Where does it all go?

The livelihood of every Christian worker depends on the other members of the Church at large.

It’s a very similar situation to the position of the Levites, who were set apart by God from the rest of Israel to serve Him. This tribe and its clans were supplied from the offerings and gifts brought by the other twelve. The cities they lived in were designated out of those in the territories of the other twelve. The Levites belonged completely to God.

The priests and their duties are well known. Those who did not serve as priests, on the other hand, had seemingly menial tasks. Most of them were responsible for the care of parts of the tabernacle, including transporting them when the Israelites moved from one place to the next. (See Numbers 1:50-51.) Once the temple was built, these people were assigned to other tasks in the care and administration of the temple, which supported the office of the priests (the descendants of Aaron) as well as the service of the king. (See 1 Chronicles 24-26.)

In these times also, there are many of us who serve God in support of those who are in positions better-known than our own. Yet we are as dependent on the Church as they. Our needs are not very different from your own. But what are they? Here’s where our support goes:

DescriptionPercentNote
Basic living40%Vehicle purchase is not included. It's a separate cost.
Housing21%Household setup costs are separate from this.
Social Security12.8%As religious workers, we pay 100% of this tax.
Health insurance8%Thankfully, we'll get more coverage for less cost in Germany!
Wycliffe Global Alliance (Europe Area)5%Wycliffe members contribute to the expenses of the offices they work in.
Wycliffe Bible Translators USA5%Every Wycliffe member helps cover the costs incurred by the mission on our behalf.
Retirement savings3.7%There is no expectation that Wycliffe missionaries will be supported after retirement, so we each must save.
Life and other insurance2%
Return airfare for furloughs1.5%We do plan to return someday.
Communications with partners1%We spend this to let you who pray and give know how we're doing, to send pictures of the kids (and the work), and to warn you before we come back.

Wycliffe USA processes all of the donations to our ministry, and handles some of those line items as well. Once we’re in Germany, the Wycliffe office there will process the health insurance cost and transfer the funds for our living expenses to a local bank. I’m glad those people are there to take care of such details, so that we can focus on our ministry!

We need more people to join the churches and individuals who are praying for and supporting us right now. We need a little less than $2000 more each month before we can go. Jesus does not shun “small” gifts, so please don’t feel that you can’t make a difference. You can! If you want to help support Bible translation work in Europe, Africa, and western Asia through our ministry, just use this link to get started:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Partnership.aspx?mid=ECCA8C

There you can choose to pray, give, or both. We can’t do this without you. If you can’t give, please recommend us to your Christian brothers and sisters. Please give us a call if you know of other ways you can help us reach our goal. Thank you!

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David Liddle

I grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, close to Philadelphia. I graduated from The Citadel in 1994. In 1995, I joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and have served in Africa, the United States, and Germany. Katherine and I were married in November 1998.

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