Hello Everyone!
It has been a crazy nine months. God has been doing some incredible
things, and I can’t believe how time flies. Most of you know that Kelsi and I
planned on coming home in March. That word “plan” is a funny word. There are so
many verses in the Bible about how we make plans, but ultimately God is the one
who directs everything. Part of that directing was bringing Abigail Roat and
Lily Niet into our lives. Kelsi and I always wanted to adopt; although, we did
not plan on adopting when we came to Cambodia—we planned and God directed. We have been blessed in the last nine months
with much support both in prayer and financially. I echo Paul’s words to the
Philippians:
“I thank my God in all my remembrance
of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” -Philippians
1:3-5 ESV
Working with the children of BYKOTA
House has been fantastic. I hope that everyone has had time to read on our blog
the things that God has been doing, but I think when you boil down all the
stuff, it simply comes to loving on kids and sharing the Gospel, everyday.
This letter is an interesting thing to
write. I have written support letters before, but none while on the mission
field. Instead of telling you of everything we are planning to do, I simply
want to direct you to read the rest of the blog...
Being here has some advantages: we must trust God. I would like to share
our situation now with you, understanding that God will provide. We are in
Cambodia, with two daughters, living with Mark and Rhonda Benz. Financially we
have had amazing support and have been living on $1,000 a month. We had some
savings when we first came, but now we have maybe $500 dollars in our savings
for plane tickets to come home, and other expenses that go along with that. We
are full time, volunteering, team members with Mark and Rhonda Benz. We are
here until God says that it is time to go home—with the adoptions we are unable
to give a date of return. We have had months in which there was plenty, and
months in which we squeaked by until the 20th (which is the date a
large chunk of our support comes). Every time something came up in which we
needed a little extra for some expense, there was support for it. God provides
each month, and we do not starve—more importantly, Abby and Lily have eaten
every day, and Abby’s hair no longer has the orange highlights of malnutrition.
God is great and we are not worried about our needs, because we believe what
Jesus says:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be
anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about
your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more
than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor
gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his
span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of
the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so
clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we
drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6:25-33 ESV)
This is our plan, while we live in
Cambodia. Kelsi and I plan on seeking first the Kingdom of God and His
Righteousness, and understand that God will provide everything we need.
Someone asked the other day how much
we needed per month to live in Cambodia. I think that $1,200 is a good number.
The girls have added some extra expenses, but mostly our expenses come to about
that much. I could break down each expenditure; however, I will simply tell you
that we have rent each month that totals to $300 and food varies wildly from
$300-$600, based on the prices of each item (and whether we can find the item).
It is more expensive to find food in Cambodia, if you eat American food, and
Kelsi does all of our cooking. We eat Khmer food every once in a while, but
being here nine months, the novelty of eating foreign food left the minute home
sickness arrived ;) On top of those expenses are the unusual expenses of
school, doctor, tuk tuks (transportation), and other random things that come up
in a month. All in all, Kelsi does the budget and she says that $1,200 is how
much we spend month to month.
I have explained that we also will
need plane tickets eventually to come home. These will come to around $1,300
per person, through a travel agent (which Mark and Rhonda suggest). Rather than
doing a huge fund raiser when the time comes to return home, Kelsi and I would
like to save the money slowly and have it when it comes time to buy plane
tickets.
When it comes down to it, we are
trying to bring our monthly support up to $1,500/month. Whether God will
provide that amount, we don’t know, but we do know that He will provide exactly
what we need.
We would like for you to pray about financially
supporting us here in Cambodia on a monthly basis. I know that everyone
receiving this letter is already praying for us, and I want you to know that
the prayer is much more important than the giving. I also want to add that our
giving should be based on obedience. When I ask you to pray, I am not just
using nice words. I really believe that God will speak into the hearts of those
that are meant to give. Just as Samuel said to King Saul,
“Has the LORD as great delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel
15:22 ESV)
If you would take a moment and listen
for God’s voice to lead, that would be wonderful. I pray that God provides for
all your needs and that we will be a people who give out of obedience and joy.
Thank you for your prayer and support these last nine months, and I thank my God
each day for all of you and your willingness to be used by Him in the years to
follow. God bless!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
If God has called you
to be a financial partner with us, the following are the ways to donate:
Ways to donate:
Online/Debit:
Go to https://co.clickandpledge.com/
Checks: Make check out
to NTNI (Nation to Nation International) with 777-Cambodia written in the memo
line. Mail check to: Here to Serve 422 W. Highland Ave. Carthage, MO. 64836
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