provision – Page 4 – A Million God Stories

#137. God Is At Hand

June 6, 2020December 15, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Pam VanArsdall

I was born with polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disease that slowly progresses and eventually causes the kidneys to shut down. There is no cure except a transplant. I discovered that I was living with the disease about 15 years ago, at around 30 years of age. I was healthy at the time, and for several years after my diagnosis, I kept a busy schedule and lived a normal life. But I felt something bad was coming. My dad also had the disease and died from complications.

In the summer of 2016, I prayed, “I don’t know how this will turn out but I do have one request: I want to be able to see my daughters grow up. I don’t want to miss out on those precious moments in their lives.” I’ve never heard God’s audible voice, but He told me this, “You will have to suffer for a little while but I will raise you up.”

About a year ago my physical health was deteriorating. I had been feeling really bad but had been hiding it. I have three little girls and I was working full time. I was exhausted all the time. December 10, 2016 was the night everything changed. I serve as associate pastor at our church and was scheduled to preach the next morning, but I came down with horrible diverticulitis. I was the sickest I had ever been. I prayed if God would get me out of bed I would go to the doctor. I was able to get out of bed and I went to see my kidney doctor. He told me things were very bad and wanted me to go into the hospital for dialysis. He said if I had waited another two to three months I likely would have fallen dead in front of my children. I believe God sent the diverticulitis to get me to the doctor. In January, I began dialysis. I was able to work half days and take dialysis at the center nearby several times a week. I transitioned to home dialysis around March, but this was still hard on me and on our family. In April, I went for testing to be placed on the kidney transplant list. We were praying for God’s help.

Meanwhile, my dad’s younger brother also had polycystic kidney disease. He was also on dialysis and had been on the kidney transplant list for a long time. He was a great support person for me.

Two close friends volunteered to donate a kidney but they were both declined. This was disappointing. While I was waiting to see if one of my friend’s kidney matched, I got a text message from a lady I knew from high school who played basketball in the late 1980s at a rival high school. I had seen her around at different sporting events but hadn’t talked to her in 25 years. In her text, she asked if I would give her a chance to be a kidney match. My wife and I prayed about it and we were reluctant. As difficult as it is to give the gift of a kidney, it is also difficult to receive, because you know you are asking this person to really do something big. I had told the woman I would get back with her, but I did not. A couple of weeks later she contacted me again and said, “Would you please let me attempt to be your donor. Please give me a chance.” I said, “That’s a lot for me to ask of you.” She said, “God has asked me to do this.” I immediately gave her the phone number to call about testing to see if she was a match for me.

There are several tests necessary to confirm a match. During this time, the woman kept messaging me as she took each test and telling me she passed. Finally, she sent a message that she had passed all the tests and had an appointment with the surgeon.

In July, I received a call from the transplant center: “I’ve got good news for you. We have a successful match for a kidney transplant!”

The surgery was scheduled for July 20. We were so excited! God had answered our prayer. We both met with our surgeon on July 12. When the surgeon saw the results of the match testing he said, “This is a no brainier. This is a 100% match! This is a perfect match.” This was GOD!!

I asked my pastor to have all the ordained men of the church pray for me before the surgery and my uncle who also needed a kidney transplant was one of the deacons that prayed for me. I remember in particular my uncle’s prayer. He had been dealing with kidney disease and dialysis a lot longer than I had but he never mentioned himself one time. He had every right to mention himself, but he just prayed for me. That really impacted me.

My surgery was scheduled on a Thursday morning. We were getting ready to leave for the hospital on Wednesday evening when we got a call from my uncle. He had previously told my wife that he would be with her during my surgery. He told her that he could no longer be with her while I was in the hospital because the hospital just called and they had a kidney match for him!

The next morning, I showed up at hospital at 5:30 a.m. The woman who was donating the kidney was already at the hospital. They prepped us both for surgery and she insisted that the nurses bring her bed to mine so we could pray before our surgeries. My wife and her sister joined hands with us and in front of all of the doctors and nurses we asked Jesus to take care of both of us.

As soon as the kidney was placed, it began working immediately. The surgery was completely successful for both of us. After they got me in a room, my wife told me that my uncle had gone into kidney transplant surgery at the exact time they took me into surgery and his surgery was successful. God divinely healed both of us at the same time. The story started to spread and even people who are not Christians could see that it was God’s hand.

I believe in angels and that we encounter them from time to time. When they were moving me to a hospital room after the surgery, the phone in the room was ringing. My wife answered and I could tell she didn’t know who was on the other end. Afterwards, I asked her who it was and she said, “I don’t know, but it was a sweet lady’s voice and she said to tell you and your uncle that you will both be okay. Her name is Anita and she said she is an old acquaintance.” Later I asked my uncle if he knew anybody named Anita. Neither of us know anyone named Anita.

Later when I was discharged from the hospital it was discovered that my phosphorus levels were dangerously low. I couldn’t go home from the hospital until I had the phosphorus infusion which would last six hours. We were taken to the far back corner of the emergency room, to a room that seemed like no man’s land. My wife and I were tired and really just wanted to go home. We were frustrated and having a really difficult time being patient with the delay—even just one hour into the six-hour infusion. Then there was a knock on the door. I told my wife they must be lost because no one would be back here. The woman said, “I’m sorry, I think I have the wrong room. Is your name Thompson?” We said yes. She said she had a piece of mail for us, which was interesting because we never received any mail when I was staying in the hospital room. She left and my wife opened the card and started to weep. She showed me the front of the card. It simply said, “God is at hand.” It was as if God just walked through the door and sat down with us. I felt His presence so strongly—perhaps more strongly than I ever have. The card was signed, “Many Blessings, Miss Anita!”

After the transplant, I immediately started to feel like a new person. I didn’t know how sick I was until I got the new kidney. We are four months out now and every check-up and every test has been perfect. I have a second chance at life now and my whole outlook on life has changed. I used to borrow tomorrow’s trouble for today, but I have learned to live life one day at a time. I have changed my whole outlook on life. I smile more. I laugh more.

I have learned from this experience how many people really care for me. God reminded me that it is a truly priceless gift to have people that love you and that this gift comes from Him. Those loved ones come from Him.

God knew every need I had and He met them. I’m a walking miracle. He is truly faithful.

A Million God Stories is a Christ-centered ministry which offers a platform for Christians from all streams of Christian faith to give praise for how God has worked in their lives. Christ heals in infinitely creative ways and we acknowledge that His way of helping may differ from person to person.

#136 Just the Right Small Town Chef

June 6, 2020December 4, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Jordan Smith

My husband and I own guest houses and needed a place where our guests could get a good meal. Our town really didn’t have a healthy lunch option. We considered starting our own restaurant but we resisted knowing that it can be very challenging and many restaurants don’t make it. When our son started a business with a few other fellows to process locally raised, grass fed meat, we had a great source of quality protein for a restaurant. We decided to move forward with opening a restaurant. We created an ad for a chef. From the beginning, we bathed this in prayer, asking that God would bring the right person.

We knew what we were looking for was pretty specific and that it could be challenging to find someone with all of the qualities and skills we desired. We wanted to attract someone with business sense, as well as someone who felt the same way we did about the importance of healthy cooking and natural foods. We wanted someone who would fit in well with our culture—small rural town, closed on Sunday, family oriented, and a slower pace of life. We also felt strongly that the person should be a chef. We created our ad and posted it on the Monster.com classified ads. At this time, all we had was a building on the corner with a dirt floor.

Two weeks later we had a response from someone. He was a chef and was interested in healthy foods. He was married with three children and was looking for a family-oriented place to live. He wanted to get involved in the community. We invited he and his wife to dinner at our home. I could tell that he “got” it about healthy foods. We showed him our building with the dirt floor. He and my husband shook hands on the deal and he and his family moved to our town. Two months before we opened, I sat up in bed and said to my husband, “We have never had his food!” We had prayed for God to send the right person and were listening to the Spirit. We felt God had brought this man to us and that he was the right one, so we never even thought about tasting his food! The first time I tasted his food was on opening day and it was delicious. The restaurant is now starting to become profitable.

Many good things have come from God bringing us together. Not only have we been blessed by him, but I believe he would say that his faith has been encouraged by being here. God hears and answers prayers. He brings people together and works things for good.

#130 Seeing God in Stories

June 6, 2020November 15, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Jordan Smith

I published my first book in 2013. In that story, a brother was mentioned who had served in Italy and was killed in World War II. My father served in World War II but didn’t see action. When he returned home, he learned that one of his friends had fallen in a battle at Anzio, Italy. The friend was buried there. My husband and I went to Italy and learned more about World War II history. We visited the cemetery where my father’s friend was buried. We didn’t find his tombstone but did find his name on a memorial listed under those who were Missing in Action.

In my second book, I really wanted to go deeper with the character of the brother who was killed in World War II in my first book. I wanted to use old letters to tell the story of the brother but I wasn’t sure how to go about this. During this time, I attended a dinner party. One of the dinner guests said, “I liked your first book. Are you going to write a sequel?” I told him I was and that I wanted to explore the brother who fell in World War II through letters in the next book. He told me that his great uncle had served in World War II and that he had the letters his great uncle had sent back from the Italy to his family. He also told me that his great uncle was a Kentucky farm boy, which is exactly what my character was . . . and he said he would share these letters with me! This was just what I needed. The letters were family heirlooms, so I carefully color copied them, read them all, and gave them back. The cover of my second book is actually a photo of these letters.

The gift of the letters was so helpful. The language was very different from what I would have imagined, and what he talked about in the letters wasn’t what I expected. Mostly the letters were about two things: 1) he wanted to know what was happening on the farm in Kentucky, and 2) he reassured his mom that he was okay. The letters were beautiful—poignant and sweet. I included several of his letters verbatim in the book. God brought these letters to me exactly when I needed them; the perfect timing was amazing. This also affirmed and encouraged me to write the second book. God inspired me to keep going.

Something similar happened when I was writing my first book and needed information about international flight attendants. My husband and I were staying at a bed and breakfast, and my husband asked the owner what she used to do. She said she used to be an international flight attendant! I asked her if she’s traveled to Rome (the character in my book traveled to Rome) and she said, “Oh, yes!” I asked if I could talk to her for a few minutes and she told me everything I needed to know—where flight attendants stay in Rome, what they do with their free time in Rome, what the crew room is like in the airport, how they got from airport to hotel, and how seniority worked with bidding flights. She was the perfect resource at the perfect time.

God has revealed to me that He is attentive to the details of our lives and that these details are important to Him. My books are Christian fiction. Even though I am not a pastor or a missionary, I want my work to be for God. In a way, my writing and my books are my ministry. Through seeing God work in the details of my story, I saw that He cares about writing and telling stories. I felt God’s affirmation that I was doing His work, and I saw that nothing is impossible with Him.

#119 Let Go and Let God

June 6, 2020August 2, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Lynnesy Catron Photography

Right after we got married, my husband and I began trying to have a baby. I got pregnant but had a miscarriage at 10 weeks. My husband and I prayed often about our desire to have a child and we continued to try, but after 18 months we sought a fertility specialist. For six months I was on fertility medicines, hormone injections, and for three months we tried intrauterine fertilization. Nothing was successful. We decided to let go and let God handle it. We knew He had a plan for us.

Three months later, with no fertility intervention, I became pregnant. My pregnancy was normal, with no complications or sickness. It was truly a joyful experience. Close to my due date I went into labor and was admitted to the hospital. I was hooked up to a monitor and the doctor began to go over what to expect. Then she just stood there and watched the monitor. She told us every time I had a contraction the baby’s heart rate dropped drastically. After about one minute she said, “We need to do a C-section NOW!”

They rolled me down the hall and the anesthesiologist came up behind me, put his hands on either side of my face, and told me to just look at him as he gently explained to me what was happening. I believe that God sent him to me in that moment of uncertainty, as his words were so comforting to me. There was no time for an epidural. They gave me general anesthesia and I was out.

I thought once our baby was born, he would be okay, but when I woke up I saw that the nurses around me had on royal blue scrubs. I work at the hospital and I knew that royal blue scrubs meant they worked at the Children’s Hospital. The neonatologist confirmed this. “Your son is very sick.” Our son, Henry, had a bowel movement (meconium) while he was in utero and had inhaled a large amount of this. His lungs were coated and he had no lung function. The doctor said he had never seen a baby survive with that amount of meconium in the lungs.

In the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) they struggled to intubate him, trying three times. The doctors tried standard treatments but all failed. That night we saw him for the first time in the NICU. I took pictures of him and talked to him but I have no memory of it. God protected me from seeing him that sick. It would have been too much for me to handle.

When we got back to my room that night, my husband I prayed out loud that God would save him. We knew it would take a miracle. The last resort was to put Henry on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO. This is the machine that people are put on when they have a heart transplant. They pump the blood out of the body, put oxygen in it, and then pump it back into the body. This comes with the risk of the brain bleeding and permanent brain damage, but Henry’s chance of survival was very low without this treatment. We prayed about what to do and with God’s guidance decided to proceed with ECMO.

At 2 a.m., the surgeon placed a cannula in Henry’s neck and hooked up the ECMO machine. Henry improved immediately. After seven days, he had improved so much that they were able to discontinue the treatment. After one month in the NICU, Henry had recovered and we took him home. Henry is now two years old and has no developmental delays. Everything is perfect physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Throughout this whole experience, I never felt scared or hopeless. I felt very peaceful. I knew that God had brought us to that point and there was no way He would abandon us. God’s peace and hope transcended the fear.

Looking back now, it is clear how God worked in advance to save Henry. In December 2013, I was offered and accepted a job in administration at a large university medical center. This was just six months before Henry was born. This allowed me to have new insurance that would cover the care. The total cost was $500,000 and my out of pocket cost was only $200. More importantly, because I switched jobs and insurance plans, Henry was delivered at the university hospital where there was a team of highly trained medical providers, with experience and training in the very procedures that were needed to save Henry’s life. The neonatologist was very experienced in lung problems in newborns. There was a surgeon available who was experienced with ECMO at the very time Henry needed him. There was an ECMO technologist available to ensure the machine worked properly. Because the ECMO treatment is so expensive and risky for newborns, a leadership team from the university hospital has to vote on whether or not to allow the treatment. This team was available to vote and they voted yes. The ECMO treatment itself was not even offered at the hospital where I would have delivered had I not changed jobs. In fact, I believe that there is only one other hospital in the state that offers ECMO. Everything fell into place for Henry to receive life-saving care. God gave us Henry and then God saved Henry. He is a pure joy and blessing to us.

Our second child was born a few months ago—a healthy baby girl. May God be glorified for everything He has done and continues to do for our family.

#118 God Came Close

June 6, 2020July 27, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Nicole Tarpoff

May 17th was my original due date. And to be honest, I thought I’d be pregnant again by now. I thought May 17th would come and go and I would be a new kind of happy, glistening with hope and pregnancy glow, excited for our new healthy baby to enter the world.

But that didn’t happen.

I still remember the day and those moments so clearly. I had been waiting so long to see our sweet baby for the first time; nothing beats the anticipation of that first ultrasound. I have never been so elated. But the tech was quiet and said, “Let me go get the midwife…”

A few moments later, we heard the words “no heartbeat,” “not meant to be,” and “miscarriage.” I have never been so heartbroken. In the days following, it was all I could do to pull myself out of bed and move to the couch. My mom came over and cleaned the whole house, cried with me in between doing dishes and dusting. Friends came. Some shared their own stories of loss. Others brought flowers and food. Over a few weeks of processing and mourning, I began to see our baby in Heaven, wrapped in the arms of Jesus, and bouncing on my grandfather’s knee. I began to see the gift of perfect life that our tiny love had been given. It may be weird to say, but it was almost hard to un-wish what had happened.

I comforted myself with thoughts of quickly getting pregnant again. Of moving on to a healthy pregnancy with a different baby that couldn’t have existed without losing the first. Again, I expected to be pregnant long before that first due date ever came. And well, I was. Four months after losing our first, the test was positive. And so was I. Positive that this one would be fine. That the first one was just a fluke, part of the unlucky 20 percent. God and I had a deal, and I knew this one would be perfect.

But three days after my test turned positive, I started to bleed. One week later, I miscarried our second baby. The first time I was devastated. The second time I was angry. Angry at God. I asked him, “How could You do this to me? The very thing I begged You not to do?”

I was completely broken. And that is when God came so close. In my pain and anger, in my suffering, the God of the Everything felt as close as my skin. And in my deep desperation, as I asked the Lord why He hadn’t delivered what I so desperately wanted, He whispered to me this truth, “You won’t get everything you want in this life, but in the middle of every single ‘no,’ my Son is always your ‘yes.’” In my pain, can I have more of Jesus? Yes, every time. In the middle of my anguish and despair, in my disappointment and brokenness, is He drawing near, giving me more of His comfort and love? Yes.

I am learning over and over again that this life isn’t about getting everything I want. It is about getting more of Jesus. May 17th has come and gone, and while I still hope to be pregnant in the future, I am full of Christ today.

#116. Darkness Into Light

June 6, 2020July 1, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Artwork by Jacob Cecil

I grew up the daughter of a pastor, the oldest of six kids. Ever since I can remember as a child, our family was involved in international missions. The first time I went on a mission trip I was seven years old. This shaped my heart with a global perspective. One year on my birthday my dad encouraged me to have an adventure. “You’ve always had a heart for the nations. Don’t stay here in the United States and miss out on pursuing your dreams.”

I was working as a nurse at time. I had no debt and nothing tying me down. His challenge took me by surprise and I wasn’t quite ready at that time. But the idea kept playing over and over in my head and I began to seriously pray about it. I quietly explored mission options in different nations, though I didn’t feel called to a specific country. After weeks of praying there was an opportunity to serve in Central America, and God confirmed that this was the opportunity I was to take.

I contacted a specific ministry I felt led to serve and they were willing to have me. I signed up to work with them for five months and I thought that would be the extent of my adventure. By month four I began to hear stories of little girls working in prostitution in the country where I was serving. I started exploring why this was happening.

At that time, in 2009, there was limited information on sex trafficking and its impact and pervasiveness. So a friend and I went to a little town close to the border where we had heard this was happening, trying to understand the complex nature of this problem and if there was a way to help. We took multiple trips to this border town and developed relationships with churches and local authorities. Through those relationships we learned more about what was happening and the factors that led to the exploitation of women and children. We decided to throw a Christmas party for the women and children who were working in prostitution near the town where we had been establishing relationships. This was at the border of two Central American nations. Our purpose was to establish relationships and let people know we were there to help. It took a lot of hard work, fundraising, and prayer to plan that party. We worked with border patrol and immigration officials from both nations. We partnered with local churches from both nations, and churches in the United States also supported our effort. We brought food, presents, games, and generators. During the planning, we had not met one woman that could attend our party, but we continued to pray and trust God that women would attend. The weekend of the party we passed out flyers and waited with expectant hearts for what God had in store.

On December 5, 2009, 25–30 women and children showed up to our party. They couldn’t believe that someone would want to throw a party for people who worked in prostitution, and we were overjoyed that so many people came! We had spent months of prayer and fasting preparing, and it was the most amazing feeling to see God show up this way! We were able to share the love of God and Jesus, and for two to three hours the women and children were simply our honored guests. We were just there to let them know they were loved and seen. One of the head immigration officials who was there said, “There’s so much light here tonight—and I’m not just talking about the generators!”

This party was the catalyst of my journey to help men, women, and children involved in and affected by sexual exploitation. The party furthered our understanding of the great need to help. That weekend launched our ministry. We developed a vision and passion to end exploitation not only in that area but in the whole nation I was serving as a missionary. After that event, while I was so encouraged by what I had seen God do, I was also fully aware that if I committed to help in this way, I would be staying longer than five months, dealing with dangers, and learning a different language and culture. I recognized the complexity of this type of ministry and my lack of experience in this area. I knew that I would be away from the support of my family and church community back home. When I said yes, I weighed the cost and I did so with much prayer and fasting. But I felt that God was truly calling me to this type of ministry in this particular place, and I knew that what I lacked, I could rely on God to provide.

Over the years God has sent countless amazing people to help—people with experience, knowledge, talents, resources, and strengths that I don’t possess. I wasn’t drawn to help survivors of exploitation because it was sad and terrible; I was drawn to the redemptive side, partnering with Jesus to see freedom come. It was a journey with God of learning lessons and learning from mistakes. I had a photo of the little legs of the children of the women in prostitution from the night of our first event, the Christmas party on the border. I often looked at that photo and thought, “What if the world looked different for those little legs. What if they could have a different future?” I became passionate about prevention, ending human trafficking before it could ever start. I had a passion that a child would never have to be exposed to it. There was much trial and error in such a huge task. We did much research and outreach to inform our programs. At that time there were limited resources on how to do prevention of exploitation in a programmatic, replicable way. We were pioneers of sorts. We started to learn all the factors that put people at risk and make them vulnerable. We tackled the prevention side through a relational lens because this is the way we felt God was calling us to work.

That was over seven years ago. And the photo of those little legs on the bench has been my constant reminder of why I fight. Today I am amazed at the number of people God has allowed our team to serve. I have met many wonderful men, women, and children. I have seen God make crooked paths straight. I have seen God turn the seemingly impossible into possible. Enemies have become friends. Dark has become light. Hopelessness has transformed to hope. I have witnessed the power of love against shame, hate, and violence. I have seen love bring freedom.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11–12

#115 Gaining Confidence

June 6, 2020June 28, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Erin E Photography

Ten years ago my son died by suicide. He shot himself and I found him. There really are no words to describe the pain, trauma and sadness of this. It was truly horrible.

Within the year, my husband wanted to sell our house – the house where our children grew up. He wanted to build a big new house. I didn’t want to do this, but we did it anyway and it added to my stress. In fact, I was so stressed that I lost all my hair. The big new house did not heal our sorrow or make us happy. After two years, my husband and I were talking less. And then one day, after not speaking to me for two weeks, my husband told me that he thought I should move out. We had been married for 30 years and this was very hurtful and shocking to me. I learned later that he had found another woman that he wanted to make a new life with and that she had moved into our new house with him.

I moved into an apartment and one evening I was crying uncontrollably in my room. So much had happened. I was devastated, broken and lost. I was crying so hard I felt like I couldn’t breathe. But then I felt a warmth, like hands hugging my heart. It was a very a physical presence. I had never experienced anything like it before. A tremendous sense of peace came over me. Someone explained to me later that this was the Holy Spirit comforting me. There was a shift in my attitude after this. Whenever I encountered a problem, I felt like I could handle it.

Not long after this experience, a leader in my church told me about a new shelter for the homeless. He suggested that I volunteer there. So I began volunteering at the Center and from the start, it felt right.

After about a year at the Center, I knew in my soul deep down that I was supposed to buy a house and make it into a home for men in recovery from addictions. That was the first time I ever really felt God speaking to me. I was obedient to what I felt God wanted me to do. I bought a house and made it into a recovery home for men with addictions. After I did this, God always provided. There was always enough income to pay the bills. This was confirmation to me that I had done the right thing.

As I have became more confident in my ability, I have been able to connect in deeper, more meaningful ways with those I serve at the Center. On a practical level, I register new clients and see what services we can connect them with. I help manage a grant that helps homeless clients get into housing. But a lot of what I do is to just LISTEN and care. Many of the homeless clients I work with are divorced, some have experienced the tragic death of loved ones and many have experienced deep rejection, trauma, and brokenness. All of the tough parts of my life have prepared me for relating, understanding and empathizing. I can connect with clients in a special way because I have experienced some of the same difficulties they have. God put me in a place where I could use the painful experiences of my life to help and encourage others – a place that would also be a great blessing to me.

Throughout this journey there’s been a lot of heartache, but I’ve also learned to trust God. I know that He is always there with me even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. But when I stop and breathe…. I just know God is there and that gives me peace.

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

2 Corinthians 1:4

#104. Missionaries in the Mountains: Living in Response to God

June 6, 2020May 10, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Amy Wallen Photography

For 12 years, I spent summers on short-term mission trips, serving with a ministry in the mountains of Kentucky. One year I was in charge of planning a short-term mission trip to the area in July for a group at our church. I had been praying for God to show me how He wanted our group to serve—what we were to do on the mission trip—but I wasn’t sensing any direction. It was June and the group was set to go to the mountains in July.

I was already at the ministry where we were going to serve in the mountains. I was desperate to know how I was going to lead this group. I started praying, “God, You have to help me. The people from our church have taken vacation days and will be spending their time to come here. I don’t have a clue what You want us to do.” And then I waited.

Not long after this I received a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Now, I am not very tech savvy and don’t typically send or receive text messages. And it was a miracle that I even received a text message because I had no cell service in that region of the mountains. The text message read, “God answers prayer.” This gave me an immediate peace. I knew God heard my prayer and would answer.

Then next morning I ran into the man that runs the housing for the volunteers who come to serve with the ministry in the mountains. He said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. There is so much work that needs to be done on this building.” Shortly after this I talked with another fellow who needed help that our group could provide. Not even 24 hours after my prayer, God had provided the answer I needed. I knew how to lead the volunteers and what we were to do to help the ministry and the community.

Since this experience, my wife and I felt called to join the ministry full-time. A little over a year ago, we left the security of the world to follow God. We moved to the mountains of Kentucky to serve as missionaries. We have learned to live a life of response to God. We pray. We wait. We watch for God to show up. And God shows up. He is trustworthy and faithful to answer our prayers.

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.

Amos 4:13

#101. Missionaries in the Mountains: Multiplying of Food

June 6, 2020May 2, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Amy Wallen Photography

Two-and-a-half years ago my wife and I left good jobs, a nice home, and our friends and family to become full-time missionaries in the mountains of Kentucky. The first six months were so hard. We moved to a small house in a rural community with approximately 100 homes. I remember looking around our house and there were buckets everywhere—our roof leaked badly. I wondered if we had made a mistake. My wife and I were feeling so discouraged and not sure if we had made the right decision to leave everything behind.

Shortly after this, in January, my wife and I were at the grocery, and I felt God urging me to buy water. We bought 60 gallons of water that day not knowing what God had in mind, but trusting He had a plan for the water. For a month, this water was stacked on our living room floor and we had no idea what we would do with it. Then in February it got down to 17 degrees below zero. We opened up our community center as a warming center for the people of our town. Water pipes in the town were freezing and busting from the cold. Everyone wanted water and the stores were all out. There were families who did not have water to make formula to feed their babies. This was the reason for the water! We gave the water away to our neighbors and witnessed to and prayed with them.

Then God did something else amazing. During this same time, we had 15 families that came to us needing food. They told us they had nothing to eat in their house. We had a pantry of emergency food, but after we had given the third family food from the pantry, I told my wife we weren’t going to have enough for all of the families in need. There wasn’t enough food for five families, much less fifteen, but God multiplied the food like He did in the story of the loaves and the fishes in the Bible (John 6). We just kept filling boxes with food, and in the end, we had filled enough boxes for all 15 families!

Not only did God miraculously provide food and water for the people of our community, but He also used this experience to show my wife and I that He was with us and He was guiding us. This was affirmation that we did NOT make a mistake in leaving everything behind to become full-time missionaries. God encouraged us and showed us that we could depend on Him and that He would use us to help the people of our community. Over and over we have seen His faithful provision for us and the people in our community. God is a faithful, loving Provider, and we put our trust in Him.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

#97 Never too Old

June 6, 2020April 18, 2017 by pamamilliongodstoriescom

Photo by Erin E. Photography

I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, raised by Christian parents and regularly attending church. I accepted the faith of my parents and was baptized in middle school. As an adult, I needed to know more. I needed to make my faith my own. I wanted to learn as much as possible about God, Jesus, and the Bible. I had many questions..

Over the years, I’m sure I wore out many pastors with my questions. I read lots of books on Christianity and apologetics and read the Bible nearly every night for over three decades. Over and over I prayed for wisdom and understanding—and for someone to help me deeply study the Bible.

I was diligently seeking God and God sent someone to help me. I had a new job working at a nursing home. One of the residents, an older gentleman, was often in his wheelchair sitting in the hallways reading his Bible. From time to time I would stop to talk with him about the Bible. He was articulate and intelligent and his blue eyes sparkled when he talked about the Scriptures. I can’t remember whose idea it was, but he started a Bible study. I was the only one who came. Every Wednesday evening at the nursing home, I was his only student. He was disappointed that it was just me, but said that I wanted to learn so badly he just had to teach me.

Each session, I sat across from him in his room with the rolling hospital dinner tray table between us, and his well worn New Jerusalem Bible laid open for the teaching, and my NIV Student Bible, taped together on the binding, right beside it. Covering nearly all the white space in his Bible were his own personal notes, as neat as if typewritten and nearly as small. I had never seen anything like it. Each week he prepared a lesson plan of what we were to cover, with Scripture verses on small slips of white paper, handwritten in the same tiny script as in his Bible.

I found out that he attended seminary in the 1940s and 1950s and taught literature at a university, including a study of Psalms—my favorite book of the Bible. What unfolded in the next year during our Bible study was remarkable. He taught me historical perspective and context, drawing Bible maps and timelines. He explained the Hebrew and Greek meaning of biblical words and why that mattered. He related passages in the New Testament back to passages in the Old Testament, revealing new insights. He explained unsettling discrepancies. He used the Socratic method to teach me, asking me many, many questions.

At times it was exhausting, but he forced me to think more deeply than I ever had about the Holy Scriptures. He even had me write a paper based on my answer to the question Jesus asked of His disciples in John 1:38: “What are you seeking?” We completed a study of Mark and then John, but as we began Psalms, he was too sick to continue. Instead he asked me to read to him from the Psalms. I read to him Psalms of God’s love, goodness, and forgiveness, and of praise for God’s creation. When I finished, he could barely talk but his brief points were clear: Notice God. Thank God. Love God.

My friend is gone now but I will always remember the lessons God revealed to me through him—profound lessons and simple ones. I had asked God to send someone to help me learn and understand, someone to help me deeply study the Bible and God responded with an unexpected but incredible answer! I am so grateful for what God taught me through my friend. God loves us. God sees us and knows what we need, when we need it and how we need it delivered. Praise God for his personal way with each of us!

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you. James 1:5

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13