At 7.15pm New Zealand time today I will depart New Zealand for Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I am going for a week where I will give 3 talks on the following topics:

Feticide: “Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique” to the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society

God and Morality: “Divine Commands and Biblical Authority: The Problem of Gen 22″ to the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society

God and Morality: “Morality and God’s Commands” to the EPS Apologetics Conference

This Friday morning Madeleine will fly to Wellington to do 1 talk and 1 panel discussion for the ACTIV8 Pro-Life Training Day:

“How to Refute Pro-Choice Arguments”

“Abortion Apologetics Q&A” (with Brendan Malone)

Both of us will miss opportunities to work, Madeleine will take Friday off (being self-employed that will mean she will not be earning but will still need to pay her staff), I will not be preaching this Sunday. Our younger children will have to cared for by their older sister who lives in another part of Auckland. Logistics for Madeleine will be extra difficult since she developed epilepsy this year and is not allowed to drive due to her condition.

I say these things not to complain, both of us are very much looking forward to doing these talks, we have both had a passion for defending the faith since we met some 17 years ago, but to simply draw attention to the reality that doing these things costs a little more than we can handle.

While my wife might be a practicing lawyer, she does a fair amount of legal aid work as well as some pro-bono work – she has a heart for those facing injustice who lack means to do anything about it. I work part-time as a teaching pastor and a researcher. I assume primary care for our two children still at home, one of who has autistic spectrum disorder and pervasive developmental disorder and cannot go to school (I home educate both children). We have a mortgage. Bearing the costs of taking time off work and travelling away from home to teach others how to defend the faith/life is pushing things for us. Any donations, small is welcome, would be gratefully appreciated.

I have been given most of my accomodation in the USA for free, Madeleine’s flights have been paid for by the organisers of her engagements, we can cover the various transport to and from the airports, accomodation and speaking venues, we can cover our food and personal expenses, we can cover a shortfall, if it is not too big. This means we have Madeleine’s trip covered but aspects of mine are not.

Now that we have booked everything for my trip, my costs (excluding meals and within US transport) are:

ETS and EPS Registration $73.93
US Customs ESTA $17.25
Flypark – parking for 8 days $40
Air NZ flights to USA $1,709.98
Air America flights LAX to BWI and BWI to LAX $368.40
Hostel – Accomodation 18-19 November $41.30
Air BnB – Accomodation (hostel booked out) 22-23 November $83.00
TOTAL: $2333.86
– $1115.00 (amount donated at the time of this post)
Shortfall: $1218.86 (not including food, transport on arrival, personal expenses)

If you are minded to donate the information is in our sidebar. Thankyou. Thankyou to all those who have donated time, money, practical assistance and other means already. Please pray for our endeavours that we might reach hearts and minds and make a difference and that all will run smoothly on our children, home and respective work fronts.

Tags:   Baltimore · EPS Apologetics Conference · Evangelical Philosophical Society · Evangelical Theological Society1 Comment