Karina
stood, face all aglow, at our front gate. She and another
friend dropped by just to talk for a minute, and in the
middle of our conversation, she stopped abruptly and exclaimed,
"Auntie, you were right !" "Right?
Right about what?" I asked. "Oh, remember
when you told me two weeks ago that God would provide my
school supplies, and then we prayed? Well, my uncle bought
them for me!" She beamed!!
The
background of this story is so exciting...
Karina,
our 10-year old friend, has a baby brother, and her mother
was expecting a third child. Her family is very poor and
lives in a needy area of San Pedro, a community across the
river from us. Karina comes to visit us with her cousin/our
little neighbor, Macarena, when she's here visiting. Recently
she had trusted Jesus as her Savior, and now, with her mother
at the end of her pregnancy and needing rest, Karina and
her brother were here again.
It
was the first week of March, summer vacation was coming
to a close, and Karina came by herself to our house. Whenever
she comes by, we take the opportunity to study God's Word,
and today was no exception. We read from the book of Exodus
about how God protected baby Moses from the wrath of the
Pharaoh, and how God provided for his family and him. Karina
read the verse herself from the Bible and quickly memorized
it: 1 Peter 5:7 "...casting all your cares on Him,
for He cares for you." Later, as we were forming salt-and-flour
dough into tiny baskets with baby Moses inside, I asked
her when school was to start. "It's beginning next
Monday,"she said, "but I won't be able to start."
It seems her parents couldn't afford to buy her the long
list of school supplies that each family has to provide
for their child or children. "What an opportunity to
trust God!" I thought. "Remember how God provided
for Moses and his family, Karina? We can trust Him to provide
for you too, Sweetheart. We know He loves you just
as much as He loved Moses, don't we?"
So
we prayed, I first, and then Karina.
That
evening, John and I discussed what we could do to help.
Paternalism is a potential problem in many countries, that
is, the "rich" foreigner (often a missionary)
buys what the person needs, without giving it a thought.
Then, the next time there's a need, where does that person
go to find help?
He
will return to the foreigner, thus causing dependency on
him. How could we avoid that, and do this biblically, that
is, cast all our cares and those of Karina on Jesus, thus
allowing her to learn to depend on Him, rather than on us?
We asked counsel of some godly Chilean friends, who suggested
that their church might get involved by providing the school
supplies. That way, if we wanted to help too, we could,
but it would be anonymous. Meanwhile, however, God had His
own plan. He spoke to Karina's uncle's heart (I don't think
he's even a Christian), and the uncle responded (likely
not even knowing it was God he was responding to!). He purchased
Karina's supplies, and she was able to begin her classes
right along with her classmates from last year and
, best of all, Karina now has been able to begin
building her own "altar of stones taken from her Red
Sea". She knows the impossible is possible
with her God!!
How
GREAT He is, and what a huge blessing it that He allows
us to participate with Him and see what He is doing!! God
is SO good, isn't He?
We
love serving Him here in Chile and we love sharing the stories
of what God is doing! Thank you so very much for helping
make that possible. May you sense God's deep joy in your
life as you serve Him wherever you are!
-John
and Bonnie, Chile
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