It has been crazy being home this summer working on support, speaking at churches, meeting with people, and getting ready for our mission trip to Hungary. It is hard to believe my time here is almost over as we leave for Hungary in just a few days! I just wanted to take some time to post and share a couple of cool stories from my summer and update everyone on my progress. Working on support can be bitter sweet. It takes a lot of work and humility, but at the same time I get to see God provide in very tangible ways where I can clearly see God's hand is in on it. Below, I have a couple of cool stories where God worked in coincidental ways.
At the start of my summer things were going pretty slow. Not much was happening and I was starting to get worried about all the support I needed to raise. One week, one of my supporters referenced me to a dentist he thought might be interested in helping support me. In my usual routine, I mailed him a letter and then called a few days later. No one was home, so I left a message. After not hearing back for a week or so I decided to call back because often times people get busy and just forget. Again, no answer and I left another message. The day after I called, the man calls me back. He starts asking me a lot of really good questions and seems familiar with Campus Crusade. After talking for a few minutes, he then asks me if I am single or married. I told him I'm single. He then proceeds to tell me that a lot of Campus Crusade staff meet their spouses on staff and that years ago he and his wife met while on staff with Campus Crusade. Say what??? I have never called a former staff member for support without knowing it! He then invited me over for dinner with him and his wife, and we had a great time talking about God, Campus Crusade, and life in general. They decided to support me, and it was just the encouragement I needed to be reminded that God is in control!
Another cool story happened the week I visited my college community in Princeton, WV. Last year, I was referenced to a college professor at Concord about support. Due to other giving obligations, she could not support me, but asked me to send her my monthly newsletter so she could pray for me. I sent it to her all year and called her back this summer. She agreed to meet with me and said she had some money set aside that she wanted to give toward my support. When I met with her, she said that her and her husband had some extra money that they had thought about giving me. She then told me that her church had been doing some construction and one of the men working on the project was from my home town in Galax, VA which is about an hour and a half from there. After the project was finished, the professor and her husband took the man out to eat. As they talked, the man found out the lady was a professor at Concord. He then said he knew a young man from Concord who had spoke at his church about mission work in Philadelphia, PA. Hmmn... He asked them if they knew me and they said they recieved my newsletters, but had never actually met me.... As she told me this story , she said that was when she was assured God wanted them to give the extra money they had to help me.
What a cool summer seeing God work! It was just encouraging to know that even when things were going slow, God was still at work behind the scenes! Though support can be slow and stressful, it's stories like these that keep me going. I still have a good bit of support to raise, but I will have some time when I get back from Hungary in early August. I leave for Hungary Thursday, so please be praying for me as I spend a month overseas and Ill try to keep my blog updated on my trip. God Bless!