When I was in college I was required to take a course called Engineering Economics. This class, along with many others like Thermodynamics and Differential Equations, has proven quite useless in my new career as a missionary.
However, the economics of moving to another country… being paid in one currency and spending in another is one that is quite important right now to all of us on this team. Missionary Economics, if we can call it that, is actually quite complicated. Trying to sort out the inflation in the US Dollar, inflation or deflation of the Peruvian Currency, the Nuevo Sol, is not an easy task. Plus, factor in the cost of living in a place like Kaufman, TX versus the cost of living in a place like Lima, Peru. Mash all of this together and you’ve got quite a mess to figure out. With much of our team still searching for support and with all of our team trying to figure out budgets, the biggest factor we have to go by is the exchange rate… US Dollar to Peruvian Neuvo Sol. Over the last two years, the value of the USD has plummeted over 20%.
Effectively, this means that if you had a $100 in Jan of 2006, it’s now worth $80.
Now, this is a two edged sword. One of the many reasons the US Dollar is now worth less in Peru, is that the Peruvian economy has been doing very well. This is very good for Peruvians… and we are all for things that are good for Peruvians. So, keeping all of this in mind, please pray for us… that the Lord will provide for our needs, that we will be good stewards of what the Lord provides, and join us in praying the very same prayer for Peruvians as well.
One Comment
Things are not much better in Chile. Take care my friends.