The process of getting ready to live in Asia for four months stretched my faith in God and in his ability to provide. The final few weeks were especially challenging for me as I tried to finalize all the little details. From the very beginning of my fundraising process, I prayed that God would work out all the details in his perfect timing. And he did. I created a short list of some of the ways I saw God’s hand in my final preparation for the trip, which I’d like to share with you now.
The night before my departure, I didn’t have my PCR results back and I was worried that it was not going to come in time for my travel. I almost booked an appointment for the morning on the way to the airport to get a rapid PCR test done (which would have cost about $300). For some reason, I decided to put down my phone, go to bed, and think about the test in the morning. I went to bed praying that God would provide. I woke up to the results.
One of the local believers here is a fellow student at my school, and I wanted to bring her a school t-shirt as a gift. The shirt was scheduled to arrive at my house on August 11, the day after my departure. I asked some of my supporters if they would pray that the shirt would arrive earlier than expected. It felt like a silly thing to pray for, but I prayed. The shirt arrived two full days ealier than expected.
I’m taking two online classes while I’m here in Asia. I figured that with the time difference I’d be in class at 2 AM, which did NOT sound fun (I’m an early morning person, but not THAT much of an early morning person!). I was worried that with the crazy schedule I’d have to run for that class time that I’d not have enough energy to do ministry. But when the class times were published, one of them will be at 11 PM and the other at 5 AM…much better times! God provides in all things, even the things that seem small.
The details that stressed me out the most were the details related to my quarantine hotel. I was worried that the driver wouldn’t be there when I got off the plane, that no one would speak English, and that it wouldn’t feel like a safe place. God provided: the driver was easy to find as soon as I got through immigration and baggage claim, everyone spoke a good amount of English, and my room was safe and comfortable for the 24 hours I was there.
I wrote this all in my journal so that I can look back on it and remember how God has been faithful in the past. I know that he will continue to be faithful in the future, and having things like this written down will encourage me to trust him more and more.