A Moment of Praise – part 3

Moment Four
Written by: Pasha

Background:
On the 19th of February, our team crossed the border of Lesotho. All of us went through except for me and Germine because we didn’t have visas. We spent a lot of time trying to come to terms with the officials but nothing worked. I was so frustrated because I already spent a month in Moscow not being able to join the team in January and now, I will be separated from them again for almost two weeks.
Germine and I had to come back to Ficksburg, the town bordering Lesotho.
Elzke was the only one who had a connection to the border and she asked her mother to pray for me and Germine. Her mother replied that she knows a Christian family from Ficksburg. When she attended an online course for parents whose children are being home-schooled, that’s where she met that family because they also were at that course. Even though they knew each other they never met in person. So, she contacted them and they fetched us at the border.
I stayed with this family for 10 days and we became so close to each other. When the war started back home, in Russia, they said that if I struggle to go home, I can stay with them for as long as I need. They were loving and generous to me. When we said goodbye to each other, all of us cried. I promised myself that I will see them after Global.
A bit later you will understand why I tell this little story.

Main story.
Kampala, Uganda, 25th of May

That day I got sick and had to stay home when the rest of the team went on the outreach except for Abi and Nicole as they were also sick. For some reason, I was drained spiritually and emotionally the whole day. Perhaps, my physical state affected my emotional and spiritual state as well. I spent the whole day writing drafts of fundraising letters, praying, and seeking God in all the ways I could.
It was the 25th of May, the payment deadline for the next leg was approaching on the 30th, which is also my birthday, and I had to pay R33,000 only had R8,000. Obviously, I had no idea where I would get the rest of the money. I prayed the whole day and I was so worried about my finances that I struggled to see God’s hand in it. It was 5 days before the cut-off date but I still needed so much money…

At 18:00 I decided to text three people to ask for prayer and potential financial contribution. I texted a friend from Jeffrey’s Bay, a friend from Pretoria and the third person was Hennie, the man from Ficksburg who hosted me for 10 days in February.
In my messages I was honest and I shared my need, asked for prayer, and said “if you feel a desire to contribute financially, I would be very thankful for any kind of help”. When I sent the messages, all of them read them but none of them replied.

At that moment I lost hope and fell to my knees praying and asking God for help. I couldn’t see Him helping me in this. I had no idea how I would get the rest of the finances I needed if people were just ignoring me…

The moment when I stopped praying, I received a picture from Hennie. It was a screenshot of the payment. Without any questions and with no other words attached to his message he sent me R33,000!
I couldn’t believe it! The words on the screenshot were in Afrikaans so I didn’t understand that much. I asked Nicole to translate for me and seeing her excitement while she was reading, I realised that he sent the whole amount for the third leg of my trip. He sent even more than I needed! I returned to my room and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving on my knees crying. I also repented for my despair and lack of faith because I shouldn’t have worried about it because God is faithful and He provides me with everything I need.

It’s so beautiful to see how God used my failure to go to Lesotho in February to provide for me at the end of May. And it’s not only about finances, God also gave me such good friends and family that love me and pray for me. God bless this family for their willingness to help. And may it also encourage those who read it!

God bless

Moment Five
Written by: Abigail Hattingh

Before this year my perception of provision was very different.
Last year when I felt the Lord put on my heart to do Global, I said to Him that if I am hearing Him correctly He’ll put on my dad’s heart to pay for the whole year. I knew it had to be a miracle from God if he was willing to pay for it because he doesn’t know the Lord and he had paid for me to study for 5 years to get a degree and be financially independent as of 2022. When my dad said yes, I was blown away by God’s provision because now my finances were covered for the whole year.

This truly was provision from God!

Sometimes there are questions that we naturally ask ourselves when it happens that God maybe doesn’t provide in the way we expect Him to. We ask questions like, “Why is he not providing for me?”

Recently we were traveling through Bolivia with no finances, fully trusting that God would provide for us. The first two nights we slept in our tents on the side of the road and at a bus station. I was struggling to see God in these situations because I felt that He wasn’t providing for me. I had been praying a lot over this time and felt God put a question on my heart – “Do you only consider it my provision when I give you what makes you comfortable?”. This convicted me a lot and made me reassess what God’s provision actually is. Yes, sometimes He provides for us in ways that accommodate our comfort but this does not mean that when we are not comfortable that His provision lacks.
God showed me that His provision is this: Even in the most uncomfortable situations, He is still with me.