Asking for your Prayers and your Help
Our family recently sent out a "Special Update" via mail and email sharing some of our current challenges, both in our ministry transition and financial support-raising, and how you can help.
The text of our letter is below:
When I started working at The Boston Project, I made $200 a month and slept in a closet. And I loved it! Believe it or not, this was also when I asked Sarah for her lovely hand in marriage, and she said yes - you know she wasn't in it for the money.
At that time back in 2002, we had no idea how God would mature our ministry here with The Boston Project. We got married, had 3 amazing unstoppable little boys, and lived in one apartment the entire time (after the closet). We have led over 100 mission trips to Boston, and helped to host thousands of volunteers in our neighborhood. And God has blessed our home with a ministry of hospitality with dozens of young adult staff and neighbors.
In this season of our lives, we face a difficult challenge that is two-fold, and we want to ask for your prayers and your help. First, we are transitioning our role in ministry, and we are earnestly seeking God for definition around what is next for us. At the same time, we are facing a significant financial gap in our missionary support.
Our Ministry Transition
As you may know, I am stepping out of the role of overseeing overnight Mission Trips after 10 years. It has been a joy to serve the ministry and God's kingdom in this way for so long - back when I was a single guy fresh out of college, I pictured myself doing this for a year or two! We are blessed and humbled to have been used by God in the lives of so many people. Over the coming months, our plan is to hire a Mission Trip Director who will take what we have developed and run with it for years to come.
While we feel a sense of peace about stepping out of this role, we are still not sure exactly what God has us stepping into. We expected that God may have provided direction as we bought a house, however that has not become a reality. So we are currently in a season of very intentional prayer, study, fasting, and seeking God for what is next (including a 5-day conference related to our work later this month). For now, we ask for your earnest prayers for us.
Our Financial Need
Even in the uncertainty of our new role, we are facing an unanticipated gap in our financial support. As a missionary family, we are responsible for raising over 90% of our salary. This year, we increased our goal from $30,000 to $38,000 in order to free up money to hire a new Mission Trip Director. However, donations have not kept pace and even declined, as several individuals and churches that have been regular supporters are no longer able to give.
We are currently $8,000 behind where we should be at this time of year, and $17,000 behind where we need to reach by year's end. This fall, our family has had to delay several recent paychecks and may miss future ones, even as we had the unexpected expense of replacing our minivan. The Boston Project also faces the prospect of delaying the hire of the Mission Trip Director.
Would you consider a special gift this year-end to sustain our work with The Boston Project Ministries? And as we head into 2012, please pray about becoming a new or increased monthly supporter. To all those who have supported our ministry with regular or special gifts over the years, we want to express our deep gratitude. We are one body with many parts and we need each other.
You can give online at www.tbpm.org/giving or make a check payable and mail to: The Boston Project Ministries, 670 Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124. Thank you for your prayers and for allowing God to work through you to make this possible.
With much love and thanksgiving,
Keith & Sarah Riddle
The Boston Project Ministries
P.S. - You can pray for us at the Christian Community Development Association conference on October 12-16 in Indianapolis, IN. Ask God for safe travel (driving 16 hours each way) and for Him to continue to speak to us while we're there.
