Cox Deputation Schedule

The Cox Deputation Schedule page, this page, is an overview of our thoughts and desires about returning to the US to visit our supporters and also to raise more deputation in new churches. By Missionary David Cox updated Sept 29, 2020

The Need for more Support

To be honest, we are operating on a portion of what we should have coming in. I calculate about 50% or less. We have hardly ever gotten over that amount in our entire ministry. What does that mean in real terms? Well, first of all, we have no real savings. I doubt we could live a month if we did not have money coming in. The Corona Virus is proving to stretch our finances. God provides, but we see people in our church worse off than we are, and we give to them to help them out. God has always taken care of us. Secondly, we have no real medical fund. Paying month health insurance is proving difficult. It is $560/month, and it does cover all of us here in Mexico or in the US. Thirdly, we have no retirement. So we will work until Jesus comes or until we cannot anymore, and then i guess God will show us how He will take care of us at that point. I had to make some hard decisions in my ministry in the past. Doubtless, I will have to make more in the future. But I had to decide if we were going to spend the majority of our time in states raising funds or doing the work in Mexico. I chose to stay in Mexico working. That may have been a poor or wrong choice but I would rather live with that when I face the Lord than be financially better off and not have put as much into our ministry. Our church on the field has tried to help out in some ways which has been a blessing. Fourthly, some “normal” missionary stuff we do without. Most missionaries I know have purchased themselves a house on the field. We rent. They have bought a new car or car(s) and we cannot purchase even a used car. A man in our church donated the present car, as well as our last three cars, were donated. Our kids are in school because they work while taking classes and are using the Pell Grants. My extent to helping them was to purchase them used cars over the years, and that was with great effort.

How the Corona Virus affects our Deputation

To be truthful, over the last 10 years, fewer and fewer churches are interested in missions. While there are still some good churches out there, I cry when I see new pastors come into a missions-giving church and drop all their missionaries including us. We can find another church, but they drop a dozen missionaries’ support. As such, Corona Virus lock-downs, as well as travel restrictions and church not having services in their buildings, means that deputation is pretty much impossible these days.

Deputation Schedule

Our deputation schedule is pretty much dead. We are planning on returning to Orlando Florida with our kids the first week of October 2020, and we will work on getting Tule’s Green Card renewed. The problem is that an immigration agent told us in the Orlando airport the last time we went through there that he should take her Green Card and not let her come in. She has had it “too long” (more than 20 years) according to him. She should apply for citizenship. He warned us to go to an immigration judge and get her citizenship. But with the confusion between Trump and the Democrats, we put that off. Now her Green Card will expire in October so we must take care of it. A different immigration agent in the Embassy in Mexico City told me that most probably an immigration judge will grant her citizenship, but I need to explain our sitiuation to him. They make exceptions for people like us (missionaries). But she said that I need to return for 2-3 months BEFORE we start the process. she needs to not have recently returned for outside the US. So I will go back with Tule, and we will try to do what we can as far as visit churches. I might can get into a Zoom meeting with some church somewhere. Please pray for us. We really need to get more support.