In our last entry Jared gave a hint about a powerful story I have about God provision of the big and the small things. This story is specifically about paying for our “new” 1998-ish Toyota Prado (the international version of the Toyota Landcruiser)
Originally we budgeted $10K for a “bakkie” which we built into our start up costs ($22K).
(bakkie n. a small pick-up truck or van; S. African word for pickup truck. Pronounced “bucky”)
As time came to actually find a car we quickly realized that the $10K needed to be more like $17K or $18K. Now for anyone who has every fundraised for anything in the past you know that it is HARD, but a last minute need at that high a price tag is really hard, so we decided to wait on God.
Our covered car park next to our house in Malawi.
We purchased the car at the end of October and we knew it needed to be paid up in January when we got in country. So there we were in early November, $5K short of our supersized startup cost goal without any big extra funding expected to come.
Out of the blue a friend approached me with a crazy offer. She had mentioned once that she wanted to give to our mission work in Malawi, but it was a casual comment. I eventually asked her about it again and she confirmed yes, but we didn’t talk about it after that, mainly because it gets awkward after I ask the second time. I was content to let it be, no need to make things too weird. Then just a week after we find out the car is $5K more than we budgeted she tells me that “I have some money that I want to give to your work in Malawi.” I am thinking alright, we always need more funds, this will take us a little step closer to paying for the Prado. Then she says, “My home owners association recently sold our neighborhood pool and everyone is getting a portion of the sale. The catch is that we have to give it to a non-profit and I want to give $5000 to your mission.”
I just stared at her, then started jumping up and down and squealing and rambling about having to buy the car and it being $5K more that we budgeted and not knowing how we were going to cover the rest. I am not really a hugger (as everyone who knows me is aware) but I gave her a huge jump-up-and-down hug. It is awesome! God is awesome! He continues reaffirms our steps and decisions. Sometimes I feel like we are walking around blind, but I am told that it’s the way God likes it. Blind faith.
