I think we can all agree by now that Black Friday is a pretty horrible thing, and I'm grateful that I was able to avoid it this year by being in a country devoid of Best Buys, Walmarts, etc.
The origin of black Friday is a point of minor historical interest. I'm sure many of you know this already, but the name "Black Friday" comes from an accounting quirk. Traditionally, retail businesses would consider the day after Thanksgiving the first day of the year in which the revenue they had taken in should be greater than the costs of running the business. By the day after Thanksgiving, the business should have taken in more money than it spent for the year. In their ledgers, debts would be written in red and credits in black. So on Black Friday, the total balance for the business should have gone from being written in red ink to black ink. Thus the name "Black Friday."
Why am I telling you this? Well, some of you may have noticed my digital begging bowl of a progress bar on the right of your screen. As you can see, it is not full. It creeps forward a bit now and then, and I am extremely grateful for the generous ways that many of you have chosen to support me in this.
Today I worked out my budget for the year and tallied up how much money I had left versus what my expenses looked like for the rest of my time here. Unfortunately, I am in the red. As it stands, I don't have enough donations to meet my monthly expenses for the year. Nor have I factored in unexpected expenses like travel, repairs, or emergencies.
I don't live in squalor here, I am quite comfortable actually. I share an apartment with another American. We have electricity and hot water. I have a cell phone. And no matter what, I won't starve. I have some savings and people behind me and I will survive. I am confident that God will provide enough.
That being said, I do my best to live frugally here. I take the bus to and from work. I make most of my meals at home, or eat street food which is pretty affordable. Most of my expenses have come from things stateside, like health insurance, vaccinations, and plane tickets.
As we've gotten closer to Christmas, and I've gotten a better idea of what my expenses are like here, I've oscillated between frantically asking people to give me money and trusting that God would provide enough to survive the winter.
So I guess I'm trying to take a middle road here by humbly asking that you consider donating to help me live here in South Asia and continue my work with International Justice Mission. This office is doing good work out here, we are seeing girls being rescued and restored to healthy life, and I really love what I do and the people I'm with.
What I'd like for Christmas is to be in the black by the end of year. If you feel like you want to donate toward the cause of Justice, and help me out in the process, you can click the "Click Here To Make A Donation" link on the right of your screen, or just go here and pick my name from the list. That money goes to my food, rent, medical expenses, and everything else in my life as it is my only source of income. If you give anything, I will write you a letter and mail it to you, and it will probably have a cool stamp on it, and maybe a drawing or joke or a rhyme inside. I'll also say a prayer for you and will remember that you care about me and about justice in the developing world. (Not that you don't care about me if you don't give me money, or that I won't pray for you, good grief.)
If you've already donated. Thank you thank you thank you. Especially in these past few months, your donations have been a boost of confidence for me. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks everybody for your thoughts and prayers. Stay sane out there.
Love,
-Greg
