The Euro

After nearly a year of gaining value against the weak American dollar, last month the euro actually devalued against the dollar! This is very good news for American missionaries heading to or currently ministering in Europe, as our paychecks rise and fall with the exchange rate.

Without going into the deep ins and outs of it (mainly because I really don't understand the intricacies of international trade), this increase in the dollar's value is quite significant. At the weakest point, the exchange rate was 1 € to $1.60 or so; to put this into perspective, if you were to buy a used car (as we will in several months) for about 5000 €, it would have actually cost you $8000. At the current exchange rate of 1 € to $1.42, that 5000 € would be about $7100--a pretty significant savings!

So if you want to know how to pray for us, pray for God's provision for us in the midst of somewhat unstable world markets (we have 77% of our monthly needs met!); perhaps more importantly, pray that God will continue to teach us how to trust Him through this transition; but most importantly, pray that even now God will be softening Spaniards hearts to the Good News of Jesus, so that they will come into a real relationship with Him.