God's Amazing Faithfulness

Many of us Christian's say we want to do God's will, however, I often hear... how do I know God's will? I can unequivocally tell you that if you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him.

When we began this journey back in November of last year, the odds were against us. We wanted to go to a Communist country to share God's love, we needed a religious visa from the Department of the Treasury (Americans are not allowed to travel to Communist countries), we needed to assemble a Godly, bold, courageous team, we needed to raise $1,500.00 per person, and the person God called to do this (me) had never done anything like this in her life. Are you skeptical yet?

We began by prayer and petition. We asked the Lord for guidance, provision, wisdom, and focus. Then we went to work. A prayer team was assembled. God chose the missionaries. Mr. Naka wrote a letter to the Department of Treasury, (the first request was denied, they wanted a detailed itenirary of our mission), the second request was approved and we were given permission to go to Cuba. We sent letters to our families and friends asking them for their support. We organized fundraisers... 2 Bake Sales, 2 Rummage Sales, a Car Wash, Candy Sales, and finally a sit down dinner "Havana Nights". God took care of everything. Here are some of the highlights... The church rallied and supported us in more ways than I can mention. A fire was ignited throughout the congregation and beyond. Miracles occured. The Bible Society donated 100 Spanish Bibles. At our second Bake Sale, we had a silent auction in addition to the regular sales. At the end of the sale (by the way-we sold everything). We went through the bids. Frances called me over with a look of disbelief on her face. She shows me a bid and says "is this right?" Someone had bidded $1,000.00 for a Cherry Pie. Wow! The best part of this was that the couple who generously made the donation are brand new in the faith. Go God! On the second Rummage Sale we held there was a lot of junk. We didn't think we were going to make that much. Well, we were wrong. We made over $1,400. The best part of that was the number of volunteers who showed up to help. The excitement was overwhelming. Someone said that the clothes pile kept growing even though the clothes were selling like crazy. For our "Havana Nights" fundraiser Florida's Restaurant in Downey provided the food for 125 people at a discount. We wanted to make the ambiance as tropical as possible and needed palm trees to achieve the look. I went to Home Depot in Cerritos and asked to speak to the manager. He wasn't in, so I told the assistant (Becky) that we needed to borrow some palm trees for a day and would you believe it? She said yes! Go God! I hit a snag on the road when I counted on myself instead of God. I always prayed before doing anything, but when I went to the bakery to order the dessert I forgot to pray. You see, I've known the owners for over twenty years and felt confident that they would do right by me? Yeah, right. Don't put your faith in men (me included) they will let you down. When I got to Glendale I was disappointed to learn that I would only receive 20% discount on my order, the total came to $108.00. Oh well. I was already there so I ordered the desserts, paid and left. I was bummed out. On my way home, the Lord gently reminded me that I had completely left Him out of the loop on this one. I felt horrible. I asked for forgiveness and told him it would never happen again. I had to stop by the office on my way home. I opened the door and there on the floor was an envelope addressed to the Cuba Mission Team. Would you know it? In it was a check for $1,000. Then I got home and my neighbor came by to drop off a check for $100.00. Go God! I was also concern about the cost of traveling from LAX to Miami and Miami to Cuba. Well, God came through again! We can drive to Tijuana, Mexico and board the plane there. This saves us approximately $500.00 per person which quickly adds up to $7,500.00. Also there is no weight limitation. Go God! Tom Virtue with Campus Crusade donated 31 evangelistic Jesus movies in Spanish plus over 3,000 tracts. Go God! Pastor Otto de la Torre from the Four Square Church brought us 11,000 tracts and gave us tips on travel to Cuba. Go God!

As you can see, God has overwhelmingly revealed His will for this mission to take place. May His name be glorified and lifted high!