I Wanna Go Back To Egypt

*Just a disclaimer – as a YWAMer it is very difficult to write something about money! We are afraid of sounding manipulative or passive aggressive with self-pity. Please try to believe me when I say that I am simply sharing what God has spoken recently in regards to some prayers we prayed. We are in no way upset or offended by anyone, nor are we hinting at anything hoping to guilt everyone into giving us money or feeling sorry for us.*

Moses is one of the biggest heroes of the Old Testament. His story is larger than life: the Burning Bush, the Ten Plagues on Egypt, parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, and so on. His life was full of some of the biggest signs and wonders in the entire Bible.

Yet as you may know, once the entire Jewish nation of slaves (some several million people) was freed by the very Hand of God from Pharaoh and on their way to the Promised Land, they began to say they wanted to go back! In Egypt, they said, there were “pots of meat and all the food we wanted” Ex 16:1-3.

God recently spoke to Erin from this story while we were praying together one morning. You see, our financial support dropped noticeably for several months. (That is polite missionary talk for “we are scared!”) By the beginning of November we were over $3000 USD in debt and it kept growing. While our support dropped the exchange rate of the US dollar swung against us for a few months to a 10-12% loss at the same time.

We were praying asking God what is going on: is this is sign we should end our time in Tahiti, is there some sin or disobedience He wants to convict us of, and is God trying to get our attention through this, etc. God showed us that while at YWAM Honolulu we were very used to “storehouses”. We had Safeway, Starbucks, and Walmart – all the creature comfort of America. We also had support that allowed us to have the following month’s rent ahead of time waiting in the bank. We had testing times for sure but there was a level of comfort.

Here we were crying out to God due to having no “storehouse” anymore. God convicted us of complaining and a lack of gratitude. We had developed a habit of receiving gifts of support yet not being thankful because it was not equivalent to a “storehouse”. God said “I want you to learn to live off of daily bread”. We repented and are walking in a new test of faith where we are trusting God week by week for finances to pay bills. At the same time we must learn how to operate in more gratitude and thankfulness.

It has not been easy and we are still battling anxiety as we struggle more with finances than we have before. Yet we trust God will give us our daily bread and are learning to be thankful for each blessing.

**Update** – By the end of November, due to a couple generous end of the year gifts our debt has been reduced to approx. $1500 USD.