FAQ Friday

Happy Friday! A couple of weeks into this journey, I'm finding that I've been asked some of the same questions repeatedly. I thought a fun and informative post would be to share my answers.

Q: When are you leaving? 

A: That is dependent upon how quickly I can build a sustainable support network. My personal goal is to be in the DR by the beginning of August; the entire Latin America & the Caribbean region has a retreat starting on August 6, followed by 2 days of regional team meetings. I can't think of a more ideal way to meet everyone and jump right into the thick of things!

Q: What are you doing between now and then? 

A: My full-time job right now is support-raising. More on exactly what that looks like in a future post. 

Q: How much do you "need" to raise? 

A: My total financial profile is just shy of $100K. Roughly $70K would be sufficient to be "green lighted" for deployment, provided it's a healthy mix of congregations vs. individuals, pledges vs. one-time gifts, etc. I'm trying to think of the figure not in terms of an amount that I "need," but rather ample opportunity for God's people to support the Church's work in Latin America through me. 

Q: Where will you live?

A: When I first arrive, I'll live with another missionary family, possibly my Regional Director's. The purpose of that is to immediately build an intimate, trusting relationship with someone else in the field. Isolation is bad as a general rule and can be especially detrimental for an expat international worker. From there, I'll probably spend a few more weeks in one of several fully furnished apartments while I outfit my own digs. Either a house or apartment - with appliances - will be provided for me, and there's an IKEA in the capital city of Santo Domingo that delivers to Santiago. Don't worry, my place will likely have 2 or maybe even 3 bedrooms...aka a place for you to stay when you come visit. 

Q: What are you going to do with...

your house?

A: I'm going to start by renting it. I will come back at some point, even if it's when I retire, at which point I'll need a place to live. I might as well let it continue to build equity for me as long as I can. I'm currently in search of someone to manage the property for me so I don't get any 2 am phone calls about busted appliances. 

your stuff?

A: Anything I have an emotional attachment to will be packed into one of the 8 plastic storage bins I got for Christmas and graciously stored at my parents' house. Anything I just like because I'm a sinful, materialistic human being will be donated, given away, or sold, with the exception of a few nonessential things I'll pack and have visitors or short term teams bring me as they come down. 

your car?

A: sell it! (I'll be purchasing a vehicle there, most likely a smallish/crossover SUV.)

Freddy (my cat)?

Take him with me! I'm told missionaries have brought pets to the field before, so I don't foresee any issues so long as he is up to date on all of his vaccines. 

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of the context I'm operating in these days! If you'd like a more complete answer to something or there's another burning question on your mind, feel free to leave it in the comments; I'm an open book. 

Until next time, blessings!