I am in the midst of the most interesting answer to prayer for a while. I have been 'living by faith' - as in, without any proper income, for over a year now. I applied for all sorts of jobs, I placed bids for all sorts of programming and web projects, I tried everything I could think of, all to no help. We survived, barely, but we've been sinking deeper and deeper into debt. The crunch point was when the bailiff came at our door, regarding the money we owe towards the council tax. We just didn't have them.
So that is when I told the Lord that I can not go on like this. I came here knowing that this is the church the Lord called me to, and we have seen the Lord working in people's lives, and in the church. By his grace, this church that one year ago was contemplating closure, is now growing and planning with confidence for the future. But the thing is, my family and I are sinking. I had to do some deep sould searching to see if I shouldn't just look for some other place, some other church, some other ministry. But in the end, I told the Lord that, as long as his calling does not change, I am here to stay, even if we end up homeless or worse.
Well, last week I earned a bit over £50, which is an insignificant amount but better then I've been earning lately. On Sunday, as we were getting ready to leave for church, I struggled woth the idea that I should take £5 to give in the offering - even though we don't have enough to survive another week. Somehow, I said in the end, "Lord, I trust you. You promised to look after us. I am here at your call and doing your work - I trust in your faithfulmess."
Aas a background - some 5 months ago the church voted to pay me a very modest salary, but the treasurer refused to pay it until now. And some 4 months ago we were told that the Baptist Association approved a small mission grant towards my salary as well. But then nothing came of that either. Meanwhile my computer work has completely dried out.
So back to last Sunday. I went through the service, and gave those 5 pounds in the offering plate, and then - at the end of the service - the treasurer goes to my wife and hands her the cheque with my salary for October! It's not a lot, it would only cover half of our regular house bills, not including food or anything else for us - but it was a gift from God! And then, on Tuesday, she comes and gives me the back pay for the last 4 months. Which is just enough to keep the bailiff off our back! Also on Tuesday, we got word that the grant from the Association is on its way. And during this week I've been in discussions with a company in the US for a fairly major database project. I don't have the contract in hand yet but it looks like it's firmly on. And then yesterday a brother from an advertising company calls to say that the project they rejected a month ago is now back on the table. And then another former customer calls to give me some work. And tonight yet another former customer called to ask if I can do some work for him. In the meanwhile, the city sent a letter saying I only owe them half of the council tax.
So I got all this for £5??? It's not the money, I know - the Lord is faithful.
