Chapter 62
Cell Phone to the Rescue
.
“…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!
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