Rich?

The annual median household income in Guatemala is just over $2700.

Our goal is to raise $2500 per month in support.

Wait... Doesn't that mean that we'll be living on as much per month as what many families do per YEAR!?

(We've gotten that question several times already, so I thought this would be a good place to clarify.)

The answer is yes. And no.

Yes - we will have more financial security than most of the people around us. But, that's kind of one of the things that is bringing us to Guatemala - to try to help those who are so desperately impoverished. It's difficult to explain just how different the standard of living is for an 'average' poor Guatemalan than it is for an 'average' poor American. Like, no-comparison-at-all different. Sure, we could probably figure out how to live on $2700 a year, like they do, but that also means we'd be subject to water and food borne illness, lack of medical care, malnutrition, limited education for our children, etc, etc, etc. Plus, we don't know two other families with whom we can share a three bedroom house, so I think we'd be at a severe disadvantage in that arena.

Also, we're going to have a lot of expenses that Guatemalans do not. For example - American car insurance, American life insurance. American car tags. American classes to maintain our professional licenses. American health insurance. American storage unit fees. American passport fees. And, let's not forget - American taxes. We dearly love the blessings that come from being a citizen of the good ol'  U.S. of A. But, we'll have to pay for those blessings, just like everyone else.

Perhaps the most important difference, however, the requires us to have 12 times the income of a Guatemalan family (which does sound staggering, I admit...) is that we're not going just to survive, or to live, or even to thrive. We're going there in order to give. We want to give people the good news about Jesus. We want to give hope. We want to give love. And, in order to do that, we'll need money. (Strangely enough, it turns out that giving isn't usually free.)

The support that we get from friends, family, small groups, and churches (which we are OH-SO grateful for!) is what will ensure that people in Guatemala will get to feed their souls, along with their bellies.

It means receiving eternal salvation, as well as receiving safe drinking water.

It means a family getting to have a Bible to study, and getting school supplies so their children can study at the local school.

So, I guess you can say that the support we'll receive of $2,500 per month will make us rich - but mostly in our ability to enrich the lives and eternities of others. And for that, we can't thank you enough!