Chapter 17 - In the Nick of Time

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall

strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

—Psalm 27:14

Deputation had been a great experience of

traveling all over the country, visiting many
different churches, seeing the Lord supply all our
needs, and meeting many wonderful people of the
Christian faith. We were now in the last month
before we were to fly off to Africa to do the Lord’s
work there. However, we were in need of quite a bit
of money to make this long-awaited trip.
    I spoke with our pastor at our home church in
Winston-Salem, informing him of our situation. He
offered to let me preach the first four Wednesday
nights in July and said the offerings would be ours
to help us get to Africa. July was a great month of
being at our home church and preaching to many
people. At the end of the fourth Wednesday night
service, I met with our pastor, and he told me the
amount of money that had come in during the past
few weeks. We were still lacking five thousand dollars
for our airline tickets.
    Praising the Lord for supplying, but still praying
about the remaining funds needed, we placed our
faith in God knowing this was a test. We believed
that in a few days, someway, somehow, we would
have the funds needed to leave on August 4, the
scheduled date, which is only a few days away.
We could do nothing but trust that the Lord knew
exactly what He was doing.
    We waited, hoping that more funds would come
in, but nothing did. My pastor and I discussed
delaying our scheduled departure, but I asked him
to wait before informing the church of this change
in plans. I was still praying and waiting on the Lord
to work a miracle.
    Sunday, July 31, came and went without anything
happening. We were still packing and had
already sent most of our belongings to a port in
Virginia for shipping to Africa. We had built a fourby-
six wooden box and packed it full. A man in our
church who drove an eighteen-wheeler loaded the
box onto his trailer and dropped it off at the port in
Virginia. That was a blessing in itself, and we were
encouraged with the Lord’s faithfulness.
    But we were down to the wire now. It was
Wednesday night, August 3, and we still needed
five thousand dollars. That was not small change
for us, but we did know the One who owns it all
and were looking to Him to supply this need here
at the last hour. I had already called the airline and
booked our flight to Africa on August 4, which was
the next day. I will admit that I was somewhat nervous
sitting in our last Wednesday night service at
our home church. I could not help wondering how
the Lord was going to work all this out and have us
on that plane tomorrow.
    At the end of the service, our pastor addressed
the congregation. “Our missionaries are leaving for
Africa tomorrow,” he said, and then he asked us to
come up front so everyone could wish us farewell.
It seemed as if we shook hands with a thousand
people. There were mixed emotions for both us and
the people of the church. And of course, the five
thousand dollars was weighing heavily on my mind.
    The last person I shook hands with was a man
named Rex, a close friend of mine since we started
attending church there. Rex asked me how much
money we needed in order to leave tomorrow. I told
him the amount, and he quickly replied, “I will have
it to you by eleven tomorrow morning.” With that,
he walked off.
    We were in shock and rejoicing because the
Lord had not failed us. We excitedly told our pastor
what had just happened, and he rejoiced with us.
He said he would send the church van to pick us up
in the morning and take us to the airport. What a
blessing to see how the Lord works! We went home
rejoicing in the Lord and finished packing. We did
not get much sleep that night, excited about our new
adventure! We had never seen an airplane up close,
let alone fly in one to an unknown, distant land such
as Ivory Coast, West Africa.
    The next morning, August 4, 1983, the church
van arrived around ten-thirty, and we loaded the
van with our ten trunks and ten carry-ons. Eleven
o’clock came and went, but still Rex did not show
up with the five thousand dollars. At eleven-thirty,
we were still waiting, and when Rex had not arrived
by noon, we started to grow a little concerned and
nervous. Here it was, down to the last minute. Was
the Lord going to let us down? I quickly reminded
myself, No, He is not going to bring you this far and
not finish it. He never lets us down when we know
we are following His will. Twelve-thirty came and
went, and still Rex had not arrived with our money.
If he did not come soon, the plane would leave
without us.
    At the one o’clock hour, however, all our doubts
and fear disappeared when Rex arrived with the
money in hand. He apologized for being so late but
said he had had a hard time getting that much cash
so early in the day. Rex handed me an envelope, and
I put it in my briefcase. “Aren’t you going to count
it?” he asked.
    “No,” I replied, “I trust you did what the Lord
told you to do.” Our family gave Rex a big hug
and thanked him before piling into the church van
and heading for the airport in Greensboro, North
Carolina. We checked in, paid cash for our tickets,
and walked onto the plane for our first flight ever.
We were off to Ivory Coast, West Africa, because
the hand of God had worked to meet our need of
such great magnitude. God Can!

Thank you Lord for using Woodland Baptist Church,
Winston Salem, NC, for sending us to Africa back in
1983.

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)