Four Suitcases and some Beef Jerky
As our trip to Haiti quickly approached, God began blessing us with donations and gifts for New Hope. I was so amazed how people gave to us. Our church, Commonwealth Chapel, and my neighborhood Bible study group really stepped up and met the need. People graciously donated money, towells, sheets, shoes, clothes, medicines and such. I had to go to Goodwill to buy an extra suitcase to carry the donations and then leave there. There was barely enough room for our own things. We packed three outfits, tolietries and our cameras for ourselves but everything else was for the orphanage. Oh, and Scott's beef jerky- a must for any trip to a third world country.
Isn't it perfect how God takes care of His little ones?
Our hearts were still questioning the Lord about the prospect of adopting two children. We doubted our parenting skills. Our financial integrity. Our house space. God had always been in the business of stretching us. Why would it be any different in this case? My memories of Tanzania and living on very little kept coming back to me. God has always given us what we needed for whatever circumstance but in Africa it was so obvious. When our well was dry and we would pray, God would send the rain- in the night- and we would run outside with our buckets to collect as much as we could. The next morning would be hot and not a cloud in the sky, typical for Dar es Salaam. Yet we had water for another day. I remembered the time we were in a head-on car accident in a very bad part of town. It was 10pm on a Friday night and all the people that witnessed the accident were coming from the bars that surrounded us. Within a few moments a mob surrounded us and brought false accusations against us. The liars said that we had murdered a Tanzanian in another part of town. We were riding with an American missionary woman and her eight-year old son. We all were injured except the son when the other truck hit us. My head went through the windsheild and Scott had cut his arm. Thankfully, the husband and older son were following us in their other car and we piled in there to go to the hospital . But the crowd was banging on our car, yelling, trying to keep us from leaving. In Arusha, Scott had once seen the decapatated head of a man who stole bananas off a truck being paraded in a grocery bag- justice (if you can call it that) is swift and extreme and without a trial. Getting away from the mob was our main concern. Protecting the SUV and it's contents was our second concern. The 16-yr-old son would need to stay with the damaged vehicle but it was not a safe situation. I don't know if it was shock setting in but I began praying very loudly in tongues- I was so afraid and in pain and in desparate need of God's intervention. Here is how God provided in that moment: out of the crowd walked a Muslim mechanic that the couple had used many times. The Christmas beforehand they had given him a camera. That night he "happened to be in the neighborhood" with his camera. He began taking pictures (without film) and the people dispersed in fear that he was with the newspaper and they would be exposed. He protected the vehicle with the son so that we could leave for medical attention. Unknown to us, on the other side of the world our prayer team had gathered impromtu to pray for us at that same moment.
With memories like these, how can I ever doubt God's great concern for us? He is our provider and our defender. Certainly if He was calling us to adopt both Jeff and David, He would provide all that we need and defend us when things come against us and the accusations fly. In life there will always be head-on afflictions that shake our faith to the core, but this I know for sure, my God is faithful. The adoption of two instead of one is not an affliction but a blessing and our hearts were opening up to the prospect...
"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. " Psalm 18:2
Isn't it perfect how God takes care of His little ones?
Our hearts were still questioning the Lord about the prospect of adopting two children. We doubted our parenting skills. Our financial integrity. Our house space. God had always been in the business of stretching us. Why would it be any different in this case? My memories of Tanzania and living on very little kept coming back to me. God has always given us what we needed for whatever circumstance but in Africa it was so obvious. When our well was dry and we would pray, God would send the rain- in the night- and we would run outside with our buckets to collect as much as we could. The next morning would be hot and not a cloud in the sky, typical for Dar es Salaam. Yet we had water for another day. I remembered the time we were in a head-on car accident in a very bad part of town. It was 10pm on a Friday night and all the people that witnessed the accident were coming from the bars that surrounded us. Within a few moments a mob surrounded us and brought false accusations against us. The liars said that we had murdered a Tanzanian in another part of town. We were riding with an American missionary woman and her eight-year old son. We all were injured except the son when the other truck hit us. My head went through the windsheild and Scott had cut his arm. Thankfully, the husband and older son were following us in their other car and we piled in there to go to the hospital . But the crowd was banging on our car, yelling, trying to keep us from leaving. In Arusha, Scott had once seen the decapatated head of a man who stole bananas off a truck being paraded in a grocery bag- justice (if you can call it that) is swift and extreme and without a trial. Getting away from the mob was our main concern. Protecting the SUV and it's contents was our second concern. The 16-yr-old son would need to stay with the damaged vehicle but it was not a safe situation. I don't know if it was shock setting in but I began praying very loudly in tongues- I was so afraid and in pain and in desparate need of God's intervention. Here is how God provided in that moment: out of the crowd walked a Muslim mechanic that the couple had used many times. The Christmas beforehand they had given him a camera. That night he "happened to be in the neighborhood" with his camera. He began taking pictures (without film) and the people dispersed in fear that he was with the newspaper and they would be exposed. He protected the vehicle with the son so that we could leave for medical attention. Unknown to us, on the other side of the world our prayer team had gathered impromtu to pray for us at that same moment.
With memories like these, how can I ever doubt God's great concern for us? He is our provider and our defender. Certainly if He was calling us to adopt both Jeff and David, He would provide all that we need and defend us when things come against us and the accusations fly. In life there will always be head-on afflictions that shake our faith to the core, but this I know for sure, my God is faithful. The adoption of two instead of one is not an affliction but a blessing and our hearts were opening up to the prospect...
"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. " Psalm 18:2
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