*** Donations Needed ***

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i did buy a tee shirt for 29$ here.

here is my current form letter for contribution solictations
it is my explanation of why i didn't send more

why did i donate to the last good cause that emailed me?
i just email this reply to a strongly worded letter saying that i didn't donate to a cause that i ought to have.
i probably get an email per week, mostly groups that have read my blog and appeal to my faith for money, this group is a little closer than that being as i joined the group.
but it is one voice out of a cacophony that i hear from on a weekly basis.
i'm going to rewrite the letter and use it as a model to send out for fund appeals. it is getting to loud not to reply.

Dear Mr. X.

Why didn't i donate to your cause at XYZ?


Is is that i think XYZ is not worthwhile or not worth my while? not at all, i am taking the time to try to explain to you why i did not respond to your fund appeal. and i do value my time for that is really the great gift that God has given me.

i haven't made a penny in over 5 years. when my kids reached 18 i decided to take the remaining years left to me and read, what i had wanted more than anything else in the world(to do) for those 30 years of childraising. Of 100 hrs weeks, of working 48 hrs per week and going to university fulltime. of juggling responsibilities, trying to balance lots of competing inputs. etc etc.
i still have 3 adult children at home, but they take care of their own bills. our house is paid for and if we are very careful we can live on my wife's income of 17K per year. if i borrow most of my reading from the university library or my pastors libraries i can still read what i want to without spending a lot of money on books, yet books are still our number 1 discretionary bill.

so i don't work, haven't for over 5 years and may not for the rest of my natural life, depends. so i don't have an income. period.

Why didn't i donate to the church on Sunday?

because i've spent a year working on a Sunday school class i'll deliver starting next week. My wife works and donates 10% of her salary every week in cash so that God alone knows what she has done. Beside she has been saving to donate $600 dollars for 12 chairs in the new building (one for each family member). i take care of the church's website and hope that represents the tithe that God expects of me, my time since i don't make money. (note that 600 $ represents about 2 week's take home pay for her, and it is above the tithe) Now our pastors and our session does not ask us directly for money. They realize that we are among the poorest of the flock, that i don't work and that Alma doesn't really make a lot of money compared to many in our upper middle class church. Those who know us and are closest to us don't make private personal appeals for money, why do you, who know only an email do so with such forcefulness and bravado speaking in the name of God?

Why didn't i donate to thousands of good causes that wrote me or i read about last year?

because all of our income for 30 years went to raising 6 kids. we didn't save a penny except now we have an ira of 110K$(inherited) and my wife's hopeful work retirement and social security to live on when she retires in 6 years. we don't have the money and what little we do have is required to be saved for those golden years(as God requires us to provide for ourselves so we are not a burden and so that we can provide for those in need). it is not that we are tight fisted or insensitive to others needs, we simply don't have the resources to give to more than our local church.

why didn't we give cash to the bum who asked us for money last night at Carls?

1-we have one big fault, we like to sit and read in the cool A/C at Carlsjr each evening.(a hang over from our travelling days and the fact that our adobe house is hotter inside at night then the cool evening air) for 75 cents each we can sit and drink tea and read. Each night the same row of bums asks us for money and sometimes Alma will buy them a sandwich. We don't give cash so that our money isn't used for drugs or booze but we will pay for food, we will give them a ride to the Sally or even to a friend to stay for the night. 2-we have over the years provided shelter for the homeless as we know what it means to be homeless. we've loaned out my dad's RV to a homeless family and if the opportunity arises we will extend ourselves and take the risk and do such again, but we are not obligated to pay for their addictions.

i am sorry, but i don't see the Scriptural basis for more than we are doing. we simply don't have the money, it is not that XYZ isn't a worthwhile cause but we see the requirement to support the local church first and that is all we can afford. i'm sorry but i will not respond to appeals that are primarily guilt manipulations, you may appeal to my sense of fairplay, to my sense of justice, to my understanding of what God requires of me, but don't bother appealing to guilt, i've lived for many years on the street with kids, i've gone to jail for being poor, and frankly i don't have a lot of guilt feelers out in the world, life has a way of stomping on them and killing them off.

richard williams

ps.
the only thing that even allowed us to take such a remarkable step as me ceasing to work for money was the death of my dad then my mom 5 years ago and my share of the estate proceeds. even then we split 1/2 of the money between our kids. since then we have gotten inheritances from my wife's side: Aunt Sylvia, Mom Clark and Alma's sister Kay. even then each of them contributed more than 1/2 of their estate to the church (Kaye gave all to the OPC board of home missions and Mom Clark gave 50% and Sylvia gave 100K) and we are grateful for the assistance these monies have been. but i really think our family has given what God requires of us in the money field, and that demands that as Christians we ought to give until it hurts have been met already.
 
Maybe I missed something obvious. I want to make a PayPal Donation to this board. What EMAIL to it direct it to?


Brian
 
We have enough for the rest of the year (about $240). After that, we'll be peddling the monkey and the tin cup. :lol:

I appreciate you asking brother.
 
Hey guys...I just noticed this thread...

If there is an ongoing need here...before I went into the ministry full time I owned (and continue to own) and Internet development and hosting company (http://www.webproclaim.com).

I have an infrastructure that is more than capable of hosting an app like this and it would be my pleasure to host puritanboard.com for free.
 
Wow. This has to be a world record for a bumped thread. I'm unsticking this thread. Paypal takes different forms and I don't have control over that. I'm uncomfortable asking for support so if it doesn't work then don't sweat it.
 
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