Frequently Asked Questions: Financial Support

Hi friends!

We are getting close to our financial support goal, and we're getting ready to depart. So we thought it would be helpful if we answered some "frequently asked questions" in terms of our financial support as people come on board. Have more questions? Post a comment here and let us know!

Why are you raising financial support here in the States?
The support we raise will meet our financial needs while we are serving in Austria. The churches in Austria that we will be supporting will not be able to pay us, and we do not want to burden then with our financial needs. This means we need to raise the funds to cover our salary, living expenses, and ministry funds. Because these costs are on-going, we are looking for people or churches to commit to giving a particular amount of money on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly or annually), so that we can budget accordingly.


Will you get a job when you get to Austria to pay some of your salary?
We do not plan on getting jobs in Austria that will pay us a salary.  We are excited to commit 100% of our time to church planting and leadership developing in the Austrian evangelical church. The church there is small and many congregations struggle to pay a pastor. We our full-time support, we hope to plant churches and help them grow to the size where they can pay an Austrian pastor to lead them. We will then move on to another church plant, and we will never be a financial burden to the churches we start.

What does your financial support pay for?
WorldVenture, our sending organization, does a great job of putting together a detailed budget for us. That budget includes: salary, ministry funds, housing and utilities, self employment taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions, savings for car repairs, savings for home visits, travel funds, medical insurance and a percentage that goes to WorldVenture for their staff and overhead costs. In exchange for the fees we pay to WorldVenture, we receive counseling, support, processing of our donations, training and guidance for their staff.


What are the different ways that someone can make financial donations to your ministry?
On-going financial supporters can sign up for our support team by clicking here. WorldVenture offers three options: sending checks, regular charges to a credit card, and regular bank debits. Anyone who commits to making a donation at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly or annually) helps us reach our 100% on-going support goal.


One-time donations are also helpful! They will help pay for language school, ministry equipment (laptops, etc.), travel expenses, and unexpected costs. One-time gifts will also help make up the difference in our budget if we lose any on-going support after arriving in Austria.


When should I start giving?
Many of our supporters are giving now. Any donations made before we depart will go towards our start-up costs, which will cover relocation, apartment real estate fees, language school, the purchase of a car, and travel. Some of our supports, however, will begin giving when we arrive in Austria. This should begin our first month on the field, which we hope will be October 2012.

We ask that anyone starting their support in October still complete WorldVenture's online commitment form as soon as possible. This makes their commitment "official" and allows it to be counted towards our goal of 100% support.


Who gives to your ministry and why?
Family, friends, and churches give to help meet our financial needs, and they give for many reasons. Many churches give out of a sense of vision and mission to accomplish the Great Commission - taking the love of Christ to the nations. For individuals, it often starts with a relationship. Many partners also give out of a sense of gratitude to God for what he has done for them through Christ. Others give out of a sense of obedience to the call in 1 Corinthians 4:1 to fulfill our stewardship of the gospel. And many partners have a strong sense of passion to see the gospel spread among certain people groups or certain regions of the world (such as Europe) or through certain types of ministry (such as church planting).




Let us know if you have more questions. We'd be happy to address them here!