Urgent prayer request

I don't often put plain prayer requests up here, but today I feel compelled to. Christian friends, please pray! We've received some very difficult news only six weeks away from our intended departure date. 

We have just been notified that OMF Australia is very concerned about our level of financial support. One of their conditions for us to return to Japan is that we have sufficient pledges of financial support to cover expected costs each year. It seems as though we are at least AU$18,000 per annum short of what they would prefer that we had promised (or 15 people promising to give $100 a month). More would help.

One causative factor is that the exchange rates have changed dramatically from last year. Another factor is that our support from Australia has been slowly dropping. This is quite a normal thing for a family who has been on the field for 18 years. In those 18 years supporters have retired, gone to be with the Lord, or had changed circumstances. We’ve had churches tell us, regretfully, that they are no longer choosing to support us. We’ve also had no new pledges of financial support this year.

Obviously this is a big concern for us. We haven’t sensed that the Lord is calling us away from ministry in Japan, on the contrary, this last term it seems as though we’ve been able to serve in ways that God has especially gifted us. We also feel that we’ve got much more to give to the work in Japan. Our boys are also happy in Japan and very keen to finish their schooling there. It seems as though everything else has lined up for us to go back: OMF Japan and CAJ want us to return and we also have been given medical clearance.

Would you pray that God does a miracle? Pray that he’d provide sufficiently that we might be able to go back as planned in early January, if that is his will. Please also pray that we would have God’s peace at this time of uncertainty about our future. We’re itching to buy those tickets to get back to Japan and the jobs God’s given us there, it’s hard to think that we might be held back from doing that for financial reasons. We really value your prayers.

David's been preaching on the latter half of Matthew 16, especially:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (vv. 33 & 34 NIV).

We probably shouldn't be too surprised at a challenge to our faith in God's supply and timing of such!

[Extra financial information: we're currently 79% supported]

If you're interested in investigating supporting us, you can go to this link to notify OMF of your intentions and get information on the best way to support us.