4 Reasons Why My Supporters Want Me To Go On Vacation

I'm going on vacation soon! We'll be camping at the Grand Canyon for three nights and plan on going hiking while we're there. We're super excited to get away from our laptops and demands on our time and just spend time together enjoying the magnificence of God painted on the face of Grand Canyon.

But my mom is VERY concerned that if I tell people about my vacation that it will ... I don't know... bother them. I guess she coming from a place of "I'm supporting you, giving you money, so you can do Bible Translation, not so you can go on vacation." And I guess that's a reasonable first reaction. But there are some secondary thoughts that have many of my partners stoked to hear I'm going on vacation.

Partners support my work because they want to see the Bible get translated in Papua New Guinea. Vacations do a lot to that end.

• The number one reason missionaries leave the field is team conflict.
  My main team member, the one I'll be spending pretty much all my time with, is my husband. I heard a sermon by Vince Antonucci saying that a key to a healthy marriage is a daily time, weekly date, and annual get away. So investing in a vacation is not only investing in my team relationship but my marriage. If this relationship starts to go downhill, one of the first steps to fixing it will be leaving the field. 
• Another major reason people leave the field is burn out.
  I'm tired. Like really tired. The semester has been killer and I can't just keep moving like this. But it's hard to just rest when my laptop is sitting right there. So we're going to step away from technology. (I heard wi-fi is hard to get in the Grand Canyon). As much as I feel this way now, the feeling will be even greater when in the jungle. Developing a habit when it's easy to will be beyond beneficial when burn out is an even greater threat and knowing when to take a break becomes essential. Sometimes you need to get away so you can stay longer. 

To address the use of funds:

• I'm cheap. Like, super cheap. My four day vacation is $64. Camping is cheap. Any supplies that have been purchase were also necessary for bush living and their weights for transportation were considered, because I don't want to buy something twice or pay much to transport it. (i.e. Keens, water filter, water bottle (We left our Keens in PNG when we were there since we figured they would probably break during a term and we would need more. Leaving them there, buying new ones and bringing those over next time was the least expensive solution!) The trip there will be a slight detour off my Partnership Development trip to Phoenix. We picked this location because we would already be over there. I am a penny pincher!  
• Included in my budget is both work expenses and salary. Our salary is like $20,000. We live frugally and budget in a vacation because we know how important it is to our longevity on the field. Supporters come on knowing that they are funding both work expense and salary. But presently, at our current level of support, that money goes exclusively to training, work expenses (like PD trips or promotional literature printing), and whatever's left helps with rent and food. Both Jacob and I are presently working other jobs to supplement our income. We are generating so much extra income that we don't withdraw all of the support we receive and are slowly saving money to be used for fund-raising trips and eventually start-up costs of our move to PNG. 

So we're going on vacation. To the Grand Canyon. From Tuesday to Friday. And we're super stoked about it. And we hope you are too! If you're not, we hope that you'll prayerfully consider these reasons why other supporters are for it. We want you to be pleased with the way we handle the money entrusted to us and we don't want to be the sort of missionaries who don't talk about things they do for fear it will offend their supporters. We want to share our lives openly, and honestly, and entirely. So... yeah.... there it is. Our vacation plans. Pictures to follow.