The Lord Provides

Today I want to share with you of how the Lord has provided.  It is great to note moments like this as they serve as reminders in the hard times that God does provide.  When we came back we began looking for a car.  We bought a car a few years ago, as a temporary fix to get us back and forth to Dakar.  However we knew that it was temporary as our family was growing with Joel’s parents coming and we also knew that down the road our ministry would involve more and more trips out to remote villages.  We have gotten stuck already going to villages just around the area during rainy season and so it was clear that we needed something a little more rugged.

We raised money for this while we were in the states and God blessed us.  Even as we returned more money came in for our car and we began looking.  All the used cars we were seeing were well used and not cared for well.  Then as more money came in and as the exchange rate got better in our favor we starting wondering if maybe God was providing for us to go new.  Even with the rate in our favor which was saving us thousands of dollars, going new would use up all our savings including what we had set aside for airfare back to the states next furlough, but perhaps that was the best option.  With this in mind Joel went to the dealership to see what is would cost.  As he was leaving he saw two cars marked “hot deal” (or that is our rough translation :)).  He glanced at them and asked the agent what they were.  The agent told him they were trade ins.  They were 3 years old with 20,000 miles on them and so they were marked down 1/3 of the price.  They were in like new condition.  Joel came home and talked to me and immediately I felt like this was a great deal and totally worth looking into.  We started getting excited and asked people to pray.

Joel went in yesterday and put money down on one.  He found out few interesting things.  One is that they only took these trade in’s because it was a prestigious client who had bought 7 cars and wanted to upgrade two of them, but that it is not a normal thing they do.  Second is that the cars had arrive the day Joel went by the dealership.  Third is that there was someone else interested in buying them both, but was trying to bargain down to a cheaper price.  We were there and saw them at just the right moment.  Can we say a God thing!?!

All the paper work is signed and the car is ours.  However It will take us 10 days to get out what we need to complete the payment.  So keep praying that everything will go smoothly.  Clearly God has been paving the path for us ahead of us.  We couldn’t be more excited and are praising God for how he has faithfully provided.

Thank you for your prayers.  We are amazed at how much peace we had even though we had to be make a decision so quickly.  We could feel that people were praying for us.  We have no doubt that this gift came completely from above.