So, I have to confess a little bitterness that has been floating around my thoughts recently. We just finished hosting our girls from Latvia through New Horizons for Children and was thinking about the cost.
The Hosting fee was $5800 ($2950 for one, $2850 for the second). This covered passports, visas, transportation, health insurance, home safety visit, and chaperones. We had the girls in our home for four weeks over Christmas so there was some other expenses (despite their petite size, they could put away some serious food). Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, a grant from our church, some savings of our own, buying bulk fruit at Costco, and some timely income from an unplanned source (a.k.a. God's providential provision), we had it all covered.
And here is where the bitterness kicks in, as I was paying for a new set of tires I hadn't planned for, I thought about our little pile of debt left over from adopting in 2009 and wondered, "maybe we shouldn't have hosted the girls and just paid off some bills instead".
Yes, I know, it is selfish and self-centered and faithless and pathetic, but that is not the point. What I needed was some perspective. I put my business degree to work by asking a question:
What is the return on the $5800 investment?
- my family got to live on mission together for an entire month as we shared our lives with the girls = $1100 per person and we got to sleep in our own beds and eat familiar food without jet lag or passports, not too bad.
- our church, from our church Grandma and Grandpa to the youngest child, and their friends, and their entire families, got to go on a mission trip without leaving the county = $80 per person and no one even packed a suitcase or took time off of work, also not bad.
- two orphaned girls, not only got to hear the Gospel preached, but were able to see the Gospel in our lives, feel the Gospel in our hugs, experience the Gospel as we lived it out with our family and friends, in all of its sinful ugliness and redemptive beauty, every day, for a whole month = $2900. That's a pretty good ROI.
Here is the point:
Pastors/Elders/Church Leaders - how much would it cost to take your entire church on a mission trip for a month? Hosting through New Horizons will cost less, guaranteed.
Families - how awesome would it be to go as family on a mission trip for a month? With New Horizons the mission field comes to your front door, sleeps under your roof, plays with your kids and dogs, and eats all of your oranges.
Dads and Moms - what would you do to share the gospel with children who may never hear it from anyone else? With New Horizons your life becomes a living breathing example of love, grace, mercy, hope, and peace.
Is it worth it? Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt, it is worth every penny.
The Hosting fee was $5800 ($2950 for one, $2850 for the second). This covered passports, visas, transportation, health insurance, home safety visit, and chaperones. We had the girls in our home for four weeks over Christmas so there was some other expenses (despite their petite size, they could put away some serious food). Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, a grant from our church, some savings of our own, buying bulk fruit at Costco, and some timely income from an unplanned source (a.k.a. God's providential provision), we had it all covered.
And here is where the bitterness kicks in, as I was paying for a new set of tires I hadn't planned for, I thought about our little pile of debt left over from adopting in 2009 and wondered, "maybe we shouldn't have hosted the girls and just paid off some bills instead".
What is the return on the $5800 investment?
- my family got to live on mission together for an entire month as we shared our lives with the girls = $1100 per person and we got to sleep in our own beds and eat familiar food without jet lag or passports, not too bad.- our church, from our church Grandma and Grandpa to the youngest child, and their friends, and their entire families, got to go on a mission trip without leaving the county = $80 per person and no one even packed a suitcase or took time off of work, also not bad.
- two orphaned girls, not only got to hear the Gospel preached, but were able to see the Gospel in our lives, feel the Gospel in our hugs, experience the Gospel as we lived it out with our family and friends, in all of its sinful ugliness and redemptive beauty, every day, for a whole month = $2900. That's a pretty good ROI.
Here is the point:
Pastors/Elders/Church Leaders - how much would it cost to take your entire church on a mission trip for a month? Hosting through New Horizons will cost less, guaranteed.Families - how awesome would it be to go as family on a mission trip for a month? With New Horizons the mission field comes to your front door, sleeps under your roof, plays with your kids and dogs, and eats all of your oranges.
Dads and Moms - what would you do to share the gospel with children who may never hear it from anyone else? With New Horizons your life becomes a living breathing example of love, grace, mercy, hope, and peace.
Is it worth it? Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt, it is worth every penny.
