March 2004
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Greetings in Christ from Croatia. We are writing to let you
know that we will be in the States for an entire year beginning
this July on “interpretation assignment.” This means
that we will be able to see more of you, our partners, and share
face-to-face about the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
We have been grateful for your support and prayers during the
last decade in Croatia, and we have enjoyed getting to know some
of you long-distance via email and letters. We would love to come
for a visit if you would consider inviting us.
If you are interested in allowing us to come and share with you,
would you please let us know right away? Scheduling is likely
to be difficult, and we would like to get an early start.
The best way to contact us is by email. Once we get to the States
we will be living with Michelle’s father in Mobile, Alabama.
His number is (251) 625-8619 (please don’t call until we
are there this July).
Email addresses: steven.kurtz@os.htnet.hr
(this is Steven’s address in Croatia, good through June,
then he will get one Stateside) and michlkurtz@aol.com
(this is Michelle’s, since it’s AOL it will always
be available).
We will be traveling a lot while we are in the States, but we
will try to check our email as often as we can.
It will not be possible for us to visit every congregation that
we would like to during our time in the States, but we would like
to visit as many as we can. We will schedule on a “first
asked, first answered” basis. When you write, please suggest
some dates. We can be available for Sunday worship (Steven is
ordained) or for adult education, youth groups, mission committee
meetings, potluck suppers, or whatever venue you might think would
be effective.
July is reserved for the Chicago area, August is reserved for
the Ohio area.
A note about expenses
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pays our salary while we are
on interpretation assignment so we do not expect any kind of honorarium,
but our travel expenses are not taken care of. We want to be straightforward
about this to make sure expectations are all known in advance.
When we arrive at your church we will give you a travel expense
letter detailing our travel costs. If we drive, it’ll be
37.5 cents a mile. If the distance is over 200 miles it is usually
cheaper to rent a car with unlimited mileage and be reimbursed
for rental and fuel. If we drive a rental or fly we will divide
the cost among churches we are visiting in your area.
If you would like to invite us but cannot afford to pay for our
travel, that’s okay too, but please let us know ahead of
time. Some churches give us more than our expenses so we save
that for such occasions. Please note that we do not accept cash.
We hope this is all acceptable.
N.B. If someone in your congregation would like to host us while
we visit, you need to know that our family suffers from allergies
to cats; sorry about that.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in Croatia and
we are looking forward to sharing with you, whose prayers and
support make it possible. Thank you for allowing us to serve.
Yours in Christ,
Steven and Michelle Kurtz
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
336 |
