Tight Fisted Treasurer

 

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Philippians 4:6 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

⁶ Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.

We had worked as missionaries in Africa for 12 years. The Lord had richly blessed us. We had hundreds of friends. Many of our students were already making their mark on the world. Now the Lord had told us that He wanted us to return to the U.S.

Then we got a letter from the mission board. It stated coldly that we had only worked in Africa for three years. They had no responsibility to return us to the U.S. They had decided to fly us to the nearest airport in the U.S. and drop us. It was up to us to make our way from there. The same mission board had consistently garnished our wages upwards of 50% for “the Lord’s work.”

We were stunned. We had spent all our savings just surviving in Africa. This is a part of mission work that the home churches never see. I requested that they do the very minimum and drop us back in Detroit where we had originally left from. We prayed to the Lord fervently. We literally didn’t have enough money left to get from Boston, where they chose to drop us, to Detroit near family. We praised the Lord that He had blessed us in spite of the tightfisted man who controlled our funds.

When we arrived in the States, at my dad’s urging—he had been a missionary to Africa for 42 years—I wrote headquarters and explained our plight. The treasurer there thundered back, “They can’t do that to you!” He went on to say that he was the one who had originally hired us to go to Africa 12 years earlier. Then for the next six months we received check after check of bonuses that we were entitled to but had no knowledge of. This amounted to thousands and thousands of dollars.

Since that time, the Lord has abundantly blessed us, even beyond our dreams or expectations. We had never wanted to be rich, and we still aren’t. But we are comfortable. Indeed, praise the Lord!

We are grateful, Lord, that You look after Your own so well. We rest our future in Your marvelous nail-pierced hands!

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[1] https://slideplayer.com/slide/13596288/

Content Whether Full or Hungry

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Philippians 4:12-13

Good News Translation

¹² I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. ¹³ I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

 

In 1986 we moved to California. The sale of our home in Massachusetts had fallen through, so we were still making house payments on it, and we were paying exorbitant rent on the house we were living in. We now had three kids in church school. I remember lamenting to the Lord, “Not again, Lord, please!” Then our house back east sold for approximately what we paid for our home in California.

A year after we were first married, I was as grad student, and Sylvia had a good job, but it fell through. We were able to borrow enough for me to finish school and move to Africa. Then our second year in Tanzania, the TAD made a big mistake in our salary, and we were with no money for six months. Things eased gradually until I went back to grad school with two kids. Then we had to go on food stamps for a couple years, but the Lord blessed, and we lived very well towards the end. In fact, we were living better than we had previously throughout our married life. Back in Africa double digit inflation and another bigger mistake by the TAD (Trans African Division that employed us) thrust us back into a hand-to-mouth existence. In spite of this, we have always had a roof over our heads and have never gone hungry.

We moved to Massachusetts, and I took a second job so we could afford to buy a house. In spite of my two jobs, our bank balance would drop to less than $10 at the end of most months. Still the Lord was good to us, and we were able to grow at least half of the food we ate for seven years. The old clunkers we drove kept right on clunking. Then in California I again took on a second job. God heard my lament, and things did improve—slowly but steadily until my retirement in 2013. I remember walking in the hills and praising God for the prosperity he had granted us. I also remember having a premonition that things would change. … Again.

Since then, West Nile virus, threatening blindness, and cancer take their toll. This miserable pandemic has cramped our style. It appears that we, as a nation, are facing serious inflation and possible national financial collapse. In spite of all this, I have a solid confidence to say with Paul, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me!”

Thank You, Lord, that everyone reading this blog has the very same promise that God will continue to look after them, too.

 

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[1] https://line.17qq.com/articles/oohncpdov.html