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12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”
- 1 Samuel 7:12
This week, we asked you to pray for us because the clutch went out on our vehicle and we didn't know how we could pay for the $1500 repair or afford to replace the vehicle.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying!
Cody called our friend, who always has good tips for us when Cody's working on our vehicles. He offered to come drive the truck and give Cody his thoughts on what part of the clutch needed replacing.
THEN, our friend proceeded to get permission to use a local shop after hours so they would have the tools they needed for the repair and gave his whole Saturday, and then Monday evening too, to help Cody repair the vehicle. We were THRILLED because just paying for the parts meant the repair was going to be less than $500!!
THEN, we found out we were going to need to replace the flywheel, so the repair expenses would be more than we thought, but our friend and his wife decided THEY wanted to cover the cost for us.
THEN, we got a text from the shop yesterday afternoon, who had decided not to charge us for ANY of the parts.
I'm in tears even writing this. We had no idea what to do. How were we to move to Arizona in three weeks with no vehicle and no ability to repair it? Were we wrong about our next step? But we held our plans and our need before the Lord and asked Him to help us, and He answered. Who ever heard of a transmission repair FOR FREE?
It is moments like these I want to plant an Ebenezer rock in my front yard and just stare at it every day and somehow get my silly brain to NEVER FORGET that it is not my planning or preparation or hard work that has brought us here. Up to this point, the Lord has helped us. And He will always help us.
Thank you, also, for praying for us as we share our ministry and look to the Lord to provide supporters so that we will have the funding we need to serve Him overseas.
We shared at Westview Baptist this week and three people told us after the service that they wanted to give to help us go. This included Peter, a 7-year old boy, and his mom, who said they had decided to give whatever they could every month, because they were excited to be a part of what God is doing through our lives. We are so humbled every time someone decides that they are willing to sacrifice and give away so that we can have this enormous privilege. We are so challenged by the example that we are never too young, too weak or too poor to just offer what we have to the Lord and trust Him to use it in big ways.
Every here and there, amidst our stress and worry, the Lord gives us glimpses. He is scripting the story of our lives as we hold them out to Him and agree again each day just to trust Him and follow. He is a generous giver, and He has an amazing body of believers, through whom He gives to care for us, even as He gives through us to care for others.
Today we are traveling down to Ft. Lauderdale to share in the Wednesday night service at Grace Baptist Church. Please continue to pray for us to be an encouragement as we share, to be bold as we invite people to be a part of what God is doing to reach people for His name.
We still need about $2900/month to be fully funded. Please pray that He would continue to build a team of prayer partners and supporters for us. Please pray that our hearts would learn to be confident that He knows our every single need and He will always, ALWAYS help us.
Love,
Cody, Beka, and Abishai
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