Togo —
Recently, I listed a number of seemingly gigantic prayer requests in one of my prayer letters. One of them was for a vehicle for our community health evangelism ministry in Africa. We had specifically asked God for a Toyota Land Cruiser with 4-wheel drive and good gas mileage for less than $20,000 (USD). Oh, and did I mention that we wanted it before my departure in May?
I asked a Christian mechanic named Koffi to look around for us. When I hadn’t heard from him for more than a week, I began thinking, This is ridiculous. Why did I even think we could find a vehicle in such a short amount of time?
Then, several days later I received a call from Koffi. After much searching, he found a Land Cruiser for $15,000 (USD). As I went to see the vehicle, I thought, Well Lord, I forgot to tell Koffi that I would also like a roof rack for transporting items. When I rounded the corner where the Land Cruiser was parked, a large roof rack caught my eye. I had also forgotten to tell Koffi that I wanted at least one jump seat in the back of the vehicle. When I got to the car and opened the back door I was excited to see there were also two jump seats.
After a test drive we decided that we wanted the vehicle, and we began to negotiate the price. I mentioned to the seller that the tires were quite worn and there were a lot of miles on the car. He immediately said, “No problem, let’s drop the price by 500,000 CFA.” Then Koffi said, “No, that is still too high. Our final price is 6 million CFA ($12,000 USD).” The seller laughed. Twice.
I just stared at Koffi, thinking, What in the world is he doing? Then the seller said something that took me by complete surprise. “You [Koffi] are my brother; you are a fellow mechanic. Perhaps someday I will need you to do a favor for me. So I will accept the price of 6 million.”
In other words, in the space of three minutes, God lowered the price of the car by $3,000 (USD)! That left us with money for tires, insurance, some needed maintenance, and money to put away for future repairs.
It is so exciting to see God answer our request—and what an encouragement to our faith. Our God is able to do much more than we could ask or imagine.
I must admit that, as I look ahead to furlough ministry this year—and as I consider community health evangelism ministry, the nursing program, our mission hospital, and personal support needs in Togo—there is a tendency to be concerned. If I were being non-spiritual, I might even admit to occasionally worrying. Yet, God tells us it’s all about having the right priorities. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things [each of the necessities of life] shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). What a promise! When I begin to worry, I think about Who called me to be a missionary. If God is the one who called me, then He will supply and keep me here for as long as He wants—regardless of the worldwide economic situation.
More Stories of Blessings from ABWE Missionaries
“One of our medical missionaries told me that as the economic crisis in the United States was getting severe, a small church in New Jersey voted to increase giving by fi ve percent for every one of their missionaries.” —Sharon Rahilly, Togo, Africa
“We have been trying to raise support to get back on the mission fi eld. One of our supporters stated that she would do whatever she could to keep missionaries on the field. She gave us $10,000 to be distributed over our next two-year term—which drops our monthly support amount! Because of her, we left for the fi eld on time.” —Kevin and Jessica Oates, Peru
“We had a supporter spontaneously give money to cover camp fees for two kids in our church. One of the kids, Bruno, accepted Christ. This was a great encouragement to us, and will have eternal rewards.” —Steve and Mendi Everett, Brazil
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