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Marathon Ministry
26.2 miles. The sun beats down on you as the wind blows through your hair and sweat drips down your face. Your feet steadily move beneath you - so steadily that you hardly realize they are still moving. Mile after mile, you get closer and closer to that finish line. Then you reach it. Wow! What a great feeling – you made it! You have worked hard, and you have achieved your goal! Training for a marathon doesn’t happen overnight. You don’t wake up one day, having done no training, and decide to run a marathon then go out the next day and run it. Most people that train for marathons follow a strict schedule for about six months. As the long runs get longer and the marathon date gets closer, anticipation and confidence both build. Not every run is great, however. Sometimes runners have hard runs. They feel as though they could never reach the 26.2 miles, but perseverance gets them to the finish line.
 Over the past six months, I have been training for such a race. I have spent nearly every Saturday morning running many miles all over the country. I have seen some absolutely beautiful sights, from Cades Cove in the Blue Ridge Mountains of TN to the waterfalls and creeks of the Ozarks. Each long run built my strength and endurance so that now, as I anticipate my marathon this coming Sunday, I feel confident and excited for the coming race.
$3948 per month and $37,000 in outgoing expenses. Laughter fills the room as I talk to old friends. Many people listen at churches as I speak of missionary kids not feeling like they have a home. Conversations happen as I meet new people who are excited about my new ministry. Phone calls, appointments, newsletters. My new ministry of fundraising is much like a marathon. No matter how much I would like to, I am not going to wake up one day and be fully supported. The next year of partner development will build my endurance. Slowly and gradually, the support will come in, and pretty soon I’ll be ready to run the race, to move to the Philippines to teach missionary kids at Faith Academy! There will be times during this ministry that I have some great times of encouragement, and there will be other times when I will get discouraged and not feel like I’m making any progress. Through it all, God will continue to build His team as we persevere in this calling.
Unlike a regular marathon, support-raising is a ministry that is done as a team. I am not the only one running this race; we all run together! All of us work together to get to the finish line – those who pray, those who support, those who encourage, and those who go. We all have the same goal – to make disciples of all nations with the means God has given us.
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Where Does It Go?
As I’ve been raising support, the main question I have been asked is what the $37,000 in outgoing expenses is for. Let me explain to you how the money works:
Monthly Support
$3948 is the amount of monthly support I need to raise before I can go to the Philippines. This amount comes from those who give monthly, quarterly, or yearly. The monthly amount is split up like this:
- 45% goes to my salary. This will be what I receive each month for food, clothes, gas, savings, and other everyday living expenses.
- 13% goes to housing. This will cover my rent while I am living in the Philippines.
- 13% goes to medical insurance.
- 12% goes to SEND general operations. This helps allow SEND to run, keeping me on the field. They need to process all my support raising, set up my field work, and keep me safe now and on the field.
- 6% goes to retirement. This allows me to be taken care of once I retire from teaching so I don’t need to remain supported.
- The remaining 11% goes to cover a variety of small expenses needed on a regular basis.
Outgoing Support
I need to raise just over $37,000 in outgoing support. This support will cover me over the next five years. It helps me now as I am raising support, and it will also take care of me while I’m on the field. If there are emergencies while I am there, they will already be covered so I won’t need to be asking for money whenever something happens while I am on the field. Here is what this money goes to:
- 27% goes to finding me a car. This will allow me to travel to school, as public transportation isn’t very good near Faith Academy.
- 19% goes to getting an apartment and setting it up. I will be selling almost everything I currently own before I leave for the Philippines and will need to replace those things when I get there.
- 14% goes to partner development. This covers my prayer cards, newsletters, travel, and other expenses associated with fundraising.
- 12% goes to travel, visas and shipping to the Philippines. I will be choosing some things to ship overseas, and I will need visas and tickets to move to Manila.
- 9% goes to pre-field training, such as the ones I attended this past summer and the ones I will attend before I leave.
- The remaining 19% goes to cover emergencies, language school, and other small necessities before I leave and while I am on the field.
I hope this information is helps answer some questions you may have had. One thing I want to point out is that I will not receive any salary from SEND until I leave for the Philippines. Thus, all of the money that is given between now and when I leave for the Philippines goes towards the outgoing expenses. For example, if someone commits to give $100 a month and begins giving right away, that will take $1100 off of my outgoing expenses in addition to taking $100 off of my monthly support.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions about my finances. I will share with you what you would like to know. I would like you to continue to prayerfully consider joining my team. Is God asking you to give back to Him from what He has given you, and to give it towards this ministry? I would love to have you be a part of this team so that we can run this marathon all the way to the end!
May God bless you richly!
Amanda Benson
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