To the givers, goers, and prayer warriors.

I spent the night in Mau's bed again. We've been doing this since Judah was born. One or the other of us is guaranteed to carry Mau back to bed each night and if we really want to sleep, we cede victory to Mau and stay in his bed too. Judah, however, sleeps like a boss. Classic second child we've been told.

The kids and Barry are wrestling on the couch right now. A dining chair just broke under me so i'm obviously feeling humbled. For those that have been to our house you know the chairs i'm talking about. The janky, squeaky things. We bought the table and chairs for $150 on marketplace in Auckland and of course they didn't mention that the chairs were patched up and barely holding it together. We didn't have the time or money to deal with it, so we accepted defeat on that one too and have found ourselves 3yrs later with just 2/4 chairs in-tact as of this morning. It's the kind of stuff Barry and I laugh about. Most of our furniture has been a God-story but the dining chairs are shocking! You have to laugh about it or you'll cry.

For much of this year we've worked our way through our support before the end of the month, typically rounding out with 40 bux to last our final week. We came into YWAM leadership with no kiddos, one car, and living on the YWAM base for super cheap. 6.5yrs later and we have a rental property in the city, two busy boys, two diesel cars, and travel a lot more for work both up and down the country and abroad. We weren't prepared for that kind of up-tick in our finances, so we're playing catch up now. It was a lack of prep on our end, just another thing on the to-do list that got put aside day after day, year after year. We've often struggled with what seems that for the ministry to do well - our family suffers. And for our family to do well - the ministry suffers. Yet we know we're meant to be here and do this as a family. God isn't wrong in calling us. We're not wrong for being deeply committed to both. And the two aren't in competition. God gave Adam a job in the garden that didn't impose on his intimacy with the Father. They were accustomed to walking with one another in the cool of the day. Helps that Adam wasn't doom-scrolling on social-media between naming the animals.

So what to make of us and our friends financial struggles. Have we done a poor job of sharing what we're up to and what our needs are? In our case, no doubt - this is one attempt at doing a better job inviting you in to our daily lives. Are missionaries a pain in the butt for living on support while others have pressing needs too? Some certainly think so. Whatever the reasons, we all want to be more consistent in connecting and sharing what we're up to, and we realize we're a part of a missionary movement that is a bit backwards to much of the world.

Most people know that YWAM'ers don't receive salaries and that we raise the support needed to serve. I believe that's a key factor in why YWAM has become one of the largest missionary training and sending movements in the world. Rather than waiting for an organization to have the budget for another staff member or ministry - we hear God's call, invite others to partner with us, and step out in faith. We've seen staff teams grow, new bases begin around the world, properties and vehicles generously given, and more people trained and sent to the least reached. It's certainly not a perfect model when we as imperfect people are involved, but it's amazing what God has done through ordinary people saying yes. For example, I shared a short video to our personal prayer chat once regarding an emergency I was asked to attend to at another base, and the response was over 8K raised in one night by this group chat. Needless to say - we are in awe of who God has placed in our lives.

2025 stats show there is 1 full-time missionary for every 6,500–6,700 Christians worldwide (Global Missions Data).

I came across a statistic that estimated around 2% of all Christian giving goes toward foreign missions. Whether that is exact or not, I've been thinking - What shapes the way we give? How do we decide where our generosity goes? Do we continue to give when finances feel tight, or does generosity become something we hope to return to when life feels a little more comfortable? Barry and I have wrestled with this ourselves at times. There have been months where our tithe account held money that would have made the rest of the month a whole lot easier. Yet we've found that giving keeps reminding us that Jesus (not our bank balance) is our provider. It also reminds us that our giving becomes an answer to someone else's prayer, just as the generosity of others has so often become an answer to ours. I don't share these thoughts typically because our supporters are incredible, and while we certainly need an increase of partnership to keep at it - we still have the guarantee of finances coming in fresh each month.

Barry and I know each month we'll have anywhere between $1200-$1600 come in. Often times we've had one-off donations come right when we need them for the unexpected emergencies - punctured tires, travel expenses, broken belongings. We have a home filled with fruit trees in one of our favorite parts of the city. Our boys have an awesome, free kindy just 10 minutes up the road, directly en-route to the city centre for work. We get to tithe out of our support income which goes to other YWAM'ers celebrating bdays away from loved ones or low on support for their needs that month, to a young boy in India attending school with our friends through DFN, and to blessing others in general where we can. We have the privilege, due to our supporters, to help others on their way too and to keep our hearts aligned with finances never coming between us and saying yes to Jesus. And yet, we can't escape the grim reality though of how many missionaries are praying to remain in full-time missions but have seemingly exhausted their list of who to invite into partnership.

It's easy to assume someone else will support the missionary, fund the ministry, or meet the need. Yet many of our friends serving around the world are faithfully following God's call while simultaneously wondering whether they'll be able to continue. They've shared their stories, invited partnership, and kept saying yes. Supporting long-term missionaries and sending people to the least-reached isn't the only important thing on God's heart, but it certainly is right up there with the rest. After all, when he says something like "I desire that none should perish and all should know the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4), he means it. The invitation for us all then is whether we're called to be the praying friend, the giver, or the goer. And of course, we all are free to tick more than one of those boxes.

So here we have it - the first of many rambles to come. If you've made it this far - thanks for joining. Thank you to our support team - the regulars, the one-offs, and the regular one-offs. Your partnership has pioneered a new YWAM base, ensured we can keep training and sending, seen healings and salvations, given us the faith to give too, covered us in our vulnerability, and empowered us to stay the course. Thank you to our prayer warriors - you've stood in the darkness with us and fought for the light to break in. It always has.

And to our fellow long-term missionary on the partnership-raising journey. Thank you for being the 1 in 6,700. I suppose this is largely written for you as an acknowledgment of your efforts, trust, pain and patience as you rally a team and stay the course. In the past week we've been approached in person and heard of others searching for people to support. So take heart - as Hagar said, he is "El Roi" - "the God who sees me" (Gen 16:13).

And of course all glory to God - there are't enough words in the world to express just how beautiful, worthy, fun and awesome he truly is. May our lives prove it.

Love you guys xx