Saturday, March 01, 2008
inflation
The cost of ministering in Germany continues to soar. The cost of heating our apartment has doubled every year for the past three years, though our usage has gone down or stayed the same. The price of natural gas just continues to increase along with the decreasing value of the American dollar. Cutting costs, we closed off our son's bedroom, making it a cold room without heat. Since it is a corner room, it should not affect the heating in the neighboring rooms. Skyler then moved his sleeping headquarters into the main part of the house. The bathroom is another corner room, so we turned off the heat in there as well. My DH is currently working on a solar solution to help with the costs. Though the winters in Germany are generally cloudy and gray, there are those days when solar could allow us to turn the heat off for the day. Paul found a solar idea in the Internet using black aluminum mesh screening and he tried it out in our bathroom. Thankfully, February is one of the sunniest months of the year here and we had several days in a row that we could test the idea. It worked! Though the temps outside were between 40-50° during the day, we were able to heat our bathroom ( a corner room with 3 outside walls) to 70° without turning on the radiator. Yippee! So, Paul set out to find cheaper aluminum mesh. Sure enough, God provided us with an American company who donated the screen and had it shipped to us via UPS. It has arrived and we are looking forward to a warm cozy spring, as God provides the sunlight.
We have also working to cut back on the electric bill which has also skyrocketed in the past several years. We are eating more fresh meals and avoiding the use of the oven as much as possible. Strategicly placed candles work great for navigating a dark house in the evenings. Thankfully, we have lots of windows to provide light during the day. We moved our dining table next to the window so that we wouldn't be tempted to turn the overhead lights on during mealtime. God continues to show us ways that we can adjust to cut costs and be wiser stewards of His funding.
Please pray for us for wisdom. Pray for the economies of our lands. Pray for God's provision for our family and our ministry. Pray for our health, that we wouldn't need to spend money on Dr. bills. Pray for our church that it would grow and multiply.
We will pray for you, that the Lord will bless you ministries and your finances. We pray for your health and well being. We pray for your spiritual growth. We have a prayer box for our loved ones. If we don't already have your picture and you would like us to pray for you, please send us your picture and prayer requests. We would love to add you to our prayer card box.
Thank you for teaming up with us!
Chelli Sudbrock
Wittenberg, Germany