Please pray for us!

Hello my sweet friends. I need your prayers!!

I have always handled our finances. We have been married for 20 years and this has always been my job. Money..or the lack there of has always stressed Eric out...so I took that job. I do not have regret about doing the finances but I will tell you that I fed a beast! I knew that Eric would get frustrated easily and I would rob peter to pay paul many times over the years. Eric knew that we were tight and he is NOT a spender nor am I but when something would come up..like a car repair..instead of telling him that we didn't have the money and letting him... as God appointed head of our home..figure it out..I would come up with all kinds of creative ways to make iy work. I have even sold things that were precious to me just to get extra money. This was soooo wrong of me....I wanted to protect him but that was not my job!!!

About 4 years ago we had a "come to Jesus meeting"...if don't know that term it means I showed up in his office one day and had a breakdown...apologized for taking on the role of protector and then laid it all out on the table. He was great and we decided that I would still handle the books but that he would make all the decisions and he would figure out how to get "extra" money for things that came up.

Well wouldn't you know it...we started DTEM 3 years ago...we couldn't even pay our bills much less hire a secretary so guess who has handled the finances...ME! Eric has been involved all the way but it is me who looks at it EVERY DAY for the past 3 years. I went to Eric 3 months ago and said, "I can't do this anymore. I am so weary about worrying over money. I will handle personal money but you have to take DTEM books....just pay us and if you can't pay us then you tell me what to do."

He gladly took it and I am in the process of teaching him. Which means that I still have to look at it everyday!! Well as of next week we will have to go to half pay. I can't even express to you how heavy this is for me....it is so hard to enjoy ministry when you always have to cut every corner! I hate money! I hate that I allow the enemy to steal my joy. Please pray for me!!! Please pray for Eric....he has never had to handle this stuff before! Please pray that the Lord would give us understanding....he has placed so many dreams to reach the lost here and all over the world but the bottom line is that it takes money for this to happen! I love you guys so much! Thanks for praying on our behalf!

February Newsletter

Below is a copy of our ministry newsletter. You can't jump on the links but you can read it.

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	Give hope We want to keep going "Until the Whole World Hears." 2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching." COUNT ME IN

Sweet Friends and Family, We think we finally have our email situation fixed. If you are one of those who never receives our newsletter then it is working! Also, we are working very hard to get our new web site up and running as well. We will let you know when to check it out. On January 12th we watched along with all of you , the heart wrenching images coming for Haiti. At the Lords prompting, Eric knew that he was supposed to GO. God willing he will be leaving February 20th to serve with a team from First Baptist Woodstock for a week. Please join us in praying for the entire teams safety. Eric is excited about serving Jesus by showing compassion to these precious people. What a joy to share the hope of the Savior with the hopeless. Driven to Encourage has grown every year. God has expanded our territory and provided in ways that we just can't understand. As we went into November 09, DTEM was running on 32% of our yearly budget. By December 31st we had many 1 time gifts on top or our faithful monthly gifts and we saw a 23% increase in a few short days! We were speechless at times! Every single gift is precious to us! One of our dear friends, who is out of full time work still sends $15 every single month. That gift is just as significant as those who give hundreds. God uses all of you to send us!! I can remember times when Eric and I could only send $20 a month to help other ministries. We were obedient but honestly sometimes I felt silly sending such a small amount. Boy has my perspective changed!! Not only are there NO insignificant gifts......but if everyone committed $20 a month....DTEM would more than meet our 2010 budget. We are overwhelmingly grateful that you are helping us make an impact all over the world. We are honored to call you friend! Thank you for your prayers and support to DTEM. Things to pray about: *After taking a break during the holidays, Eric is back to mentoring, teaching and training 50 men and young men every week! What an awesome opportunity to change our world!! Pray that the Lord would use him in a mighty way. *Pray for the kids in the schools that Eric will be speaking to this winter and spring...pray that the Lord would save many. *Pray for Eric's safety in Haiti and for us while he is away.