The Exact Amount
The following family is no stranger to the Second Family. They served on our staff for many years at the Woodway Campus, until they felt the call of God on their lives to serve overseas on the mission field. Currently they are training foreign missionaries to navigate their culture in a winsome way. As they ended their time on staff at Second, our church was committed to coming alongside them in their new calling with prayer, encouragement and financial support. Below is a story of how God moved in their lives through the support of the Second Family.
“There are so many things that we were not prepared for when we entered the mission field. How to raise children in a different culture than our own. How to navigate the everchanging social and cultural environments that the Lord has placed us in. Even something as standard as taxes can seem insurmountable. But God has been faithful to us in providing resources, wisdom and grace through every obstacle. What initially seemed like stumbling blocks turned into stepping stones of faith.
Living in North Africa means living under the law of a foreign land, one that is convoluted, ever-changing, and at times nonsensical. Nothing here so clearly demonstrates these features as tax season. In the first two years we lived here, the amount we owed the government increased from $3,000 to $8,000. Why the change? Why the inconsistency? Why the outrageous amount? Your guess is as good as ours.
We were determined that this year would be different. So, we spent all last year saving up about $8,000 to put aside solely for taxes in addition to our normal savings. We felt pretty proud of ourselves and were confident that we could handle whatever exciting new number our accountant would give us this year. You can imagine our stupor when the little slip of paper he handed us read $18,000. And to make this more interesting, we didn’t receive this number until 24 hours before it was due.
We scrambled. With the savings we had put aside, plus our personal savings and help from friends and family, we were able to make the payment but were left in the red having borrowed from many accounts that we had no interest in borrowing from. There we were – frustrated, fearful for the future, accounts totally drained, and desperate. But God was there too.
After a weekend of trying to get the chaos that had just wrecked our little family of five in order, we happened to have a Monday meeting scheduled with the Missions Team at Second. We didn’t know what the content would be beyond catching up and encouragement, nor did they know what we were walking through here. But God knew.
After a few minutes of pleasantries, they couldn’t wait any longer to tell us that God had been leading them to care for our family and bless us with $10,000. Months before we knew our need, Second took up the World Mission Offering and planned to distribute extra financial support to foreign missionaries. God was working through you, before we ever knew we needed help. The exact amount we were short of for taxes was provided. Rarely am I speechless, but I could not even form a coherent sentence to express how incredible this gift was to our family. With it, we could pay back all of our friends and family and maintain a livable financial position, giving us the ability to keep doing the work we do here.
His timing, His careful measuring, and His caring gifts have been shown to us time and time again, and often He has used the people in our lives to show us how generous and loving He is. We could not be more thankful for the selfless and benevolent body of believers the Lord has surrounded us with. Thank you, Second! To Him be all the glory!"