It appears that
God has answered two prayers in a very big way.
First, thank you all VERY much for your prayers for the Perspectives on
the Christian World Movement class. Through
prayer, God’s providence, gracious donors, and new students signing up for the
class, the course is now financially able to run for the full semester. Though that may seem minor, it was very
important for the students who were already taking it—including my girlfriend,
Tella. That brings me to the second
answered prayer (or prayers)—my girlfriend Tella and I are now engaged! We are both (obviously) very excited about
it, and we are very much looking forward to what the future holds!
In both of these
instances, I know that many believers were praying. For Perspectives, many people responded to my
email and said that they were praying, and others went out to see what God
would provide. In relatively short
order, the needs of the course were taken care of. Regarding my engagement, my family has been
praying for me to end up with a good wife for many years. I myself have long prayed that if God had one
special person set aside for me that He would help me find her; I also prayed
that if He did not have one specific person that He would help me make the
wisest/best choice possible. I further prayed
that He would do whatever was necessary to help me get there since I can be
very stubborn and hard-of-hearing in such matters. Though I had thought a couple of my earlier
relationships might be the one that I had been praying for, specific
circumstances eventually made it obvious that they were not. After a time, I gained more experience, and I
believe that God helped me hear His voice a little better. I noticed in Proverbs that it says, “He who
finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord” (Prov 18:22),
yet it also says in Proverbs 19:14, “Parents can provide their sons with an
inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding
wife.” Since only the Lord can give an
understanding wife, and since my lifestyle of service to the Lord whatever He
may ask very much requires an understanding wife, I began to pray that He would
provide one. I also began to realize
that only if He provided one would I ever be able to have a companion and live
how I desired to live.
After dating
Tella for some time, I started to wonder if she might be that answer to
prayer. Even as my girlfriend, many of
her attributes already fit with me very well and with what I needed, and who
she was fit very well with who I was.
Our hearts and desires for the present and the future were also heavily
in line. Over time, it became obvious to
me that I would want no one else as a companion to walk with me through life’s
adventures and that I would much prefer to walk through life with her than
without her. She is such a great
blessing to me that I do not have words to adequately describe it, and I myself
receive joy beyond words seeking to be a blessing to her. Now we are on our path together, and I thank
God beyond words.
The way that
those two prayers were answered is a good reminder for me to trust God to
answer prayers in His way and His time. While
the prayers for Perspectives had an immediate answer, there was more than a
decade between when I began praying about a potential partner and when it came
about. I also had numerous false leads
that might have, at the time, led me to believe that God wasn’t answering my
prayers. Ultimately, we can now see that
He has answered my prayers, and He answered them well. Despite my stubbornness, He seems to have
helped keep my earlier relationships from becoming what they shouldn’t have
been, and then He ultimately blessed me with my relationship with Tella in a
way that was even better than I could have asked for! Thank God for such providence and for the fact
that He is true to His Word and true to His nature!
In the same way
as He answered prayers for Perspectives and for me to have a wife, I trust that
He will continue to provide for our basic needs if we continue to seek first
His Kingdom (Matthew 6) as we prepare to embark on this new journey. I also believe that He’ll do even more than
that! Jesus on multiple occasions said that
if we give up our lives for Him, He will give us true life and life to the
full. He has helped me slowly let go of
my old life, and He has certainly given me life to the full! I have been blessed beyond words—I have a fiancé
who is better than I could have dreamed of, I have a job that is not just a job
but a passion, I have adventure and variety and the unknown in my life, and I
am blessed with friends, loved ones, and a community. What more could I ask for, truly?
Despite this
tremendous providence, I have been questioned at times by those whom I love if
God is really providing for me based on my income. It is true that my income is small for the United
States--$907 per month out of a goal income of $2,320 per month. However, it is more than enough for what I
need now. He has always helped me meet
all of my critical needs, and even on such a small income, I have been making
aggressive repayments on my couple of small remaining school loans and my
business/ministry startup loan. Sometimes
as my car breaks down or other things happen I take two steps forward and one
step back, but I have still always been moving forward. This, to me, is providence. It is true that my expenses will increase
when I marry; Tella is still a student for another year, so there will be no
extra income, but my rent (which has been so low since four of us guys live in
a three bedroom house) will increase when she and I move in together after the
wedding, and I will have to look at private family health insurance options (I
am currently uninsured). Even so, I remain
firmly convinced that God will provide for these things—our basic needs—as He
always has.
However, in part
due to some of my loved ones’ doubts and in part because I believe He will
answer it, I have been praying and continue to pray that God would provide even
more than that. I have been praying that
God will help move my income not just up to the most basic new needs, but up to
the goal amount of $2,320 per month, which is equivalent to what I would earn
if I left ministry and taught Math or Spanish at a high school (both of which I
can do right now with my degrees). It is
also starting salary for many full time youth pastors and part-time salary for
many college ministry workers. Since I
do more than full time college ministry and other missionary work, it seems to
be an appropriate amount. I have been
praying this for some time, and I feel that God has begun slowly answering it;
though my income has held at $907 per month, there have been occasional surprise
one-time donations, and there is just a feeling I have that He will be showing
more soon. I have also recently had good
conversations about approaching churches for financial support, and I feel
peace to finally step out and do it in the same way that overseas missionaries
and other in-state missionaries like me frequently do. Many churches may not want to support me on a monthly
basis, but if I look at this as a yearly goal, then only $16,400 needs to be
raised by the end of this year to get my salary taken care of. If just 32 churches vote to give $500 on a
one-time or yearly basis, that would completely cover it! When it comes down to it, I firmly believe in
the vision of this ministry and what we can accomplish—and I do need funded to accomplish
it! As such, I am willing to work at
this as hard as I work at the other parts of the ministry, too. I continue this prayer, and I ask you to join
with me in it. I also ask you to
seriously, prayerfully consider asking your church’s leadership if they would
invite me to come out and speak about my mission work and seek to raise
financial support for it. Regardless of
whether God answers this prayer quickly, slowly, or in a surprising way, I am
convinced that He will answer it, too, and that however He does answer it, it
will be for the best. Thank you!
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