Jacqueline had just found out we were pregnant with LB a few months earlier. Then it happened. Due probably to a combination of poor communication and wishful thinking on our part, some folks who we thought were going to give a total of $10,000 in the month of October, 2007 ended up giving us a couple of emails saying they weren’t able to give. That 10 grand amounted to $7500 in annual support, or $625 per month. For perspective, in a healthy economy, it takes on average one week to raise $100 per month. So we were put 6 weeks in the hole, in a matter of days.
We have spent the last three years trying to recover from that month. Instead of recovering, we have consistently continued to lose financial support. We’ve raised much over that time, to be sure. Just this past year of raising support full-time has seen more than $1,000 in monthly support come in. But over the same time, we’ve lost about $1,300 per month. We’ve worked extremely hard, prayed harder, and given it the best shot we can imagine.
So, when I say we are leaving, I don’t mean that we are leaving with our head hanging down or our metaphorical tail between our legs. That’d indicate we don’t believe in a sovereign God, or that we think we didn’t work hard enough. And neither of those is true. After much prayer and involving more than a few tears (even some tears by Ben in public coffee shops, thanks to Neale Davis), we’re moving on.
We’ll miss being on staff. It is still sinking in that we won’t be at the conferences, seeing our dear staff friends. The last time I went to a New Years Eve party that wasn’t at a CCC conference was 1997. Well, since they shortened the conference thanks to the Y2K scare, I think I technically partied like it was 1999 in a non-CCC fashion–but you get my point.
Check out the two updated links above “Give” and “CCC” (same text in both, now) in the top bar for details about giving. Please don’t just stop giving. Read that first. We love you all.
More clarifying posts to come. And Im looking for a job, if you’re into worship music/tech/social media/good at making coffee type people. Holler at me.
Oh, Ben! I am so sorry. No trite words, but be assured God has not abandoned you. This has been some summer, some year. We love you all and appreciate all you have done and will continue to do for the kingdom.
Hugs,
Debbie Ferguson
Thanks Debbie! We’re sad, but excited, but scared. I don’t have the feeling that God has abandoned us, but instead that he has brought us to a new city for the purpose of doing something neat. We’re gonna have to see how deep this rabbit hole goes. 🙂 Thanks for the hugs. I’ll pass them along to Jacq!
Ben, i thought you were holding MY arms up! I’m looking forward to chatting more. you have already been a huge encouragement to me.
bruce
Hey Ben,
We are definitely sad to read this, but we know that the Lord is sovereign, like you said. I wanted to drop you a line and let you know that there is an opening for a high school math teacher at a private Christian school in Charlotte. Not sure if either of you are qualified for this, but if you are, let me know.
Tyler
Ha! I would be a pretty terrible math teacher. Thanks for the tip, though. Not qualified at all for that job.
So sad to hear this. thanks for the post, i will continue to enjoy following your blog.
After spending more than a few months jobless , I have this “negotiating a poor economy” thing down pat. I’ll keep my eyes open for any tech savvy / worship positions for you. Here’s hoping I can find you a job, that’d be awesome!
All the best Ben. Please keep blogging. You’ve got lots of valuable insights to contribute to kingdom building.