Hello. My name is Fr Joseph Suaidan, and I live in Northeast PA with my wife and youngest son. You may know me from our website, NFTU, our YouTube Channel, or my writing/goofing off on Gab or Twitter. We have been providing news and apologetical work from a True Orthodox Christian perspective for years. In May of this year, I participated in a public debate on a much larger YouTube channel than ours. The debate itself had a snowball effect everywhere: we went from relative obscurity to getting weekly requests for missionary assistance. My Bishop and Metropolitan decided that if I was going to publicly represent our Synod, I should be elevated to the priesthood (Having been a deacon for over a decade, this was a shock). In the midst of all this great stuff, I would get hit with what would start out as what I thought would allow me transition to working full-time doing missionary and apologetical work on YouTube (somehow it became monetized at the end of September) instead leading to where I am, which is asking you for help.
In April of this year, I changed my legal name (created by a paperwork error in my grandfather's immigration to France) back to my traditional family name, "Suaidan". (I spelled it as "Suaiden" for 19 years till I reviewed the paperwork. Full story.) Because of the annoyances of changing my name, I changed it first with my bank in June and then with Human Resources at my job in July. A day later, managers at my job of almost two years were asking who was the new person in the Group chat. The next morning, I was fired. In May I was the top customer-reviewed representative in the department. Two months later I was applying for unemployment while looking for work. In the process I found myself helping more people come to the Orthodox faith, and God has given me experiences I would never have imagined as recently as January. Driving across states, baptisms, catechesis. And I followed the rules, applying for work, and waiting on a decision from PA Unemployment. (They denied me Sept 12, and I've discovered this week it's on a false basis, but I was basically told I'd have to sue.) Bills piled up. I began asking for donations, and people helped us get through, for whom I offer prayers every service in my home chapel. It seems like the more I do, the harder the bills get.
To make matters worse, I switched auto insurance companies. A month later my insurance company cancelled me without ever sending a cancellation or even a bill. When I called to pay my bill it turns out I was a few days late and they told me they cancelled me. They have a sister company, however, and offered to insure me that way. All was fine until I got a letter from the PA department of Motor Vehicles effectively saying I had to turn in my registration if I was without insurance and driving (you must sign an affidavit saying you did not drive the car during the uninsured period, with a fine and/or jail time if you are lying.) Having no choice but to let the time elapse, I've since been informed I can skip the penalty for almost $700. Or I can give up my car's plates on the 2nd of November for three months.
I firmly believe there are no such things as coincidences. And that's why I'm here, asking for help on GiveSendGo. I've seen so many stories of lives changed through GiveSendGo that I always thought of it as a "back pocket" solution for people in case of an emergency.
Well, it's now a state of emergency for us. So here goes.
May Our Lord richly bless you.
