When I was with a large ministry for the first two years, I
had a base of supporters. Groups of people came to serve on Medical Brigades
almost every week so I had contact with a constant stream of people that saw
and participated in what I did.
After I left that ministry and went out to follow what God
put on my heart and not be restricted to only doing certain things (only
concrete floors, nothing else), the support dropped off. What people don't seem
to realize is that most ministries charge missionaries to be a part of their
ministry. When my children were here, the ministry I was with charged me over
$600. a month to "be a part of their turn key ministry". All that
included was allowing me to participate in their ministry, and for my two
children to attend their school. For a year or so they did let me use a
ministry vehicle for which any personal use was billed at fourty cents per
mile. Housing, food, every other expense was the responsibility of the
missionary. They required a planned out budget, which included everything you'd
expect to have if you lived and worked in the U.S.. For me their budget came
out to about $2,700. per month. They constantly put pressure on me to raise
that level of support.
The first week I was there, I had one of their missionaries
tell me it would cost about $6,000. per month for me to be here. He and his
wife lived in an exclusive area, had a nice four wheel drive truck, a new car,
a full time maid, a full time gardner/guard, etc...
After that I had other missionaries here with families admit
to me they had five or more thousand dollars a month in support. The most I
ever had anyone admit to was $7,000. a month. And the ministry she was with
required her to be at that level. I really got turned off to the business of
ministry. The more I saw how they operated, the less I liked even being
associated with it. They do amazing things. They help so many people. But, with
the amounts of money they go through, I feel so much more could be done.
For one person to come from the U.S. and participate in a
Medical Brigade from Saturday to Saturday, the ministry I was with charged
airfare plus $700.. Then anything extra you wanted from a bottle of water/soda,
a telephone call, to do an extra concrete floor, anything extra, they charged
each person more for that. During the time I was there they built a million
plus dollar new building and paid cash
as they went. I mention that because before that, they were pretty much limited to bringing in
groups of thirty or so North Americans per week for their Brigades. Now they
have the capacity for more than double that amount.
So take an average of thirty people and multiply that by
their base fee per person of $700.. That alone is $21,000.. the ministry takes
in per week (and that's if only thirty people come). Add to that all the extra
fees they come up with, the fees they charge their missionaries, donations they
receive (They have a man that works full time raising funds. Of the few North
Americans that are paid employees, he is the highest paid person in the
ministry.) Those amounts of money boggle my mind when I think of all the needs
that could be met with a budget like that. I live where paying to fill a
barrell with clean water for a person (approx $1.50) is a huge blessing for
them. They don't have the $1.50 to pay for a barrell of water.
Now I live on far less than the fee I used to pay. I
have one monthly supporter and he sends me $25. per month. I have no other
regular income. For everything else, I have faith that God will
provide. That's how I've lived for the last two and a half years. I've learned
to live completely on faith. I know that everything I have, right down to every piece of rice I eat, was
supplied directly from God. God touched someones heart at a specific time for a
specific need, they followed through on His direction, and here I still am.
Yesterday, the man that owns this house, was supposed to
come back. A flight was delayed so he ended up all together spending two extra
nights in the U.S.. He was frustrated but I encouraged him that God has a
purpose for him to be there those extra days/nights. I also had to look closely
at what more God had for me to do while I'm at this house. I knew he delayed
Charley and kept me here extra time for a purpose, and I wanted to be sure I
didn't miss it.
Charley has another house very close to this one. For this
area, it is a relatively secure house. Charley told me I could probably move
there when he gets back, but he hasen't given me a definite answer yet. He and
I over the years have known of each other more than we have known one another.
So I can understand that he might want to see how I've treated his home, and
what the neighbors think of me before giving me his final decision. But, here I
sit, knowing that in a few short hours I'll need to either move over to
Charley's other house, or start looking for another place to stay. I've got
everything I own in Honduras (except for a bed that's stored at a friends house
and a motorcycle) packed into two duffle bags and a backpack. The backpack is
loaded with what I'd need to make it through a few days in case I have to be
looking for a place. And I could leave the duffle bags here untill I could find
a place. I live completly on faith. Surrendered to God. Available to God. I
know that all I need in this life is Christ. I've had people tell me "what
about food and water? You need that." The truth is you don't. When you
have Christ, you have all you need. With the Holy Spirit you are fully equipped
to serve on earth for as long as God's Will keeps you here, and you are also
fully prepared to go Home, to enter God's Kingdom at any time.
I'm not sure why I went off into all this this morning. But
if you've read it you maybe understand a little more about my life.
God Bless You All,Roy Morton
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