Worth the Wait

When I came to Australia in 2007 I was worried about many things. Fortunately my finances was not one of them. The American dollar has always been more powerful than the Australian dollar. In 2004 the exchange rate was around 55 cents so that you would receive almost two Aussie dollars for every one from the US. By the time I arrived it had risen to 77 cents, but it still helped to gain extra money on the funds I transferred from America.

Today the exchange rate has risen to 96 cents and it is almost guaranteed that the dollars will be even by the end of the year. There is even talk of the American dollar becoming weaker than the Australian. This is a hard time financially for missionaries here who receive funds from the states. Especially those who are paying mortgages on houses. But in the midst of the financial turmoil I am incredibly blessed by God, and have no problems with money.

I have a business account here that pays the expenses that relate to my ministry (and are therefore non taxable). Upon arrival in Australia I made plans to transfer money from my Baptist Mid Missions account in Cleveland Ohio to the business account. The funds would be used to purchase items I needed to have such as a car, computer, and furnishings for my house. This is usually a fairly large amount of money and is referred to as outfit and passage.

Outfit and passage is crucial for a new missionary. So it is very important to make sure that you raise enough money to pay for necessities. Horror stories are told of missionaries who raise too little and have a very hard time surviving on the field. Because of this I contacted the Australian Missionaries in early 2007 and asked if I had raised enough money to get started. Their answer made me very nervous. The estimate that I had been given was $4,000.00 to $5,000.00 to little! I was encouraged to use the entire amount of the estimate on a car alone!

I can still remember the sinking feeling of depression I had while reading that e-mail. It had taken a very long time to raise the amount of funds that where in my account already. To raise another $5,000.00 seemed impossible! But I knew that God would be faithful to provide the finances that I needed. And though it took longer for me to leave for Australia, plenty of money was raised in my account.

In February 2007 I was faced with the decision of how much money to transfer from my account in the US. I was tempted to request the smallest amount possible because the funds themselves would be taxable income. But after wrestling with it mentally I decided to bring in more money than I would actually need for Outfit and Passage. The extra money would be used in emergencies.

Today that extra money is still in my business account, and I thank God for it. I can now clearly see that he was preparing me for this time in Australian history before I left the United States. He led me to contact the missionaries to see if I had raised enough money. He provided the extra finances for my outfit and passage so I could live comfortably in Australia. He laid it upon my heart to transfer more than enough money.

Each one of those instances, finding out I need to raise a lot more money, having to delay my departure, and bringing over a large amount of taxable income were discouraging situations for me. And in each of those situations I was not terribly excited about doing God's Will. But today I can look back at those situations and thank God for them. For it is because of those experiences that I can have peace in my heart even though the American dollar is weaker than it has been in the last eighteen years.