it.
Uin is a dear friend of both the Benz family and ours. She comes three times a week and helps us keep up on keeping the floors cleaned (a feat in Cambodia with doors and windows always open and with all the dust) and really anything else around the house. She does dishes, if they need to be done, and also hangs laundry. She is a wonderful sister in Christ, and a huge blessing to us, and you should pray for her.
Groceries: We take the remaining money and divide it by four (weeks), and then that is our spending money for each week for the month for food, doctor visits, and any other costs that pop up.
To give a more numerical value to these, I will give you an example of a typical month. We usually receive about $1,200. That means that what is placed into our account is $1,080.
Admin Fee: $120
Tithe: $110
Rent: $230
Electric/Water: $150
Transportation/Ice and Drinking Water: $170
Khmer Lessons: $32
Uin: $50
Groceries: $85 per week
This month, we had something not great happen. Our home church gave us $1000 for foster care (that WAS great), but it also meant that the 10% admin fee was $100 more this month than usual--we have $970 for this month. Kelsi and I are in a pretty tight place, since we also have some extra costs for preparations to make a visit back to the States. We have said before that our lives would be more comfortable with closer to $1,600 coming in before the admin fee (which would give us about $150 per week for our grocery/every other non-budget cost). We have been stretching pretty thin the last couple months. I know those of you who read our blog are already supporting us financially, and we would rather not have those people already giving to give more, because we know that it is hard financially for everyone. We would just ask that you would pray about what God would have you do. Maybe pass along our information to a friend? I don't know really what to do, other than continue to thank God for providing and pray that He would continue to give us exactly what we need. It seems lately that He thinks we need a lot less than we think we need, but maybe that is a lesson we need to learn. Please pray for us to be wise with the funds entrusted to us, and that God really would provide for all our needs.
If you would like to support us one time specifically for this month, please follow the steps in the "Support Us" tab and then send us an email at micah.kelsi@gmail.com letting us know that you have given, so that we can have our admin place that money into our account as soon as possible.
Thank you to everyone who has been blessing Kelsi and I with support. Kelsi pointed out that over the last two years we have only lost a handful of supporters. Your loyalty to us and obedience to God is an encouragement to us.
BecauseHeLives,
The Bergens.
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