The Bible study began Tuesday morning but on Monday afternoon, after spending the better part of the day mopping up small puddles of spilled tea and coffee at the homeless drop-in ministry I found the envelope. It was waiting at home with several pieces of mail for the previous occupant along with a bill from the phone company. The envelope contained a letter beginning with the dreaded words, "I regret to have to inform you...."

 

The letter was from London City Mission, the organization I was counting on for supporting my work in London. They were informing me that because of the visa issues they had decided they could not employ me as a missionary. I knew this was a possibility but it still hit me like a double-decker bus.

 

A wise person told me recently: "The elevator to success is not running. Looks like you're going to have to take the stairs." How true that is. And the stairs are very steep!

It looks as if we will be totally dependant on God and His people in the States to keep us here. Basically, I have a job with Upper Holloway and Camden Road Baptist Churches but no funding. We still have some reserve in the bank but that was meant to stay as a reserve. When our remaining van sells and our house in Clermont rents we will be in better shape for the short term.

 

As for the long term, we love it here and we've come too far and invested too much to turn back now. We are trusting God to meet all our needs according to His plans. We've not given up the ship. If we can raise funds from folks in the States we can make it, and continue to do what we were going to do from the start -- assist Pastor Brian with the churches and look at new avenues of outreach to the community with Upward Sports and student work in the universities.

The needs are so great and the opportunities to serve are so many but the funding is weak and the cost of living is high in the inner-city. Please keep praying for us as we move into a fund raising mode.

 

The good news is the pound has dropped to about $1.76 right now which is a lot better than it was earlier this year. So we should be able to survive on $2000 per month give or take, keeping in mind that London is the third most expensive city in the world, slightly behind Moscow and Tokyo.

 

But most of our expenses are food and transportation costs (bus fare mostly, though I honestly think I've lost a few pounds from all the walking). I'm also paying the phone bill, life insurance, AJ's car insurance, and debts from moving expenses. The rest is provided by the church but I can't expect much more from them. They've already given up the income they were receiving while renting out our house in the past. I'm thankful to say they have also been very supportive through all the ups and downs of our transition to London. They are good people, just like believers in the US but with a different accent.:-)

Will you  partner with us by praying for us and making a monthly pledge to our ministry? Replying to this email is one way to let us know you're on our team. You can also be our advocate with your church's pastor, missions committee, and/or finance committee to include us in next year's budget by sharing our vision for London.
 

Financial gifts should be directed to the First Baptist Church of Clermont and designated to the Ecker family. The church address is 498 W. Montrose Street, Clermont, FL, 34711. Our address in London is at the bottom of this page.