So how is it that we can offer treatment for free? The short answer, no doubt, is Jesus. He provided what we have, and always has. 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10

But to offer more detail, I’ll explain. In 2020, after losing my job due to COVID, we started a GoFundMe to raise money to purchase and equip a mobile dental van. Our friends and family selflessly raised just over $3,000. While the dream didn’t completely die, it was another four years before we decided what to do with the money. Once we both agreed on a plan modeled around the initial idea, we started purchasing portable dental equipment. We were then gifted another $10,000, which allowed us to finish purchasing the needed equipment, and the initial set of inventory and supplies. 

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” - Luke 16:10

We started seeing patients at free screening events, and invited some people into our home to offer treatment. I was still working part-time, which allowed us to pay bills, and set some aside to build up our ministry funds. Before leaving Missouri, we had saved enough to pay for six months of living expenses. We also had a few thousand dollars remaining in our ministry fund to allow us to refill our inventory when we arrived. 

Paul is still homeschooling our children as his full-time job, and I am working full-time to run the ministry (which is currently a volunteer position). Additionally, Paul puts in at least a few hours every week to help with the parts of the ministry that I can’t do alone. Since we are limited with our space and still very new in getting established, more of my time is spent doing paperwork than doing dentistry. In time, with the availability of more funding and a larger space, I hope to see that shift. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6

When we left Missouri, we decided to trust completely in the Lord to provide for us without traditional income. Since arriving in California, we have prayed for the Lord to provide the funds for as long as He desires us to continue offering free treatment. And He has answered our prayers by making our personal and business checking accounts to be even more full today than when we arrived in California! Everything we have is the Lord’s, and we desire to be good stewards with every penny.