Chapter 62

 

Cell Phone to the Rescue

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“…For your Father knoweth what things ye have

need of, before ye ask Him.”

—Matthew 6:8 Furlough was on the horizon. Bro. Jack and Lois

McLain had traveled down to Belize to take our

place while we were in the USA. We were in need

of a place to live for a year while visiting our supporting

churches. We wanted to give a report and to

seek funds to buy land and erect a church building

in Orange Walk Town. This is the town where the

Lord had blessed us with the starting of Freedom

Baptist Church.

In Jacksonville, Florida, our youngest daughter,

Joy, had been attending a church and wanted us

to visit it with her. It was an absolutely beautiful

Sunday morning. My wife and I, together with

Joy and our two grandchildren headed to church.

Arriving, we were greeted by some of the members

and led to our seats.

The service was great with good singing and

preaching from the Word of God. The Pastor just

happened to mention that their missionaries, who

were living in the mission house of the church, were

leaving for Russia in a few weeks. My mind went

into overdrive thinking that here is a mission house

that would be empty in a little while, and we needed a

place to live during our furlough. I did not know these

Christians, and they did not know us, though we all

had one Person in common and His Name was Jesus.

When the service ended we headed to the

nursery, picked up our grandchildren, and headed

to my daughter’s SUV. Although I had wanted to

talk to the Pastor about the mission house, I didn’t

get the opportunity, so we all headed to Famous

Amos for some lunch. As we were driving down the

road my cell phone rang, and I saw that it was my

daughter Joy, who was in the back seat, calling. So I

asked her, “Joy, why are you calling me when I am

right here?” “Dad, I’m not calling you,” she replied.

Well, the cell phone indicated that Joy was calling,

so I answered it and heard a voice say, “Is this Joy’s

dad?” I was a little shocked to say the least, but I

said, “Yes, it is.”

The lady calling said that she was the daughter

of the Pastor whose church we had just visited. She

explained that she had been walking to her car in

the parking lot when she spotted a cell phone lying

on the pavement. She picked it up and called the

number that said “Dad.” Meanwhile, Joy had been

looking for her cell phone, and when she couldn’t

find it concluded that it must have dropped out of

her purse. The Pastor’s daughter said that she would

wait in the parking lot for us to return.

We whipped around faster than a tornado and

headed back to the church. When we arrived, guess

who else was there? Yes, the Pastor and his wife. Joy

recovered her cell phone and we had our little chit chat.

You know, of course, what I was thinking all the while.

This was a great opportunity to talk about the mission

house since the opportunity had presented itself.

“Pastor, do you think it might be possible when

your missionaries leave for Russia, that we could

use the mission house while on furlough?” To my

amazement, the Pastor replied, “Yes, that might be

a possibility.” Wow, did that make my day! We all

thanked the Pastor’s daughter for rescuing Joy’s cell

phone and thanked the Pastor and his wife for the

possibility of using the mission home. Only God

could arrange this little episode.

We headed off to lunch again discussing what

had transpired because of a dropped cell phone at a

church we had visited for the first time. We talked

about how loving the Christians had been to us

without even knowing anything about us except that

we were missionaries to Belize. I suppose that was

enough for brothers and sisters in Christ.

We continued to visit this church when we were

in town, and about a month later the Pastor suggested

that I come by, and he would give us the keys to the

mission house. Praise the Lord! The church had

decided to let us use it while on furlough. The house

was beautiful, comfortable, and exactly what we

needed for our furlough time.

What are the odds that the only person out of the

entire congregation to find the cell phone would be

the Pastor’s daughter? When we had left the parking

lot on that day it was still full of cars, and the Pastor’s

daughter was next to the last one to leave. It is awe

inspiring to see the amazing ways that God chooses

to place you where He wants you to be.

This time it was a small cell phone!