I looked a little different thirty years ago. That’s me standing between the two fellows at the back. But don’t worry, I hadn’t gone Gothy or punk. I was part of a Christian outreach team to Mexico with Youth With a Mission (YWAM), and this pic shows some of the team members in costume just before performing one of our dramas at a country church.
Our team leaders had hired a van in San Diego for us to use during the 10-week outreach. All went fine for the first few weeks in San Diego and Guadalajara, but the van broke down on the final leg of our trip to Mexico City. Fortunately, one of the team members was a mechanic, so he got it going again. However, it kept breaking down.
On a wing and a prayer (or was that four wheels and a prayer?), we eventually arrived in Mexico City. The van went off to be repaired, and the church we were working with provided other transport for us. However, that rascally van was not an easy fix. They needed special parts to be sent down from the States, and that’s when the waiting game really began.
The various outreach activities went well. We performed for 2000 youth at a national Christian youth convention (pic at right), we ran drama workshops for Bible college students, we spoke to women’s groups, we did street dramas in a variety of locations and we even performed to a small audience in a beautiful theatre in Morelia. But our broken-down van was still in the back of our minds.
Our team leaders kept chasing it up. We had international flights booked from Los Angeles to Australia on 8 December, and it would take three or four days to drive back from Mexico City (about 3000 km). Time was ticking away and the parts needed to repair the van were delayed at customs.
To complicate matters further, the hire company wouldn’t give us permission to leave the van in Mexico and make other arrangements. It got closer and closer to the time when we had to leave, then beyond that. The hire company eventually relented and we were still hopeful. Maybe if we hired another van and drove round the clock, with different drivers taking turns, we could still make it. Then that time passed as well. We were definitely going to miss our flights.
I’d been away from home for almost seven months, the last nine weeks overseas. My five-and-a-half month course with YWAM had already stretched into seven months because I was doing my outreach with the Mexico team. Now it looked like it was going to be even longer. So I did what any good missionary would do. I went into my room and cried.
After I’d dried my eyes, I thought I’d better do something radical and pray. I wrote down what I felt God was saying to my heart, and here’s part of my journal entry for 6 December.
‘Take courage. I am near. I will rescue you. You will be home for Christmas. You will be home in an instant if you trust in me. Don’t look to others, look only to me. For I am your salvation. Don’t be afraid.’
Well, that sounded great, but we were still going to miss our flights. Or so I thought.
Within just a couple of hours of writing that entry, we found out that the church was going to pay our airfares back to California so that we could catch our international flights. There’s no way we could have paid for them ourselves, so that was an incredibly generous act and an amazing answer to prayer.
The delay wasn’t all bad. It gave us more time to wind down and do some extra sightseeing. However, seeing God at work behind the scenes was the greatest gift. It was impossible to drive back to LA and we had no money for flights, yet we got there in time and flew home on schedule.
When I’m faced with situations that are beyond my ability to solve, I sometimes forget this story, but God hasn’t forgotten me or you. He is still the God who can do the impossible. Let’s make prayer our first port in a storm rather than a last resort.
Synchroblog Links
This blog is part of a synchroblog I’m doing with other writers on the topic of ‘Surprises in Prayer’. If you enjoyed this blog, you might like to check out some of the following links.
Susan Barnes – Surprises in Prayer (God surprises a teenager with the answer to a prayer she didn’t pray).
Virginie Wright – Great is Your Faithfulness, O Lord (God’s promises are always perfect, though not always on our timeline).
Dienece Darling – What We Really Need (Jesus’ surprising questions when we think we know what we need).
14 Responses
That’s a great story and a great encouragement. It’s so easy to forget the times God comes through for us. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Susan. I totally agree. There have been times when I didn’t get the answer I was hoping for and it’s easy to forget that God is still with you, working things for your good. Writing this post was a good reminder for me. Thanks for commenting.
What a wonderful story showing what a wonderful God we have. Thank you!
Thanks for that, Dienece. It’s good to record these events so that we can remember them in tough times. I’m currently going back through my journals to find more of these stories. I think it will take me the next 30 years! Thanks for commenting.
That is a lovely story! I have re-read my own adventures and insights of my own God given opportunity to go on a Teen Missions Australia Team many, many years ago. My faith grew so strong.
We all have a tendency to swallow in despair or despondency even after we “hear from God.” Because it seems what he gives us personally is not enough information, or we still wonder how God is going to work it out.
Thanks for that, Lana. I’m sure you must have some amazing stories to tell about your time on that mission team. When troubles come, I find it’s easy to forget the good things God has done for us in the past. I’m trying to make a deliberate effort to go back and look through those old journals to find those God moments. He has never stopped working in our lives and will continue to do so. Wouldn’t it be great if He gave us a roadmap so we know exactly what to do all the time? But then that would also take some of the excitement out of the adventure and we might not lean on Him as much. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Take care.
Great to hear, thanks Nola. I’ve also had ‘God specials’ (we used to call them that), where God intervened in wonderful ways and rescued me/us from scary situations – some of which were the result of my own folly.
Hi Jeanette – Love that term ‘God specials’. He certainly does surprise us in many ways. I bet you have lots of interesting stories to tell. My mind is now boggling about what sort of folly you got yourself into. Let me know when your tell-all book is coming out! Thanks so much for commenting.
Thank you for this testimony of God’s provision. He always goes far beyond what we could expect as He did in your beautiful story! All glory goes to Him!
Thank you, Virginia. Yes, it was definitely more than I was expecting. I was wondering whether we’d be able to change our flights and if we’d have to pay again, when God was working out a much better solution. Thanks for commenting.
Wonderful story Nola! It really spoke to my heart. What an awesome God we serve! Well done on doing more than crying (which is what I would do too!) – praying! And I loved how God surprised you with His answers. Bless you for being obedient to Him then and also now as you shared your story! It greatly encourages me. Thank you!
Thanks Anusha. I’ve been a bit slack in the blogging and devotional writing areas in recent times, and God has been prompting me to dig out more of these stories. It’s a great reminder to me too of God’s faithfulness. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
What an encouraging reminder of the faithful (and creative!!) hand of God in the middle of an impossible situation. I’ve even heard stories of people in similar “impossible time to a destination” situations, ringing ahead to say they cannot make it in time, only to set out driving and to their astonishment, arrive right when they needed to, despite a time-speed-distance impossibility! Love these “God specials”, as Jeanette mentioned above, and the way He shares His heart toward us in these whispered promises that speak directly to our situation, and then delivers in the most unexpected ways.
Thanks Adele. It’s easy to forget these kinds of stories when times get tough, but if I go back through my journals, there are lots of little (and big) stories of God’s whispers and amazing answers. I’m trying to make a concerted effort to go back and find them. It’s helps encourage me and hopefully others too. Thanks for taking the time to comment.