In 1988, I was on staff as a missions pastor at our church. Nanci and I sensed God’s leading to take our daughters, Karina and Angela, who were then nine and seven, and spend two months visiting our church’s missionary families in Egypt, Kenya, Greece, Austria, and England.
Our church wanted to pay my way, but when we figured how much it would cost for the rest of the family to join me, it was prohibitive. I felt strongly that my family should be with me, but there was just no way to do it. In another situation, we might have seen this as God’s way of saying no; but in this case, we sensed His direction to move forward. We deliberately didn’t announce our intention to go for fear the announcement itself would bring funds in. We wanted to see God provide in other ways.
As we saved for the trip, remarkable amounts of money began to appear. Most of the funds came from unexpected sources. Beyond all this, every month we found we were saving far more than we should have been able to. There were no extra expenses draining our funds.
We’d determined not to reduce our giving. Although we would never touch the tithe, we were tempted to rationalize using some of our extra monthly freewill giving to pay for our trip—after all, it was for a missionary purpose! But this didn’t seem right.
Two weeks before the trip, an amazing amount of money had come in, but we still lacked a thousand dollars. Meanwhile, there was a special missionary offering at church. We determined to give substantially to this offering, above and beyond our normal giving. It “didn’t make sense,” but we knew it was right. No one who has seen God work will be surprised to hear that within a week of the trip He gave back not only the money we had given but over a thousand dollars more, enough to give some back to Him once more before getting on the plane.
We looked back at the trip and realized that, humanly speaking, we shouldn’t have been able to accumulate the needed funds. But God provided abundantly. We first had the thrill of seeing God provide, and then seeing His exciting work in those fascinating countries.
Nearly 40 years later, we still talk about that mission trip. What were the long-term results of it? The time we spent together prompted us to discuss world needs and where to send the money God entrusted to us, some to of the very places we visited. Even today, that trip bears fruit, as I periodically ask our daughters and their families to help decide where to distribute the royalties from my books. I’m not sure any of that would have come about if Nanci and I hadn’t made the bold decision to uproot ourselves and go overseas with our children for that life-changing two months.
There were other effects on our girls’ lives, too. My daughter Angela was deeply impacted by serving at a “baby washing” station in Egypt. We look back and see how that trip sparked her desire to one day become a nurse. Yes, Nanci and I took the girls out of school for those two months, but they learned far more in the traveling than they would have in the classroom. This trip shaped them not only for life but for eternity. (If you’re planning a major family vacation, why not visit a mission field? Combine the fun with the education and the encouragement to church missionary families, provided it isn’t an inconvenience to them.)
Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). According to our Lord, giving isn’t what leaves us short of material provision. In fact, it’s part of the solution to our material needs. God promised to provide for givers in Old Testament times (Malachi 3:8-11). And Jesus promised the same in the New (Luke 6:38). When we give away our treasures, we are seeking God’s Kingdom first. And therefore, “all these [material needs] will be added to” us.
Our family learned that as we give, we draw closer to God. But no matter how far we move on in the grace of giving, Jesus Christ remains the matchless giver: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The God who fed a million-member family in the wilderness for forty years, fed five thousand with one boy’s lunch, and who is perfectly capable of turning water into wine and stones into bread, will not have any trouble providing whatever He knows we need!
