Funding

Greeting everyone!

Those who are close to me know that I have had an interest in Japan for many years and for the last several I have been looking for an opportunity to serve. I have received contact information for several missionaries but never heard back, so I moved on to the next opportunity. A missionary from Southeast Asia was visiting our church and I had a conversation with him. In that conversation he gave me some good pointers and helped get me a contact in Japan, who then got me in contact with the missionary team leader in Osaka, Charles Seelen. We discussed opportunities in the Osaka area and started planning for the summer of 2018.

Last Thursday, January 25^th, I received an E-mail from Charles about an urgent need and an opportunity. Pastor Taniguchi of Youth Harvest Church in Kobe, which is Northwest of Osaka, had his English teacher for the semester delayed until April. I was given this opportunity to experience Japan and help a local church in their ministry. But the catch was that they needed someone as soon as possible. I accepted the offer and have been working to get this trip going on short notice. One of the benefits of this trip is that Pastor Taniguchi is providing an apartment for me to stay at and has helped with a portion of the airfare. I have taken the first steps and will be leaving February 7^th but I still have some costs to cover.

Sunday Morning, January 28^th, I received another E-mail from Charles but this time he was suggesting that I take advantage of being in Japan already and continue on through the summer with the ministries we'd been discussing in the last few months. I would be participating with several ministries, from prayer walking and tract distribution to relationship building activities. This portion of the trip would allow me to diversify my experience and service rather than remaining focused on just the one church. What makes this portion of the trip more financially difficult is that I will have to cover the cost for my own housing. Again, as a benefit of continuing on like this is that the cost for airfare has already been covered, which is a notable portion of the cost for the trip.

Based on the estimates costs outline given to me by Charles, I will need roughly $4,000 for the first portion of the trip then another $9,000 for the second portion. There can be some flexibility in that as I might not spend as much on food and may have a roommate for a portion of the second trip to split the cost with. As it is right now, I am already committed to the first portion of this trip and I have received some funds already. The second part of the trip is still up in the air and depends on if I can raise the money to continue on. This is my pitch, I will need the remainder of the $4,000 for the first part of the trip, and I will post an update based on what has been raised already. I will continue to collect until I get the next $9,000 before the second potion of the trip. Based on what I can get by the end of March or mid-April, if I can afford to stay a reasonable amount of time but not the whole second portion, I will see if I can cut my time short and return early. On the other hand, I am also hopeful to receive some extra money to pay back Pastor Taniguchi for his contribution to my airfare and to give my budget a little wiggle room. While $13,000 seems like a lot for one trip, this trip will span up to 6 months in and near one of the most populated cities in the world, in a country with a Christian, both Catholic and Protestant, population of about 2%. I will give a progress reports of funds raised later on this blog.

How can you give? You can give directly to me through PayPal by going to PayPal.me/CarlErbe . This is a quick method, but is considered a personal gift. If you want to make a tax deductible donation, write your check out to my church, East Tucson Baptist Church, and indicate that this is for Carl's Japan trip. You can mail it or drop it off at this address. If you drop it off in person, please call ahead.

East Tucson Baptist Church

9100 E Speedway Blvd

Tucson, AZ 85710

Phone: (520) 917-4233

If you would like to stay informed about how my trip is going, I will try to put new post on this blog, carlerbejapan.blogspot.com, regularly, as free time permits it. And if I have enough free time, I will also post some picture and maybe a few videos. I will avoiding using social media like Facebook or Twitter while I am in Japan, as was suggested by the missionary from Southeast Asia, but I can be contacted through E-mail, Carl.E.Erbe@gmail.com

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God Bless,

Carl

TL;DR – I've been looking for a missionary opportunity in Japan. I have an opportunity to help teach English in Kobe. I also have a later opportunity to serve over the Summer in Osaka. I need about $13,000 to do both. You can support me through PayPal or my church. I will be posting more here on this blog.

NOTE: I modified the totals given to better reflect the need I have. a more detailed budget is on the way.