Where to begin....
Not too long ago, I was praying to the Lord and considering our future before Him. My husband's desire to return to his seminary studies and when that desire first blossomed (see the "Our Story" tab) came up to my mind clearly and as I prayed my thoughts came to a "crazy idea" of asking friends and family to surprise my sweet husband by donating towards his full-time seminary studies and preparation of the pastorate. But before jumping in I wanted to seek counsel from the Lord and my father.
As Dad and I prayed and chewed on the ideas over the next weeks, I began to see so much more need for people to be heavily involved, not so much monetarily, but in way of encouragement and prayer. Here is when I realized that we need the support and accountability of our family and friends upholding us in prayer and letting us know you love and support us.
So, while I would still love to surprise my husband with the funds needed to go to seminary full-time, I need to supply him with support by way of prayer and words of encouragement!
Here is the breakdown...
Prayer need.... continuous. Would you consider picking one night in the week to pray for our family? How wonderful it would be to have 200 people commit to praying one day/ week for us for the three to four years of seminary studies! That would be about 28 people praying for us daily! I would love to see this! This is our biggest need and the biggest gift you can give. But please commit to do it. We will send updates and items for prayer. ;)
Encouragement need... once a year, more!. Our second biggest need. It would be wonderful to see 155 people commit to sending a card, letter or email one time per year for the course of seminary! That would give Eric several days out of every week that he is encouraged in word. I can't tell you what an aid that would be to uphold us in our focus and bring joy. My hope is that these two above will become a habit and will continue well into his years in the pastorate. (By the way, when was the last time you prayed for and encouraged your Pastor and his family? Well... now would be a great time! *smile*)
Financial need... once a month/ year or one-time. We have worked out a feasible schedule to study and pay for Eric's seminary studies (see below) alone. Now if 65- 150 of our friends and family would commit to giving just $25/ month for the three years, Eric could go to seminary full-time! And if just 42 people would give $25/month for three years, we could completely eliminate the one full year break from seminary studies. Eric has already completed one trimester in Hebrew studies.
For our family, we have seen the joy that giving monetarily brings and ties us to those to whom we have given, even long after the gift is completed. While we would love to have your help financially, please let it be a spur to give in the ways listed above.
We will re-evaluate each year our needs to see if we can live on less and also give a brief report on use of funds. (If we see 20- 30 people committing to the three above, we would look to begin this winter quarter of 2014.)
Our family's current schedule, as the Lord wills...
September- February 2013-2014 Working and saving $6500
March- May 2014 Seminary: One Trimester
June- November 2014 Work in Iowa with Eric's Dad/ Save for 2 Trimesters of study
December- May 2014-2015 Seminary: Two Trimesters
June-August 2015-2016 Work in Iowa with Eric's Dad/ Save for 5 Trimesters of study
September-May 2016-2017 Seminary: Three Trimesters
June- August 2017 Summer Pastoral Internship
September- Feb. 2017-2018 Seminary: Two Trimesters
March- May 2018 Miscellaneous Seminary & Work
May 2018 Graduation from Seminary
Please contact me, Trish, with any questions. Phone: (417) 763-5453 or email: ericreschlyfamily@gmail.com
