Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Knightly Family Budget

As it stands right now the house at the ARK will not be completed for 'months' and we have not yet received approval from CHI (international director) to go ahead with the addition. In the meantime, we have found a house that we can rent, but the expense is clearly above what we currently receive in donations ... however, we are going to step out in FAITH and move in, trusting that the Lord will supply all that we need! The following letter will explain in detail our donations vs expenses, so that you can understand what we are facing. I must share with you that this is probably a low estimate and because Pete is incredibly frugal we can generally manage to get by. We try very hard to live responsibly with our finances, and we do not have any debt. We are very thankful to those of you who have supported us financially over this last year +, we could not stay on the field without the generous gifts that you have given to us. We are not here for ourselves, and we feel privileged to have been called by God to work with orphans and those in need here in Africa!!!
Knightly Monthly Budget
(In Canadian Dollars)

Current income:
Ø Average donations per month is $1000 (this is all from individuals, we do not have any churches that support us)
Ø Child Tax Credit $640 (this may disappear in the new year due to change in employment status)
TOTAL: $1640

Current Expenses:
Ø Income Tax $100
Ø Bank Fee $12
Ø Talitha Allowance $50
Ø House rental $350
Ø Water $40
Ø Electricity $70
Ø Charitable Donations $160
Ø Auto Insurance $50
Ø Life Insurance $27.12
Ø Internet $100
Ø Telephone $100
Ø Gas for Stove $10
Ø Household cleaners/toiletries $250
Ø Groceries $500
Ø Car fuel $300
Ø Clothing $100
Ø School $30
Ø Entertainment $20
Ø Dining out $100
Ø 10% compensation for exchange rate $236

TOTAL: $2605.12

SHORTAGE (-$965.12)



We also have no idea what the expense will be for Work Permits, and Student Visas, so this is not included in the budget… the price was supposed to change in July, and we pray it doesn’t change before we get ours! Some of the things we are not sure about such as water and electricity (this is a guess based on a family of 3 living in the house we may rent; water is very high here in Namibia). Telephones are used mainly for CHI purposes, and internet is our only source of communication with ‘home’.

Some of the expenses can be cut back on such as entertainment, and dining out (which is incurred when we go into Windhoek running errands). School fees may be higher as they must purchase uniforms, and school supplies. We currently as of yet do not have insurance for our vehicle.

We are still working on figuring out exactly how much things will cost in Namibia, so this is rough estimate, based on our first month here and some projected expenses that we have not yet incurred!

We will also have other expenses once we move into a house, such as purchasing a fridge, stove, freezer and furniture. We have beds in Angola (but we only borrowed a table and chairs while there, and we never did manage to purchase living room furniture). Hopefully we will have the details worked out for having our things trucked down here in the next few weeks! Once we have an idea of what the appliances may cost we will send that information out to you.

We encourage you to pray about it, and if you feel God laying on your heart to support the Knightly Family financially please email us with your pledged amount. Currently you can receive a receipt for your gift until December 2006 (when you give through Hillcrest). However after December is up in the air, and we are in the process of and making every effort to find an organization to funnel our funds through, until CHI has a Canadian office (which they are in the process of doing). All we can offer at this point is God’s blessing as you give without obtaining a receipt! Our account details will be included in this email if you would like to direct deposit, if you prefer to mail post-dated cheques to Pete’s parents (who have been so gracious as to take care of our banking) the address will be included also.

Specific Prayer Requests
Ø A mission organization to temporarily go under, so that we may funnel our funds through them as a benefit to the givers
Ø Finances
Ø Health (my asthma was very bad shortly after arriving here in Namibia, and Praise the Lord I was given some Mannatech and in just over a week I am feeling an unbelievable amount better!)
Ø Encouragement (this has been a difficult time of transition for me and the kids, as our hearts are in Angola. It has also been difficult living in the multi purpose building with many people in and out day and night! Etc!)
Ø House to live in and appliances
Ø Our things to arrive from Angola (safely and inexpensively)
Ø Things seem to go missing and get stolen here in Namibia, frequently (we have had food go missing from our kitchen, toiletries from the bathroom, Pete’s cell phone was stolen, etc!!) please pray for safety and the ability to not become angry, frustrated and constantly suspicious.
Ø The safe and quick return of our new passports from Canada.

Praise Items
Ø Pete is very happy with his new duties here in Namibia.
Ø We as a family enjoy going to church in Windhoek each Sunday at a Portuguese/English church. Great teaching and great people!
Ø We had a wonderful visit from Pastor Zebedeu from Namibe, Angola! What a great time we had together, and what an encouragement he was to us!
Ø One of the members from the church in Namibe sent some money to us (just to help with groceries and things)… we were speechless and challenged by the generosity of our Christian brother in Angola.
Ø One of the CHI ladies was a teacher back in America and she offered to teach my children a couple of days a week, this has been a HUGE blessing.

Pete’s Parents

Pete and Charlene Knightly
c/o Ron and Marge Knightly
19-14th Ave S
Cranbrook, BC VIC 2W9
250-426-4782

Hillcrest Baptist Church

c/o Hillcrest Mission Fund
1393-9th Ave
Kamloops BC V2C 3X6
250-372-2021
(Please make cheque out to Hillcrest Baptist and write on a separate piece of paper that is it for the Knightly Family)

We thank you for taking the time to read this over, and we thank you in advance for praying concerning the needs of our family. We thank God for you!

Love in Christ,
Charlene

Friday, September 01, 2006

September 2006 Update

The ARK is in desperate need of some assistance in the area of management and already Pete has been able to assist the houseparent, Lazarus with some of the difficulties he has had to face on his own as of late. It is difficult to find trustworthy help and often those who have been hired end up having to be let go, and the common reasons are theft and inability to complete daily tasks. Living on-sight would allow us to help with the management of the Ark.

There are several reasons why living ‘on-sight’ would be ideal for our family. First of all we have had no progress in finding a house to rent and the place we are currently living in is definitely temporary. Secondly in the ministry that we have been asked to do by Christ’s Hope, living on-sight would be the best option. I will be sending a Project Proposal shortly.

As Ministry Coordinator for Okahandja Pete is over-seeing:
The ARK
Care and Compassion (which has an office at the ARK)
Choose to Wait program


In our first bi-weekly staff meeting since joining Christ’s Hope Namibia many of the issues with the ARK and Care and Compassion were discussed and it was expressed several times how grateful to God that our family had come to assist Christ’s Hope in this area… we praise God that although it was not in our plan, His plan for us is at work, and we are confident that He will use us here in Namibia.

Pete is the first Ministry Coordinator in Namibia and although it will take a while to figure out exactly what that means, he has been a big help already and is slowly figuring out what his job description will look like. He has assisted Lazarus with some interviews for a replacement cook and laundry worker. He has also spent a lot of time with him discussing some of the areas that he is struggling with, especially concerning his staff. He is also in the process of interviewing for a Care and Compassion leader. Next week he will attend training in the Choose to Wait program. He has also been assisting in some of the finishing touches in the kitchen of the MPMC and in setting up shelving in the containers here on sight.

For myself I will slot in where needed but more specifically in the area of fund-raising and promotion of Christ’s Hope Namibia IN Namibia… they are hoping that the ministries within Namibia will be supported 50% by Namibians somewhere in the near future. Currently my projects to complete are Partnership Posters (to give to Namibian donors as a thank you for partnering in the work of Christ’s Hope), and a Power Point presentation to include in presentation folders to perspective donors. I have also been able to set up 4 computers for the children at the ARK that were sent in a container, and get the secretary’s and Care and Compassion office computers working properly.

Along with trying to concentrate on school work (which is a difficult task these days) the kids have also been helping with some of the ministries in CHI. Meagan has assisted with the Choose to Wait Club, Kids Club, Coffee House, and babysitting for the CHI volunteers who have small children. The boys have been challenged to dig a big metal door out of the ground, not sure how they are doing with that… but the MEN of CHI are quite excited to have boys around… they seem to bring ‘LIFE’ to the party!!!

Currently there are 13 children in the ARK. They range in age from 8 to 18. The oldest boy is struggling in school and if he fails this year he will be responsible to finish school on his own. He is lacking in motivation at the moment, but we must find a way to help him regain momentum as it is very difficult for kids who do not finish school here in Namibia… they keep passing them until they reach grade 12 and then that is it… they must complete school as ‘adult’ students (they can’t continue to attend high school) in a separate program. The most recent child to be placed in the ARK by social services was beaten by her mother and raped by her step-father. The staff at the ARK is not qualified to deal with the emotional and physical needs of a child like this. It is so heart breaking to see the state of the children here in Africa (in general). Reminds me of a song that we have called “Who will hear the cry of the children”… well God hears and he has called our family for this specific purpose. Please pray that we will have the strength to fulfill our calling, and not become discouraged by the overwhelming need.

We would also ask that you pray for our family concerning finances. Hillcrest will only be able to receipt those who are supporting us up until December 2006. We are looking for another organization who will funnel our funds until CHI has a Canadian office set up (which they are currently in the middle of working on, but this can be a lengthy process). We are also in the process of working out the details to allow US donors to give through CHI United States, this will also take time. At present we are being faithfully supported 50% of our budgeted expenses. Praise the Lord He has been faithful in supplying all of our needs; however if you are feeling a desire to help support our family financially, know that your support of our family is allowing us to help the orphans and unwanted children of Namibia. To the best of our ability we desire to be responsible, careful and generous with the money that comes into our hands. Please note, as some have been asking, CHI does not financially support their volunteers it is up to each volunteer to raise the money for daily expenses (house, food, vehicle, etc)… we are missionaries, not employees.


I hope that this letter has given you more of an idea of what we are doing, but know that if you have any questions or concerns you are free to drop us an email or give us a call and we will do our best to answer you. We miss you all and look forward to hearing from you.

God Bless,
Charlene for the Knightly clan!


Knightly Family
c/o Christ's Hope,
P.O. Box 9979,
Eros Windhoek,
Namibia

Charlene's Cell: 264 81 301 8798
Pete's Cell: 264 81 314 6889
Meagan's Cell: 264 81 314 6890
(use YAK 10 10 925 011 for $0.29 a minute)

websites:
http://knightlyfamily.blogspot.com/
AND
http://spaces.msn.com/members/knightvision6/