Matters of Money

I knew I would have to post about it sooner or later...But it's the one difficult-to-talk-about part of our trip: Finances

Here is the situation:

• We will be living and serving in Costa Rica for just shy of 6 months (shortened by 2 weeks from the original plan due to provincial medicare limitations -> if we go for a day over 183 days, insurance goes through the roof because provincial medical will be suspended for the entire trip. That said, our trip length will now be 180 days.)
• We will not be employed (both leaving our jobs), we will not earn income during the trip, we will have no jobs to return to back in Canada, yet we are required to pay for all expenses for the trip: Flights, accommodations, Spanish acquisition lessons, travel within country, food, housing...You name it, we will be paying it.
  
• We are not to be a financial burden to the organization (which operates on a limited budget, as most non-profits do). However the organization has generously helped us find ways to make living there more economical, which has helped immensely.

As for the grand total cost of the trip? I am not sure how comfortable I am posting it on an open-access blog site! Especially during infant stages of a partnership. However, if you are at all curious, please let me know. I'll e-mail you the current budget without blinking an eye. We are trying to be as transparent about this trip as possible; I'm just uncomfortable posting it to the world just yet.

As for that partnership and support letters...The letters will not be sent out until the partnership has been solidified (or until we find out that, due to Canada Revenue Agency limitations, we can't form one). This is because if a partnership does evolve, that means all funds are directed to the church and we will be working through them (i.e. --> Tax receipts for sponsors). However, not all trip costs will be able to be processed through our home church (such as surprise expenses where unforeseen needs (of the people are are working with) arise...Similar to last year's funds we raised in case we saw opportunities were we could help).

We are hoping to raise these additional funds (for items not processable) through various fund raisers...But we aren't sure what kind of fund raisers would be best. We are thinking of importing coffee (and chocolate!) products produced from the surrounding area where we will be working. However, without knowing if there will be supporters who would like to purchase these bags of goods, we are running the risk of spending a lot of money on goods that won't be sold.

So, in short, thank you very much for your questions, but I can't offer you much info just yet. The support letters will be coming, but we are waiting to see how the funds will be processed.

And again, if you want to know the figures, please let us know and I will send them to you no problem.