Finance Update.

I want to take this time out to let you the reader know where I'm at financially. On my weekly income I have been able to sustain myself through the ministry I'm involved in at Avondale Baptist Church. God blessed me with this within two months of being in New Zealand. I was able to pay for the first semester of schooling at Laidlaw, and through contributions made by my DCC family I was able to get situated with housing/books; money which I faithfully used with a clear conscience, being a good steward of my resources and managing my budget(check the finances link to the left for more details!). Rent is $400 USD a month and I spend on average $28usd a week on food. Money donated allowed me to live for over 3 months here, and when my saving nearly ran out, I began receiving monthly income from youth ministry here praise God. God has always taken care of me, even when things have got tight- He has been faithful.

Right now I'm approaching the end of the semester at Laidlaw and I don't have the money to pay for the next semester. My original plan was to get a working visa for 6 months and go back to school next February, but after talking with the school counselor- that would set me back quite aways. The introduction course I'm taking are offered in consecutive order, essentially I would have to wait until courses where offered again at a later time. The counseling office told me I might be able to work around this but it would be much easier to continue on into the 2nd semester and then working if I needed to at the years end. Also, at the end of the year I would have a diploma to show (not a Bachelors Degree). I wrestled with sharing this, my thought was “maybe I should just pray harder and money will fall from the sky because that is what real faith is,” and then at the same time I feel like I should just come out and ask. For school next semester with all fees it will cost $5,493.73 USD. On my current budget , I can simply sustain my careful living with food+lodging but I don't have the ability to save money. I daily bike the 16 miles to school roundtrip to keep transportation fees down. I would ask you to consider donating to my school fund by contacting my parents Mike+Deanna at 360.681.5154 . I'm not opposed to doing physical work as some of you know (before I left I was scurrying around on your roof tops fixing gutters and climbing under houses to vacuum rat poop etc, saving that money for Bible College. In the last 9 weeks of being in the states I worked 50 hours+ a week) and I'm not opposed to doing so now in Auckland. Paul made tents and God took care of him, If I'm suppose to make tents for the next 6 months – I'm truly ok with that. Everything always works out ok, and I know God has a plan/time for me and maybe its best I work. Whatever the outcome I ask that you would pray for me and or consider donating. If less is donated than needed for school, it will be saved until I make it back. If more is donated, it will be put towards future schooling (2.5 years to go).

I see God moving me into some aspect of full time Pastoral care (be it overseas or continued youth work) and I'm passionate about reaching people here in my short time(life), expanding Gods kingdom on earth. I have read through the Bible twice this year in my personal devotional time as well as studied various Pauline letters/John in depth and listened to over 120 sermons to better understand Gods word+ sound doctrine. God is the center of my life, the source of my joy and purpose. If you want a more in depth account of anything I have spoken about email me at davidandrewpiper@yahoo.com . Your prayers really have made a difference, thank you for reading this and your consideration.

His
Piper