Heaven Now Missions donations and expenses

As the donations and mission activity have increased, I felt that it would be good to share a record of what has come in every month and how it is being used. I started this in the beginning of July, 2023. Here is an explanation of some of the most common items, and below that you can see the income and expenses with the most recent months first.

-Food. I’ve worked with six or seven organizations in this area that help people to get off of drugs and also care for elderly people who have nowhere to go. The one I’m most involved with is Casa da Paz. We buy a massive amount of food staples every month for them with a relatively low cost! It’s fun seeing how much food we can buy for so little! Casa da Paz receives most of the people who we help to get off of the street. There are also sometimes food expenses for outreaches, such as feeding the homeless or chocolate to make Easter Eggs for the children in a neighborhood for an evangelistic event.

-Soap and Diapers. Another recovery house I visit every two or three months is called Metamorphosis. They care for over 100 people, with a side for both men and woman, and have recently opened a low-cost beauty salon and small restaurant to help people in recovery to return to work. Besides helping people to get off of drugs, they care for many bedridden elderly people. Whenever I go, I bring some things like powdered soap and geriatric diapers. They use a massive amount of powdered soap because of the many bedsheets and clothes that get urinated. I sometimes get someone else to go with me, we bring a gift, and we spend several hours praying for people and see Jesus do many wonderful miracles!

-Bibles. I have been buying Bibles since we learned how many people at the recovery houses didn’t have them, and we also use them for other outreaches. We will be bringing many to the River People in Northern Brazil. We’ve bought different kinds of Bibles, but I’ve settled in on a buying a thin New Testament that costs about $1.20 USD. It isn’t the cheapest option, but the letters are big and I’d rather get that then a tiny New Testament because many people won’t read the small print. And it’s still much cheaper than the whole Bibles. We have bought whole Bibles, but right now it seems better to stick to the New Testaments because we can get so many more for our money. I’d rather distribute 150 New Testaments in the Amazon to people who don’t have them, then to bring just 35 whole Bibles for the same cost!

-Uber and travel. I usually go on some kind of local outreach about twice a week, and Uber is cheap here, so that’s how I get around when I don’t have a ride. Of course, there are other travel expenses for missions that are not local or last multiple days.

–Jesus Encounter Ministries has been a huge blessing and I love what God is doing through them and want to participate in it. That’s why you see a small part, about $20 a month, going towards them. I see God’s power in the meetings, I hear a simple and pure gospel message preached without manipulating and using people, and they are a great encouragement. Seeing the testimonies in their meetings sets my heart on fire, and I go out and see God do it again on the streets! JEM is also involved in caring for the poor and orphans. https://www.jesusencounterministries.com/

–Happy Hands is the simple organization of our friend Shawn Hurley. I’ve seen a tremendous work of the Holy Spirit in Shawn’s life in the past several years. Shawn left a high-paying job as a nurse to teach and pray for the sick. Shawn has also opened a home to rescue women from prostitution and addiction in Peru, a ministry very similar to many that I work with in Brazil. I also simply want to participate in what he’s doing in some way, so small amount of monthly support goes to him.
https://www.happyhandsministries.com/old_index.htm and https://www.facebook.com/sjhurle62

-Missionary Support. Missions has consumed my life and cost me much personally, including the expenses and difficulties of moving to another country, leaving my house and work, and not even being able to legally work for the first few years here until documentation got worked out! I currently work full-time online, and my wife also works, but it’s not enough to cover our monthly expenses. We’re living partly off of money from selling a house. So missionary support currently reimburses me for part (not all) of the time I take off of work to do missions. I spend many hours every month praying for people, so this simply helps me to keep doing that and pay the bills.

June 2024
Donations: $1,070.70
Expenses: $631.01 (Food for the recovery house $342.09, geriatric diapers for elderly people at Metamorfose $186.48, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.76, Uber for missions $58.65, Chemical to kill cockroaches at a mission $26.16*, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: -$484.50
*I took a friend and we prayed for the people and saw many miracles at one mission that cares for elderly people and helps people get off of drugs. Cockroaches were everywhere! Unfortunately, sometimes people have called the authorities on a struggling mission and have them shut down. These missions are providing a service to the government and society. They should be working with the missions and helping them instead of making things as difficult as possible! We bought a chemical for pest control to help keep the place clean and avoid trouble with the city authorities.

May 2024
Donations: $235.67
Expenses: $631.01 (Food for the recovery house $295.17, Soap and geriatric diapers for elderly people at Metamorfose $89.11, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.93, Uber for missions $36.67, Airplane fee for extra suitcase to bring Bibles to the Amazon $31.14, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: -$763.06

April 2024
Donations: $404.19
Expenses: $701.25 (Food for the recovery house $276.69, Hat with mosquito net, insect repellent, sunblock $48.73, Dengue vaccine $397.66, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.29, Uber for missions $61.22, Contribution towards 2 the Amazon trip for 2 other missionaries in our group who had still not raised all the money for the trip $39.06, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: -$367.72

March 2024
Donations: $218.60
Expenses: $1099.95 (Food for outreach and the recovery house $294.56, Over 200 New Testaments $252.48, Clothes and equipment for the Amazon trip* $327.80, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.58, Uber for missions $46.53, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: -$70.66
*The most dangerous animal in the world is the mosquito! We are going to a place where mosquitos are often abundant and they tell us some are so small that they go through mosquito netting if it’s not fine enough! They often carry dangerous diseases like Maleria and Dengue. Several other insects are quite dangerous as well. Because of this, our whole bodies need to be covered in spite of the heat. I bought a mosquito net to sleep in on the mattress, a hammock with a mosquito net to sleep on the 20-hour boat trip, and the kinds of clothes that fisherman here use to cover their bodies and protect themselves from the sun and insects. These are all clothes that I needed to purchase especially because of this trip, and would not need or be likely to use apart from traveling to the Amazon.

February 2024
Donations: $469.19
Expenses: $524.47 (Food for the recovery house $305.25, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.41, Uber for missions $40.81, Missionary Support $148)
Running balance: $810.69

January 2024
Donations: $702.91
Expenses: $1,237.56 ($352.34 food for recovery house, $77.81 soap and geriatric diapers, $566.87 Amazon trip, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.95, Uber for missions $66.58, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: $865.97

December 2023
Donations: $154.41
Expenses: -$424.18 (Food for recovery house $217.56, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $21.03, Uber for missions $27.59, Missionary support $148)
Running balance: $1,400.62

November 2023
Donations:$1,131.19
Expenses: -$414.77 (Food for the recovery house $257,76. Happy hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.45, Uber for missions $14.56, Missionary support $148)
Running balance:$1,670.39

October 2023
Donations: +1470.19
Expenses: -778.88 (Children’s Day outreach expense $17.83, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $19.80, Travel including Uber, Gas, lodging $362.92, Food for the recovery house $256.33, Missionary support $112)
Running balance: +$989.97 (We will be buying more Bibles when I get back from the US!)

September 2023
Donations: +718.48
Expenses: -752.75 (Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.23, Uber and gas for missions $51.76, Food for outreach and the recovery house $197.53, Extra Babysitter cost to help my wife while I’m away, $40.49, 60 Kilograms of powdered soap, $50.08, Voice of the Apostles conference Brazil $270.60, Missionary support $112 )
Balance: +$298.66

August 2023
Donations: +465.66
Expenses: -303.05 (Mission’s conference expense $13.06, Happy Hands $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $20.38, Uber for missions $80.30, Food for outreach and the recovery house $179.31)
Balance: +$332.93

July 2023
Donations: +$293.94
Expenses: -$208.79 (Uber for missions $25,91, Happy Hands Ministry $10, Jesus Encounter Ministries $21.55, Materials for children’s mission $20,83, Missions conference fee $10,41, Food/recovery house $120,09)
Balance: +85.15