Support Emails

Hello Everybody,
I hope this letter finds you well.
We have a big decision to make, or more accurately, a miracle to pursue. Christi and I have long had a dream of going to Africa to teach and serve. We have been looking into this for some time, to see what is available, and that is what prompts this letter. We were contacted this past weekend with an opportunity to go to Kigali, Rwanda, to teach First Grade at Kigali International Community School (http://www.kicsrw.org/), starting in September of this year. While Christi and I had been thinking about this more as a possibility for the 2010-11 school year, we want to be open to God’s leading in His time.
The school pays a stipend of $1,000 per month plus air fare to and from Rwanda. We would be responsible to raise an additional $2000 per month for ten months to cover living expenses. We recognize that this is humanly impossible to accomplish, but we want to be open to God’s leading and feel compelled to pursue it as an option. We would commit to the ten month contract only if God puts it on the hearts of our friends and families to pledge the needed support for that period of time, and if we find a renter for our house (we may have someone lined up who is interested in this). I will be able to take the next school year off unpaid and return to the district with full pay and benefits. Also, we would not consider this if we did not have the support of our parents who have been very open to the idea despite how crazy it seems. Thank God for such an amazing family.
If you feel that God is calling you to partner with us in this venture, then we are asking you to contact us and let us know in what way you feel led to give by August 16th. Please do not send money. At this point we are looking for pledges and a sign of God’s leading. If He provides through you all, then we will go. If not, we will stay. However, we would pursue this for the following fall. If you wish to partner anonymously or do not wish us to know your contribution amount, then you may also contact our parents. If you do not feel like this is something that you are led to be a part of, then there is no need to respond. If you know someone who may be interested, feel free to forward this letter.
Thank you so much for taking the time to prayerfully consider this.

Tony, Christi, and Mili Whipps

whippsjoint@juno.com
503-669-7009
317 SE Linden Ct.
Gresham, OR 97080

Ken Newcomb (Christi's father) 503-665-3121
newcombk@ohsu.edu

Gordy Whipps (Tony's father) 509-754-6221
GandNWhipps@netscape.com

tony whipps wrote:

Hello everyone. I'm sorry this did not get sent out sooner. Christi and I got our messages mixed and we both thought the other sent it. Wow! It has been a very busy week. We can hardly believe it, but the impossible happened. We raised enough support and everything on our end worked out. We will be moving to Kigali Rwanda early next month. We are very excited. It was a hard decision to make, but with all the doors God opened we couldn’t ignore his hand in all of it. I will be taking a year of unpaid leave which is being approved this evening by the school board. My brother Andy (amazing big brother- I highly recommend him for all your big brother needs) is going to be renting our house and taking care of our dog Cooper. We will have to drive up to Seattle to get Mili’s passport, which can be done in one day. Thanks to the economy we can refinance our house right now and save some money monthly toward that.


We ended up not needing as much money as we originally stated. Christi was offered and has accepted a bookkeeping position with the school. She will have to work about 10 hours a week, but could work from home or at the school and put Mili in their preschool program for childcare. They will be paying her $400/ month. We have been really surprised at how expensive it is to live there. A furnished home costs $1200/ month and that is with a discount from paying six months upfront. We have been able to find some ways to cut costs though. We will also consider shared housing. Christi and I are very frugal and will employ those skills as much as possible.



There were some very good questions we were asked about health and safety. Kigali is the capitol city and very safe. We will be living a pretty sheltered life there. Each home has water filtration. You are required as a westerner to employ a housekeeper and night security. There have been no violent crime toward westerners. Petty theft is the main concern. There is also a very strong and tight expat community that will be helping us get settled. My brother-in-law and possibly sister-in-law will be coming to Kigali in October. Trina even offered to meet us at the airport. The school has found a substitute teacher to begin the school year for me and to give us some time to get settled. They have been amazing- calling and emailing us everyday.



We are still finalizing the money situation, but the hope would be to send all contributions to our home church, Mosaic, in Portland. They would be the ones to send you a tax statement at the end of the year. 100% of all funds will go directly to us unless they need us to help pay a few hours for their bookkeeper each month. We will let you know exactly how that will work as soon as we get it set up. We wanted to get this out to you with that information, but it didn’t work out.


Please pray that getting all of our shots and Mili’s passport will go smoothly and that we will be able to get ready and go without getting too stressed out.


If you do not want to be on an update list please let us know and we will remove your name. We will set up a blog to keep people updated and will try to do a monthly newsletter as well. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. We love you all.



Love,



Tony, Christi, and Mili

Hi Everyone.
> This is our latest update as well as financial information for those of you who are supporting us financially. First off we just got back from my parent's home in Ephrata, WA. We had a great time with everyone. Andy came with us. We got to see a few people from the church there which was really nice.
> While we were there we got our flight confirmation from the travel agent who is booking our ticket. We will be leaving the morning of September 2nd. We fly from Portland to Washington D.C., D.C. to Brussels, and Brussels to Kigali.
> On our way home we stopped in Seattle to take care of Mili's passport. Because our appointment wasn't until the end of their work day they couldn't get it to us the same day. They will be mailing it to us. The latest it should arrive is Tuesday. This is a little stressful since we are leaving on Wednesday. Please pray that it arrives before then. Please pray for us as we pack up our things to take and box up our things to stay. An amazing teacher friend of mine, Katie, let us store all of my classroom things in their attic. Praise God for her and her family.
> We met with the global missions person from our church and they will be sending us out. They will help us set up a support team that will stay updated on what we are doing, send care packages, remember our birthdays, etc. They will also put updates in the bulletin and website. They are excited for us and we are happy for their support.
>
> If you will be supporting us financially we will be sending all support through our home church, Mosaic. DO NOT PUT OUR NAMES ON THE CHECK. Please put Rwanda Fund on the memo line and it will go directly to us. Please mail your support to Mosaic, Attn: Isaac. P.O. Box 13128, Portland, OR 97213-0128. On the church website you can give online. Again, just flag it for the Rwanda Fund.
> www.mosaicportland.org
> This is for one time online donations, not direct withdrawal.
> If you are at the Soap Lake church they may just send one check each month. Please check with my mom, if that applies to you.
>
> Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, donations and love.
>
> Tony, Christi, and Mili