so, not to be awkward but...

When I was a kid my parents put me in girl scouts a few different times. I'm a total introvert. Like for real. Making new friends is almost painful for me because I don't hit my stride until I've known someone for like 5 years. (just kidding...not really) That's why I had about 5 friends as a kid and I still know all of them. So I guess my parents thought I would meet more people if I was a part of girls scouts. The problem was for me, aside from the fact that I was painfully shy, I had to sell stuff. Stuff I didn't really believe in. Magazine subscriptions? nobody buys those from girl scouts but family members who feel guilty. Wrapping paper? again, just why? Even cookies were hard for me and those babies sell themselves.  (I mean it didn't help that there was a girl scout troop leader on our street so her daughter had the jump on me when it came to sales.)

So deep down inside I still feel like the 10 year old girl when I have to ask something like I'm about to ask. Only this time I believe in what I'm asking for. We came to Peru almost 4 years ago and at that time we did what all missionaries do. We traveled around and told people our vision and asked if they wanted to be involved. We did gain a lot of great support from that time and it has been so much help. But things happen and so sometimes our support base isn't able to come through with the full amount that we need to survive. When that happens we spend a lot of time in prayer (and fasting) for God to come through. This time God told me to do something that scares me a lot. He told me to share our need and ask you for help. 

~When we came to Peru we were a family of 4 and 2 of us were tiny and shared everything including clothes. Now we are a family of 5 and the 2 previously tiny ones are almost as tall as me and both can and often do out eat me. They also seem to grow out of their clothes and shoes when I blink. The newest tiny is still pretty tiny but seems to be on miracle grow and alas has no older sister to receive hand me downs from.  These things have raised our living expenses substantially. 

~The cost of living is rising here. In Houston our single family home with a yard cost us the same as our condo style (shared walls with neighbors on both sides) home with a "jardin" (Peru code for patio) here in Piura. Gas is about $5 a gallon. We don't have a car currently but anywhere we go costs us about $5 to go and come back. 

~Fluctuating exchange rates. We always do our best to find the most beneficial exchange rate. But sometimes there's nothing we can do. The amount we actually receive can vary by as much as $500 just because of how much the exchange rate is cutting off.

~Visas. To live here we have to have visas. Right now we need $700 to renew our visas and get Zoe one of her own.  

~Finally, this month our support is at about 1/4 what we usually get. When the full amount is already spreading thin I'm sure you can imagine what it's like when it's down by 3/4. 

Now If I could I would be at the local polleria applying for a job waiting tables or anything like that to help make ends meet. But unfortunately I don't have permission from this country to earn money here. So I'm asking you to make an investment into us and the work we are doing here. 

If you go to our home church or would like to make a tax deductible donation go here You can even set up a recurring donation if you want to.  Just make sure to direct it to Missions. Missions= US Jose and Kathryn we are the missionaries our church supports. =)

If you don't go to our home church and don't care about tax deductions you can give to us through paypal ~ jkmission2peru@gmail.com if you click that you are sending money to family or friends we pay much lower fees which means we get more of the money you send v. paypal getting it ;) 

If you don't like either of those options but still want to send us money you can email me at jkmission2peru@gmail and I will talk to you about the other options. *You can also email me there if you just want to say hey, I'm an introvert but I like email ;)  

Honestly I've had people give me $5 and say "sorry it's not much". To any of you who are thinking that I just want to say $5 (or .5) is that much more than we have today. It might not seem like much to you but for us it could mean the difference between having lunch or not. And if you can't send any money don't worry! Pray for us. Pray that God would provide our needs. Pray that the exchange rate stays in our favor. Pray that my children's clothes grow with them ;)  Your prayers have brought us this far and I know that God is able and faithful to do the rest. 

Finally, thank you. Without you all we couldn't do what we do. We love seeing what God is doing here and it's because of your partnership.  As Paul said "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now," ~Philippians 1:3-5